Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-03-09
"A Congress Which Has Made His

closed at noon last Saturday will al
ways hold an important place in Ann
erlcan history. It made thorough
and intelligent revision of the tariff.
1t annexed Hawaii 1t devised and en-
acted the legislation which ended
Spain's hold on any territory in the
New World, and put Cuba, Porto Rico
and the Philippines under the: United
States flag. These are the three great
fields in Observation-Disclosures Congress
worked. An immepse amount of leg
islatlon apart from any of these gen
eral classes was enacted, of course,
and a national bankruptcy law was
passed, after ten years of endeavors to
make an adjustment which would he
satisfactory to the East and the West.
The work done i'm these three fields,
however, lis that which will give this
Congress its distinctive place in his
tory. Tariff legislation 1T is true, is
not particularly rare in American an
nails, but this tariff has the distinction
of being the first act of a Republican
Congress which had to meet the de-
mands for revenue as well as protec-
tlon, except the earliest of all Repub-
lican tariffs, that 'of' March 2, 1861,
which bore Morril's name. Moreover
as in the case of the Morril tariff 'aths
Dingley act of 1897 would have meg ap
the government needs in the wayg a
revenue if war had not come.
Hawaiis annexation has historical
importance from the fact ,that 1t, was
the first accession of territory by $the
United, Stses outside ofNtffe American
continent, Tor Alaska's thousand Is
lands, some of which are further west
than Hawaii, have a sort Of physical
connection with North America. That
accession, too, closed an episode of
half century's duration, and COM
pleted a work which may be said to
have been in contemplation since, Ty-
ier's days IN the presidency. Having
acquired Hawaii, outside of the physi-
cal boundaries of the American CONT
nent, it was not very long step to
the accession of the Philippines, which
are part of Asia, and, therefore, far
outside the sphere of American influ-
ence in the widest degree to which it
was ever extended in the most eXpan-
sive days previous to 1898. AS com
pared with the annexation of Hawaii
and the Philippines, the acquisition OF
Cuba and Porto Rico seems only a
small break with the traditions of the
past, but these, too, have an import
ance from the fact that, SO far as re-
CARDS Cuba, they give practical shape
TO an aspiration of many of the coun-
ktpy's most advanced and enlightened
5tatesmen from Jefferson and John
Quincy 1Idams onward.
\ A Congress which has done all this
work has necessarily made for itself
l permanent and honorable place in
The nations annals. This Congress
provided ways and means for the man
agement ofNone Of the most successful
wars in the world history, and in do
| ing it enacted more legislation than
any other Congress which the country
has seen except that which met in eX-
ira session on July 4, 1861, It's work
was of greater importance than that
of any other Congress except that body
~ 1SGl-63 and tnat 17S9-91 which con-
structed the framework of the federal
government, and laid down the lines
on which the nation has been run ever
since. The measure of 1898 on which
the war was waged, and those of the
past three months, dealing with the
questions arising from the war, es-
peclally the peace treaty and the gen
eral legislation connected Herewith
would have alone given this Congress
large place in the country's history
burt the Hawaiian measure had nothing
to do with the war, and was in con-
temptation before the war was thought
of as possibility. Despite the blund-
ers and perversities of some if its
members, and the consequent short
comings which they rendered inevita-
BILE, the doings of the Fifty-fifth Con-
gress will always have an absorbing
interest for the American people,
Globe Democrat.
THE GRIP CURE THAT DOES CURE