Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1900-12-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.
News anu Gossip of Affairs at the Ma
tional Capitol.

more Congressional work accomplished
in Washington this week than is
! done in many weeks when Congress
is in session. 1t has been the very
necessary Committee work OF getting
bills in shape so there will be no delay
in getting them reported to the House
and keeping that body busy. The
Ways and Means Committee has COM
pleted the bill to reduce the war taxes,
but has not made it public and prob
ably will not do so until it is reported
to the House; the Committee on Mill
tary Affairs has about agreed TO report
the bill prepared by the War Depart
ment, which provides for a regular
army, the maximum strength OF which
shall be o. 900 men and the minimum
strength 900 men; the Committee on
Rivers and Harbors is considering the
items which shall be included in the
River and Harbor bill, but has not yet
got far enough advanced TO make an
Intelligent estimate Of the total, al
though it is expected that the bill will
carry somewhere in the neighborhood
OF $40, 600 900, and the Committee on
appropriations has almost completed
the Legislative, judicial and Execu-
tive Appropriation bill, which will
carry about $50, ,000 900.
The ship subsidy bill is not to have
plain sailing, If it gets through at this
session of Congress. Representative
Burton, of Ohio, chairman of the House
Committee on Rivers and Harbors is
out ilat-footed against il, and other re-
publicans, including members of the
Indiana delegation, are expressing
opposition to the bill as it stands. If
endorsed by the party caucus, the bill
can be put through the House easy
enough, but If there is determined
opposition in the Senate it can be hung
up just as, easily there. Represen-
tative Hull, of Iowa, chai irman OF the
House Committee on Military Affairs,
is also enrolled among the opponents
OF the bill.
Although the administration is
pledged to the absolute independence
OF Cuba, powerful influences are work
ing with the hope that Cuba will be
annexed instead of being made free.
Inasmuch as this government will
surely keep its pledges, Cuba would
- "a thnGn int fin
ences to work, and not Washington, as
the only honorable way that annex
alton can be brought about will be for
the Cubans, through a government of
their own, to ask for it. That annex
alton would be good thing for Gu ba
is generally admitted, but 1T is by no
means so certain that it would good
thing for the U Sunless emigration re-
suits in Americanizing the island, a.
many believe it will be in the near flu
ture.
The old, old fight for cloture rule
in the Senate is again to be made, and
the result is likely to be the same
failure. 1t is always irritating TO the
majority when rules stand in the way
of their doing just as they please, but
! it is just what those rules of the Sem
ate were adopted for, and there has al
ways been majority in the Senate
who believed that it was a good thing
to have one legislative branch of the
government through which legislation
could not be railroaded as long as there
was desire to discuss it, and more
than once these long discussions have
convinced the country that the meas
ure discussed ought not to pass, even
though il could get majority If voted
upon by the Senate.
1t is among the legislative probabil.
tiles that the reduction to be made In
internal revenue taxation by the bill
which is now being prepared by the
House Ways and Means Committee
will be about doubled when the bill
goes to the Senate. The amount of
reduction aimed at by the House Com
mittee is about $50, 600, 600 year, but
a number Of Senators haye expressed
the opinion that it should be at least
twice as much, and they will try TO
put their opinions into effect.
The brewers are fighting hard to
get reduction in the tax on beer.
Representative OF their association
sought to get the President committed
to help them, but he was too wary for
them. He listened to all their reasons
in the shape of figures showing why
the tax ought to be reduced and then
told them that he would see that the
figures were brought to the attention
OF the members OF the committee now
considering the subject. The brewers
have about aband oned hope OF getting
anything from the committee and are
preparing to carry the fight into Con-
gress, where they believe they can
concentrate enough pulp to get the
reduction they are after.