Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-12-14

This Promisss 20 He One 81 tie Nest
Talkativs Sessions In History.

This Promisss % He One 81 he Nest
T. Talnative SESSIONS In History
This, says Washington correspondent,
promises to be one Of the most laxative
CONGRESSES In history. Indeed, the con-
ditions for speechmaking are 30 favora-
BILE that all records may b broken. In
the first place, there will be q general
desire to produce material for the presi-
Dental and congressional elections OF
next year. In the second place, Roberts,
currency, the army, expansion, Nicara-
qua canal and ship subsidy will afford an
inexhaustible mine from which speeches
may be drawn. In the Roberts case,
polygamy, precedent. the constitution and
States rights are involved.
funding bill to float Government bonds at
less than 3 per cent will be introduced
and probably passed. A strong effort will
be made to pass the Aanna-Paine ship
subsidy bill. 1t will be terrible stfug-
gle, the result of which cannot at this
time be .foreseen. Speaker Henderson and
Leader Payne favor 1t In the House, and
1t will be backed by strong influences in
the Senate. Opponents Of the bill will
decry the bounty system and object on
economical grounds to the payment Of
$9,OO0,0OO annually in subsidies. Friends
Of the measure will insist that Congress
should save the -$25, O0O, 900 now paid an
nually by Americans to foreign ship own
ers in freight charges and encourage the
building OF a great American merchant
fleet. There will be legislation for the
government Of Hawaii, Porto Rico and
Alaska.
An acre of space in the Congressional
Record will be filed with remarks about
Cuba and the Philippines. The size Of
the standing army's proposed plans Of re-
organization will receive much attention.
There will probably be no general river
and harbor bill. A bill to construct the
Nicaragua canal will be strongly pressed.
A number Of railroad bills will be intro
duced, the two most important of which
will declare in favor Of pooling and
against ticket scalping.
There will be much talk about trusts.
A constitutional amendment to regulate
or abolish trusts will probably be up for
consideration. An earnest effort will be
made to secure q large increase Of the
navy. A determined effort will be made,
too, to advance the project for the con-
struction Of the Grant memorial bridge
across the Potomac.
While comparatively little time will be
spent in the Senate chamber during the
early days OF the session, much attention
will be paid to getting ready for the i'm
portant matters to receive attention lat
err. These include the financial bill, the
policy to be pursued in the Philippines
and Cuba, the form of government to be
provided for Hawaii and the ratification
Of the various reciprocity treaties nego-
tiated during the recess, and Porto Rico.
The Fifty-tifth Congress passed an act
fixing the price of armor plate at $500 q
ton. 1t is expected that strong effort
will be made to change this, as it is
stated that no factory in the country can
furnish the material for the newly au-
thorized warship at that price. Harvey
lied armor plate such as is used on the
battleships Maine, Ohio and Missouri,
cost $500, with an added royalty Of
$11.2O, making the cost $411.2O a ton.
Owing to the passage of the act referred
to, the Secretary Of the Navy has been
obliged to suspend construction on those
vessels now building, because the stipu-
lated amount will not buy the proper ar
NOR plate.
1t is thought the present Congress will
perhaps make an appropriation for
Government armor plate plant This,
however, will be combated by some for
the reason that in order to start such
plant thousands of men would necessarily
have to be trained for the work, and an
enormous sum would have to be expend-
ed