<P> In 1890--1910 a handful of Republicans controlled the chamber, led by Nelson Aldrich (Rhode Island), Orville H. Platt (Connecticut), John Coit Spooner (Wisconsin), William Boyd Allison (Iowa), along with national party leader Mark Hanna (Ohio). Aldrich designed all the major tax and tariff laws of the early 20th century, including the Federal reserve system . Among the Democrats Arthur Pue Gorman of Maryland stood out . </P> <P> From 1871 to 1898, the Senate did not approve any treaties . The Senate scuttled a long series of reciprocal trade agreements, blocked deals to annex the Dominican Republic and the Danish West Indies, defeated an arbitration deal with Britain, and forced the renegotiation of the pact to build the Panama Canal . Finally, in 1898, the Senate nearly refused to ratify the treaty that ended the Spanish--American War . </P> <P> The Senate underwent several significant changes during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, the most profound of which was the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, which provided for election of senators by popular vote rather than appointment by the state legislatures . </P> <P> Another change that occurred during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson was the limitation of the filibuster through the cloture vote . The filibuster was first used in the early Republic, but was seldom seen during most of the 19th century . It was limited as a response to the filibuster of the arming of merchant ships in World War I . At that time, the public, the House, the great majority of the Senate, and the president wanted merchant ships armed, but less than 20 Senators, led by William Jennings Bryan fought to keep US ships unarmed . Wilson denounced the group as a "group of willful men". </P>

Who did our founding fathers originally give authority to select senators