THE SENATE ESTABLISHMENT

The documented expose of the system which hamstrings the Senate today (some years after La Follette warned against it) was made on the floor of the Senate by the Senator from Pennsylvania during the newspaper strike. It is too important in its analysis and evidence relating to the bottling up of progressive legislation to be lost in official annals, and for this reason alone its publication is welcomed. But let's face it; a Senate debate makes hard reading. One could wish that the substance could have been extracted for those who find the details of Senatorial etiquette annoying interruptions. The Senate committee system, the selection of committee chairmen, the methods used to shut off debate by filibuster, the ""punishment"" of recalcitrants by keeping them off key committees, the overriding danger of strangulation of important measures which never reach the Senate floor- these are some of the matters discussed. Almost as important as Senator Clark's presentation is the speech in his support by Paul Douglas of Illinois. And if the reader can stay with the incidental and repetitive protocol, there is considerable meat for thought in the dialogue in which Senators Proxmire, Mansfield, Morse, Javits and others took part. Newsworthy, as the Senate goes into its present stormy session on civil rights.