The Senate Week

Work Done. Last week the U. S. Senators:

P: Passed a bill by Senator Watson extending to March 1929 the life of the Federal Radio Commission, enlarging its power over "chain hookups" and direct radio advertising; sent it to the House, postponing confirmation of appointees to the Commission until the House should act on the bill.

P: Passed a bill by Senator Willis exempting from taxes income derived from the sale of merchant ships, when such income is used to build new tonnage; sent it to the House; received it back, rejected, with a "respectful" note that it contravened the House's exclusive power to originate revenue laws.

P: Added to a House bill of appropriations for the Interior Department an amendment to the Immigration Law, to give preference within quotas to wives and children of alien declarants;* passed it.

P: Passed a bill for the U. S. Mint to strike Lindbergh medals for sale at one dollar each.

P: Passed, 68 to 1, a resolution requiring the Interstate Commerce Commission to report fully to Congress in April on all its rate decisions of the past five years, including the authority cited for each decision; sent it to the House for concurrence.

P: After three days' intermittent debate, passed Senator LaFollette's resolution viewing with alarm third terms for U. S. Presidents (see below).

The Senate's Sense. It had no legal value. Its moral value was washed out by partisan undercurrents. Its application was so indefinite that Senator Reed of Pennsylvania was moved to say: "You might as well pass a resolution in favor of the Ten Commandments." But the Senate, after three days of wrangling, twitting, theorizing and horseplaying, passed it anyway, 56 to 26--a resolution by boyish Senator LaFollette "that it is the sense of the Senate that the precedent established by Washington and other Presidents of the United States in retiring from the Presidential office after their second term has become, by universal concurrence, a part of our republican system of government and that any departure from this time-honored custom would be unwise, unpatriotic and fraught with peril to our free institutions."

Originally there was a rider, solemnly "congratulating" President Coolidge for deciding not to run again. To the delight of all, this roused Ohio's fussy Fess to accuse Senator LaFollette of an ulterior motive. President Coolidge had not decided not to run, explained Senator Fess: he had merely chosen; he was still available ; Senator Fess knew better than other Senators, etc., etc. Idaho's bold Borah and several others were for retaining the rider because they interpreted "I do not choose" and subsequent statements to be the utterances of an honest man and not a foxy phrasemaker. Senator Borah did President Coolidge the honor of believing that there is "no possibility of the present incumbent being a candidate. He is completely out of the race." So insistent was Senator Fess. however, that Senator LaFollette suddenly and finally retorted: "I accept the amendment. ... I do not want to commend him [President Coolidge] for something he doesn't deserve."

*I.e., aliens in the U. S. who have taken out first citizenship papers.