The United States Senate at the end of last week
did what Presi- dent Wilson wished and adopted a Closure rule. " Filibustering " is thus prevented for the future. The liberunt veto is ended. It will be impossible for a small group of insurgents to defy a huge majority by talking indefinitely. The Pacificists or pro-Germans—which: ever they may be—in the Senate have done a service to their country which they never intended. They have rallied all parties to the support of the President, and incidentally have brought about an improvement in the procedure of the Senate which in normal times could not have been achieved so easily, if at all. The Closure has long been employed in American State Legislatures, just as it has been under the name of Cloture on the Continent. History shows that legislative bodies with strong traditions have been able to do without it longest. The British House of Commons did not adopt it till 1882—years after Australia had introduced it—and the House of Lords of course still manages without it.
