Ogden Daily Standard | 1918-11-21 | Page 7 | Attacks U. S. Control of Cable Lines

ATTACKS 0. S. CONTROL OF CABLE LINES WASHINGTON. Nov. 21 -Senator Watson of Indiana, Republican, In a! speech In the senate today, attacking the president for taking over cable and express lines, suggested that thc cables were taken to suppress news of what is discussed at the peace conference. confer-ence. Senator Kellogg, of Minnesota, Republican, Re-publican, declared the action was part of a plan to establish permanent government gov-ernment ownership of telegraph, telephone tele-phone and cable wires. Immediately after Senator Kellogg's statement, Senator Lewis, of Illinois, Democratic whip, introduced a resolution reso-lution proposing permanent government govern-ment ownership of telegraphs, telephones, tele-phones, ships, railroads and other public pub-lic utilities. "It demonstrates beyond all question ques-tion that there nover was a war necessity," ne-cessity," Senator Kellogg said of the taking over of the cables. Senator Cummins of Iowa, Republican, Republi-can, asked whether thc plan of the president to visit Europe might not present an emergency that had something some-thing to do with the assumption of the cable lines. ; "I cannot see," Senator Kellogg re- i plied, "how the president's visit can j in any way have made an excuse for i taking over the cable lines." i The Minnesota senator recalled that when thc wire control resolution was I before the senate. Senators Underwood Under-wood of Alabama and Lewis, of Illinois, Illi-nois, whom ho described as administration adminis-tration spokesmen, assured the senate sen-ate that there then was no -present war emergency. Protests from President Mackay of thc Commercial Cable company against the cable order was-presented by Senator Sen-ator Kellogg, who said that government govern-ment operation of telegraphs and telephones tel-ephones had caused Increased costs to the public.