"THE SENATE FROM 1907 TO 1912"
"The Senate from 1907 to 1912" A VALUABLE BOOK FOR VOTERS A Story of the Stewardship of Those United States Senators Whose Terms Will Expire March 3, 1913 ON MARCH 3, 1913, the terms of the...
...At the beginning of this period, when the Aldrich Oligarchy was supreme, it was not necessary to draw the Democratic reactionaries into the open in support of special privilege proposals, but toward the latter part of this period, when the Old Guard found its citadel crumbling before the assaults of the progressives, it became necessary to call upon the Democratic "reserves...
...Newell Sanders, Tenn...
...Albert B. Fall, N. M. Murphy J. Foster, La...
...La Follette vs...
...This movement began in earnest with the advent of Senator La Follette into that body...
...Haines to illuminate the records of the thirty Senators (he does not consider the records of Senators Sanders and Fall, who have been in office only a short time) were as follows: (1) The Aldrich Currency Scheme...
...Clarence W. Watson, W. Va...
...Haines finds it possible almost without exception to determine the status of a Republican Senator by observing which one of these leaders he has allied himself with...
...Have they served the public interest or special interests...
...He also gives the records of these Senators on the tariff bills brought before Congress following the passage of the Canadian reciprocity measure...
...The four big contests selected by Mr...
...Joseph W. Bailey, Tex...
...With the exception of La Follette, practically all of the progressives were included among the Members who were then entering upon their initial service in the Senate...
...Haines: "When the Thirty took their seats December 2, 1907, the Senate was, more than at any time before or since, the citadel of corrupting predatory corporations...
...Simon Guggenheim, Colo...
...Benjamin R. Tillman, S. C. Francis E. Warren, Wyo...
...Harry A. Richardson, Del...
...Knute Nelson, Minn...
...that is, that special LA FOLLETTE'S privilege is bi-partisan...
...And with this development, one striking fact began to stand out clearly before the country...
...Joseph M. Dixon, Mont...
...That body was then dominated absolutely and in the most abitrary manner, by an oligarchy led by Nelson W. Aldeich...
...Then he gives the vote...
...Besides these, he gives his readers other tests, such as the vote on the expulsion of Senators Stephenson and Lorimer, ship subsidy, postal savings banks and direct election of Senators...
...Le Roy Percy, Miss...
...Haines presents the contests over the organization of the respective parties in the Senate—the selection of a minority leader of the Democrats and the selection of the president pro tempore...
...Several were ready to fight the special interests in matters of legislation, but few were willing to wage war against 'senatorial courtesy' and other lordly customs behind which special privilege members were entrenched...
...Says Mr...
...The roll is called on these Senators by Lynn Haines in his book, just published, entitled "The Senate from 1907 to 1912...
...The special interests still reign, but the Aldrich Oligarchy has been demolished and discredited...
...The Changing Senate ONE OF the surest indications of the changing order is the gradual democratization of the United States Senate...
...Charles Curtis, Tex...
...If you want this excellent guide to voters, this permanent reference book for students of current political history, this inside history of the last six sessions of the United States Senate, this story of the influences and methods that have prevailed during this most important period of the Senate, together with a detailed account of the records of out-going Senators—if you want a clear analysis of the significance and legislative history of such great measures as the Aldrich Currency Scheme, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, the Taft Railroad Bill, Canadian Reciprocity, postal savings banks, ship subsidies, Stephenson, Lorimer, etc., you may obtain a copy of Mr...
...Henry E. Burnham, N. H. W. Murray Crane, Mass...
...F. M. Simmons, N. C. William Alden Smith, Mich...
...Thomas S. Martin, Va...
...HAINES' stories of the Payne-Aldrich tariff fight, of the contest over the Taft-Wickersham Railroad Bill, of the Canadian Reciprocity fight and of the efforts of the Money Trust to strengthen its grip on the American people through the passage of the Aldrich-Vreeland Currency bill,—all these chapters are illuminating and interesting...
