Evening star., 1953-04-21
The Political Mill
The Political Mill
Senators Will FiIibuster
When It Suits Their Aim
Those in Present ToIkothon
Often Sought CIoture Rule
By Gould Lincoln

in the time-honored practice Of talk
to-defeat-which is popularity known as
a f1libuster. No Senator worth his salt
will ever admit he is taking part in
filibuster. Always these talkathons are
by the participants-called efforts to
enlighten the American public, and so
bring pressure to defeat pending legis-
lation. Today, it is the so-called tide.
lands bill, which President Eisenhower
and his Republican-and Democratic
supporters promised to enact into law
during the last campaign.
Three weeks ago, the Senate began
consideration of this measure. Since
then the talk has been constant, often
with only corporal's guard on duty in
the Senate. In the opinion Of Major
ity Leader Taft, everything has been
said about the tidelands bill that can
be said, not only during the present de-
bate but during Senate debates on SINH
Jar measures in the past, measures
twice passed only to be vetoed by for
mer President Truman.
Faces Passage.
The takers well understand that II
the bill is allowed to go to vote it
will pass by considerable majority.
just as a similar measure recently
passed the House. Their cry is. how
ever, that the tidelands bill will rob
the people in IS States of valuable oil
deposits and turn those deposits and
their development over to three States,
Texas, louisiana and California.
The retort of tidelands bill supporters
is that these lands and the deposits in
them belong to the States-and have
always so belonged; that the Federal
Government never claimed these lands
and deposits until the New Deal-Fair
eral Government and the Supreme
Court, with New Deal backgrounds, de-
clared that the Federal Government
has paramount interest" in them.
The Fair Dealers are up in arms. in
the Senate and out, against the pas
sage of legislation which would give
the States these submerged lands and
deposits. The charge by Senator Taft
that the Fair Dealers are filibustering
has Stung them. Some of these gentle
men have been violent in their de-
nunciation of flibusters conducted
against the passage of civil rights legiS-
lation, like the anti-lynching bill, the
anti-poll tax bill and the FEPC bill.
Senator Lehman, Democrat, of New
York, for example. does not relish be-
ing called a filibusterer. Indeed. he has
told the Senate, in reply to Senator
Taft. that he has always favored an ef-
fective cloture rule, capable Of bringing
debate in the Senate to an end, and so
giving majority an opportunity to
vote legislation up or down.
Urged Rules Change.
The New York Democrat pointed out
that he and his friends tried to have
the Senate adopt change in the rules
for cloture-at the opening Of the
present session of Congress. Mr.. Taft.
he said, put his foot down, and the
effort failed. It i'll becomes the majority
leader to cry "filibuster" at this juno
ture, Senator Lehman taunted. Almost.
it sounded, as though Mr.. Lehman was
ready to swap the oil lands for change
in the Senate rules-which would per-
nit the passage of civil rights legiSla.
ton. Almost, but not quite.
"We feel" said Senator Lehman.
''that the American public has not been
adequately informed in regard to the
legislation now before u.s." The Sena-
tor sounds very like those Senators
who debated and debated the Covenant
of the League of Nations. sent to the
Senate Immediately after the First
World War by President Wilson. In
deed, if Senator Lehman has his way.
the same fate will overcome the tide
lands bill as struck down the League
of Nations in the Senate of the
United States.
The New York Democrat insists
there is no partisan politics in these
tactics of delay and defeat in which he
and his allies are now engaging. 1t
is just by-product, not intentional
therefore, that defeat of the tidelands
measure would mean a defeat Of an
Eisenhower pledge, given during the
last campaign to the people of two big
States which gave him their electoral
votes, California and Texas, and to
the people of Louisiana who voted in
large numbers for him. 1t is just
by-product that defeat Of the tide
lands bill, or its long delay, would throw
the timetable of the Eisenhower and
Republican Congress out of kilter.
The situation in the Senate is evi-
dence that Senators, as long as they
have the weapon of unlimited debate,
whether they be liberals or hard-shell
conservatives, will use it when it suits
their purpose.