How to Float a Loan

"Out in my state they call me the big, dumb Swede!" quipped lumbering Ed Johnson. His colleagues in the Senate were not much surprised to hear this; they had known Colorado's Big Ed for nine years. Nevertheless, they suffered him to delay passage of the $3.75 billion British loan for two hours while he groped around in parliamentary irrelevancies.

Then came the amendments. Indiana's Homer Capehart wanted the loan reduced to $1.5 billion. California's William F. Knowland tried to bar the loan until U.S. production had reached prewar levels and the budget showed a surplus. Vermont's George Aiken suggested another: wipe out the British Empire preference system.

There were more of the same; all were beaten. But still the Senate could not get on with the vote. There was still Bill Langer to reckon with--a man determined never to let his anger be watered by reason. His objection to the draft extension resolution had been ignored. Now he was fixing to filibuster the Senate into repentance.

His desk was piled high with papers and books. On one side stood a glass of water and a glass of milk. Scattered around him were proposed amendments, among them one to spend the proposed loan money to give everybody in the U.S. a urinalysis test.* For 3-c- hours he maundered and rambled, talking about wheat, food, reading Winston Churchill's biography from the International Who's Who.

While Langer argued, banged his fist, blew his nose, mopped his brow, Washington's blond Warren Magnuson, at the presiding officer's desk, signed his mail. The Senate restaurant was kept open; the jammed galleries tittered and yawned; all but half a dozen Senators creaked out to nap in the cloakrooms. At 7:30 p.m. they were summoned back to the floor by a Langer quorum call. They found the sagging North Dakotan chewing the mangled end of a cellophane-wrapped cigar.

By 9:40, Virginia's Harry Byrd was sleeping soundly in a back seat. The rest of the bruised and weary Senate waited only for the collapse of the Langer charge. An hour later, it came--the Senate voted 56-to-12 to squelch his first amendment.

The battle was over. Next day, a coalition of Democrats and Republicans passed an unamended British loan (4640-34).

* Senator Langer was prodigal of U.S. money. At the usual fee of $1,140 million Americans could have some 26 urinalyses apiece.

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