...Haines has performed a distinct public service in writing and publishing this book, La Follett's has arranged to furnish copies to all who desire them...
...Jonathan Bourne, Jr., Ore...
...Haines has employed the "La Follette roll call" method in presenting the records of these thirty Senators...
...John W. Bankhead, Ala...
...and "The direct election of United States Senators...
...Its faithful servitors are to be found in both parties...
...Haines in this volume has done on a national scale what he did for Minnesota in his stories of the Minnesota Legislatures of 1909 and 1911...
...Shelby M. Cullom, Ill...
...The contest in the Senate during this period from 1907 to 1912, aside from its bearing upon important legislative measures, was "an effort to purge the Senate and bring it nearer to the people through— "The breaking up of the Aldrich Oligarchy...
...Haines finds the lines between progressive and reactionary becoming clearly marked...
...George P. Wetmore, R. I. Their Records in a Nutshell WHAT of their records...
...This book is "The Story of the Stewardship of those United States Senators whose Terms Expire March Third, Nineteen Thirteen...
...A Book You Should Read MR...
...After the way was blazed—before the beginning of this story—a few, timidly and with faltering footsteps, helped to make it a beaten path...
...That had to be done first...
...For this reason it will not only be of great service to the constituents of every one of these thirty Senators but it will also be of value to every citizen of the United States who desires information about these great contests that have marked the changing order in the United States Senate...
...The first insurgent trail was a dangerous and difficult journey...
...For the most part those with progressive inclinations seemed awed into submission by the oppressive power of the Old Guard machine...
...Frank 0. Briggs, N. J. Norris Brown, Neb...
...It is a record of Men and Measures in a nutshell...
...William E. Borah, Idaho...
...There were fights over the organization of the Senate, there were contests over measures of minor importance, there were contests over the seating of Members whose elections were tainted with corruption...
...The Big Test Battles DURING THIS PERIOD there were many battles between the forces of progressivism and the cohorts of special privilege...
...The Senate from 1907 to 1912" A VALUABLE BOOK FOR VOTERS A Story of the Stewardship of Those United States Senators Whose Terms Will Expire March 3, 1913 ON MARCH 3, 1913, the terms of the following thirty-two Senators will expire: Augustus O. Bacon, Ga...
...In 1907, securely seated upon the throne of special privilege, proud of its power and arrogantly supreme in all the activities of the Senate, the Old Guard machine has, in 1912, fallen into such impotency that it cannot even elect a president pro tempore...
...From that moment it became relatively easy to separate the progressives from the bourbons among the Democratic Senators...
...3) The Taft-Wickersham Railroad Bill...
...Thomas H. Paynter, Ky...
...Jeff Davis, Ark...
...Believing that Mr...
...2) The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Law...
...He first analyzes the measures upon which the vote is to be taken,— carefully, accurately, graphically...
...Robert J. Gamble, S. D. Obadiah Gardner, Me...
...In addition to these big battles...
...To-day it has become the regular highway for a fourth of the Senate...
...And by that vote may a citizen know whether on not his United States Senator is representing the interests of the people or the interests of a privileged few...
...For concise, readable and thoroughly reliable accounts of these great struggles in the United States Senate, Mr...
...Haines' book, "The Senate from 1907 to 1912," by remitting fifty-five cents for a paper covered copy or seventy-five cents for a cloth bound copy, to La Follette's, Madison, Wisconsin...
...William S. Kenyon, Ia...
...Haines' book is unequalled...
...The attempts to expel Lorimer and Stephenson...
...And Mr...
...The acid test is this: did he vote with Aldrich or did he vote with La Follette...
...4) Canadian Reciprocity...
...Aldrich" THIS STRUGGLE may be characterized, in a line, as La Follette versus Aldrich...
...On the Democratic side, Mr...
...Robert L. Owen, Okla...
...La Follette alone battered down these obstacles...
...Save for a few such Senators as Gore, Owen, Borah and Bourne, most of these were incipient insurgents who became more progressive as they came better to understand conditions...
Vol. 4 • July 1912 • No. 28
