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Show on BILL GOES TO WILSON FOR SIGNATURE Measure Clothing President With Wide Authority Passes House by Vote of 295 to 2. GILLETTE AND STERLING OPPOSE Vigorous Debate Held on Effects of Legislation Upon Government; Cannon Can-non Given Ovation. By International News Service. WASHINGTON, May 14. The house this afternoon passed the Overman bill cTcflihmg the president with powers for a reorganization of the government for war purposes. The measure, which has passed t he senate, will now go to the president for his signature. The vote was 295 to :. Not a single change was made in the measure from the form in which it passed the upper branch of congress. The opposing members mem-bers were ( 1 i 1 lotto ot Massachusetts and Sterling of Illinois. Today's action followed two days' debate. Although cting Minority Leader Oillette and other Eepubliean leaders opposed the hill, it was defended by "Uncle Joe" Caimon, who, in a speech today, compared com-pared the attacks on President Wilson with the attacks leveled against President Presi-dent Lincoln in the civil war, An attempt, supported mostly by Republicans Re-publicans to exempt the interstate commerce com-merce commission from abolition or reorganization, re-organization, was defeated, 87 to 213. A similar move as to the war efficiency effi-ciency and capital issues committee, was beaten, (il to 109. These were most nearly successful of many attempts at-tempts at amendment. Representative Webb of North Carolina, Caro-lina, in charge of the bill, said he had been assured by the president that the latter will seel; no radical overturn of these bodies. Even were their powers curtailed, ho asserted, the president would avail himself of the advice of their experts. Measure Attacked. In vigorous partisan speeches, Representatives Rep-resentatives Gillette and Lougworth of Ohio attacked the bill as granting more powor to the president than now held by any ruler except the kaiser. ' They declared congress, under the bill, might as well abdicate its former authority. Lougworth said the measure mea-sure was "another of that class of bills which originated outside of congress and which we are expected to take on faith, drafted probably by a clerk, sent to headquarters for an 0. K. and brought here for us to pass." Representative Gould of New York made an unsuccessful fight to confer on John D. Ryan, new aircraft administrator, adminis-trator, complete authority. The bill gives the president the right to grant van this power.' Gould would have compelled such a grant by the presi-, presi-, dent. Representative Lougworth told the following alleged history of the mea-i mea-i sure, after its drafting in an executive department: "Like Mercury, the winged messenger of Jove, the Honorable Honor-able Albert Sidney Burleson of Texas, postmaster- general of the United States, in his hours of comparative case, but exercising also the powers of purveyor of bills extraordinary, and politician in ordinary for the administration, adminis-tration, ascended his chariot some weeks ago and proceeded hither with this document. Somewhat to his surprise, sur-prise, none of the majority members would introduce it, and he had to induce in-duce a senator to start the measure on its legislative life." Cannon Applauded. Representative Cannon said he was living when critics of Lincoln called him "traitor," "despot." "buffoon" and "usurper," and had charged him with undermining the democratic life of the union under the guise of preserving pre-serving it. In most respects, said Cannon, the president already has all the powers proposed in the measare, "but I," he said, "am willing to put the undoubted power in black and white." He declared de-clared that after the war the political genius of the people would bring the United States back to its familiar forms of constitutional government. Democrats and many Republican's gave the old war horse a great ovation. Representative Gillette, criticising the bill, said the president should have told exactly what he intended to do in his proposed plan of reorganization, and should have asked definite powers to make these changes. Directly replying to him, Representative Represen-tative Sherley of Kentucky, chairman of the appropriations, committee, said: "I have no fear that congress will lose its powers. We still hold the purse strings and thus control any administrative adminis-trative office. The essence of war is that it must be managed by men who can decide and act instantlj'. Whether wc like it or not, the war must be managed man-aged by the executive and not the legislative leg-islative branch of the government." Scope of the Measure. Following are the main provisions of the Overman bill: Authorizes the president to consolidate consoli-date or co-ordinate any executive or administrative commissions, bureaus, offices or agencies of the government. Permits the transfer of duties, functions func-tions and personnel of one office or bureau to another. Enables the president to divert money appropriated for one office to any other office to which the functions of the former may have been transferred. trans-ferred. The only restrictions placed upon these new powers are: 1 They are limited to matters related re-lated to the conduct of the war. 2 Changes made under the law will continue in force for six months after the war. 3 No bureaus or - off icc3 may be abolished without a report to congress. |