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Show SHIPPING BILL i MEETS DEFEAT i Seven Demorats Break Away From Majority and Join With Republicans. i. W ashington. Feb 1 Nine Derao- Grata in the senate today joined nn alliance with the Republicans in an F unexpected attempt to recommit the government ship purchase bill. The sudden revolt turned in a twinkling an administration advan- t toge Into a defensive which tonight appeared almost hopeless to many Democratic leaders Forced to fight for the very life of (he measure, the Democrats succeeded succeed-ed In adjourning the senate with the motion pending to send the bill back i to committee yr A party caucus immediately wai called for Tuesday morniDC Clarke Springs Surprise. s Senator Clarke of Arkansas sprang 1 the surprise when he rose while Sena-3 Sena-3 tor William Alden Smith of Michigan was concluding a long speech against the bill and asked him 10 yield for a 5 motion. The senator yielded and Senator Clarke, introducing his remarks re-marks with an appeal for consldera tion of other legislation, moved to 1 send back the ship bill. The legislative pandemonium that followed has not been witnessed in the senate in many years. Senators poured from the cloakrooms to the 1 ( bamber, The rush from the Republican Repub-lican cloakroom was even more Immediate Im-mediate as they had been forewarned. J As soon as administration leaders could catch their breath Benator Fletcher in charge of the bill, made 1 a point of order against the motion, ! which President Marshall sustained. Senator Clarke appealed and the Chair was overruled, and Senator Clarke's appeal sustained, 4fi to .17 Nine Democrats voted with the K publicans. The motion to recommit was pending when the senate adjourned ad-journed until noon tomorrow The nine Democrats who voted against the ruling of the Chair were I Bankheatl of Alabama; Camden. Kentucky; Ken-tucky; Clarke, Arkansas; Hardwlek. I Georgia; Bryan, Florida; HitchcocK. Nebraska; o 'Gorman, New fork; Smith, Georgia, and Vnndnman of Mis- I sissippl Motion to Adjourn As soon as the record of this vote had been cleared. Senator Stone was recognized The chamber was in confusion as the Missourlan . who has stood by the bill throuirh the bitter struggle of the last two weeks, sur veyed the assemblage for a momen'. j With a gesture toward his own side 1 of the aisle. Senator Stone declared: "'In order that Democrats may have ; a conference and that the Repubii cans and their allies may hold a conference. con-ference. I move that that the senate-do senate-do now adjourn " The motion was immediately put and there was a loud chorus of ' "Noes." On a roll call the motion to adjourn was lost by a vote of 49 f to 36 Senator Stone then moved ! that Senator Clarke's motion to recommit re-commit be laid on the table and this, j too, was lost by a vote of 44 to 4 2. : seven Democrats voting with the tti publicans, and Senator la Follette aligning himself with the Democratic Democrat-ic minority. Democrats who opposed the motion mo-tion to table were Bankhead Camden. Clarke, Hardwlck. Hitchcock. C'Gor-man C'Gor-man and ardaman These seven, it subsequently devei- f oped, had conferred earl In the daj ( and determined to break the deadlock. I with a view either to making material 1 revision of the measure or entirely sidetracking it. at least in so far a ( the present session is concerned This C brought the motion to recommit ' squarely before the senate when Sen- ator Reed of Missouri was recognized and began arraigning his colleaJEUes who had revolted and Republicans , who had opposed the bill as support-era support-era of the shipping trust which had sought to plunder Ihe shippers of i America. For nearly an hour Sena-J Sena-J tor Reed, who persistently tiirougn-' tiirougn-' out th- administration Ims been opposed op-posed to Its purposes, defended the I bill. "I congratulate the hoary old ship ! trust monopoly, " he said "on the tat I that it appears still to possess I In this day and age enough vigor to I invade the Democratic ?;ie of the I chamber and find votes in Us support.'' sup-port.'' Republicans Exult. "While Seuiilnrs Ke-d u;1- speaking j Republican senators exulted while Democratic leaders rushed hurriedly in and out of committee room eonfer-I eonfer-I ences to determine on a course of action They counted noses, tiguring on absentees, and could not see a way out of the difficulty. Some sought conferences with Progressive Republicans Repub-licans Senator Norrls who had of fered amendments several days before which would strengthen the perma-nencv perma-nencv of the proposed government enterprise, en-terprise, told senators who offered to accept his amendments that they cruue a few hours too late. Amendments will be considered in the Democratic caucus tomorrow. The caucus also will endeavor to find a way to get the Republican Progressive Pro-gressive support without recommitting recommit-ting the bill If Uiis fails and the bill is recommitted, many of its most, sanguine supporters insist that the measure is dead for this session Senator Fletcher. when Senator Reed had concluded, moved adjournment, adjourn-ment, which was voted. Democratic leaders tonight were canvassing the situation. Absent Democratic senators who may return tomorrow are Smith of South Carolina Caro-lina and Lea of Tennessee. Republicans Repub-licans absent who are expected to return re-turn are Penrose and Goff. Senator Williams said tonight that the most optimistic prognostication on a prob-nble prob-nble lineup on the motion to recommit recom-mit the bill left the Democrats one vote short The revolting Democrats, It was as. serted tonight, would demand chat the ship bill be dropped and that attention at-tention be turned to appropriation measures and other Important legislation. legisla-tion. Despite the feeling of some of his colleagues Majority leader Kern to-ulght to-ulght would not admit defeat, ami In announcing the call for the caucus he declared, "We will pass the bill yet." Assails the "Interests." "Those gentlemen," said Senator Reed, referring to agents of the ship-1 Ping interests, "axe not patriots so much as to care about tho peaco of the United States as they are for their Bhillt) id continue to charge the shippers ship-pers Ol the Lulled States four and five pries for lfUiiinK American goods. "Gentlemen from states where the Bhlpplng trust Is strong were practi-cally practi-cally opposed to tins bill. As I look over the list of senators who still are hero who were members of the senate when the shipping trust undertook under-took to pui its hands in tho American pocket for the extraction of a ship subsidy. I find nearly all of them were in favor or a subsidy, and cheek by jowl with the shipping trust in Its attempt lo raid the United States treasury, and I find also them now in gleeful mood because on the last two or three roll calls the vote has indicated sufficient Democratic deflection de-flection possibly to accomplish the tie-feat tie-feat of this bill " |
