The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-03

Copyright 1900, by Amos J. Cumminss)
Washington, Dec. 1.-The whirligiy
of events is again dropping congress
| into the wings of the capitol. The ma
| ton Is on the qui vive. 1t will watch
its proceedings with interest. Curious
| events preceded It, curious events
await 1t, and curious events will inevi.
| tably follow ii. A president has been
chosen; new congress elected. All
the emotions that can stir the human
heart entered into the contest--whole-
some, vile, virtuous. and vicious. The
new president Is not new, but the new
congressional machine awaits a trial.
The old machine Is to run three months
longer. 1t has been cleaned and rem
ovated by the results of the election.
It's cogs, valves, cylinders, pumps, and
pistons are still In fine working order.
| Its steel screws and plates shine like
silver and its brass ornaments have
lost none of their luster. Today the
great fy-wheel of legislation Is poised
| on it's axle awaiting the action of the
man at the lever. On Monday it will
move as easily and gracefully as the
down of a dandelion. The chief engi-
| neer of the house left Dubuque week
work before him, dividing his time
between his hotel and the capitol. A
glance at the calendar of the house
will give an idea of the work before
| him. It contains already four special
orders, 151 bills reported to the commit
tee of the whole house on the state Of
| the union; 81 on the house calendar.
| If all these bills are passed. and the
nf ri taI in n
| added to the amount required by the
regular appropriation bills the govern
ment will be Obliged to take advantage
of the bankruptcy law. And still the
sixty committees OF the house will
continue TO grind out bills until the
| first day of March, at least doubling
the number already on the calendar.
On June s last. Mr.. Cannon summed
| up the appropriations made by the
| first session Of the present congress
| as S7O9. 729,476.S?. If this session does
as we'll as the last. the sum total will
be $1,419, ,45S,953.7S. Add to this the ir-
| rigation, the ship building bills. the
| Nicaragua canal bill, all of which are
| being strongly pressed, and the out
| look can be by no means reassuring.
Aside from this, everybody is looking
| for reduction of taxes. The brewers
| are making an earnest effort to Sc
| cure repeal'Of the tax of 81 per bar
| rel on beer. They claim that it is a
| double war tax, because the dollar
imposed during the civil war has never
| been removed. There is also a strong
| pressure for the repeal of the stamp
| tax on checks. patent medicines, legal
| documents negotiable notes. marriage
| contracts and burial certificates. The
| revenue is said to exceed the ax-
| penses by more than 800, 100000 a year.
| This excess however would quickly be
wiped out by the irrigation and other
| bills Just mentioned.
Aside from these great augers,
| thousand little gimlets are boring into
| the treasury. The speaker must care
| fully survey the situation He Is, ipsO
factO the great brake on legislation.
The rules give hin; the power to con-
troll legislation in the house. and he
| is responsible for it's eXcesses. His
| judgment ought not to be warped by
| his sympathes nor clouded by predll-
| ections. With the volume of appro-
| priations now confronting him, aside
| from numerous additional perplexities.
| the outlook is appalling. Certainly it
| is not rOseate. 1t took six months last
year to appropriate $1O9, 729,47G.S9. If
| the same sum or more is appropriated
| this year, it must be done in less than
three months.
But Chief Engineer Henderson has
an experienced corps of assistant en-
gineers They have already been at
work applying their oil cans here and
there and furnishing the bearings of
the machinery at every point. Serene
Payne, a fortnight ago, was overhaul
ing the valves Of the ways and means
committee, and lubricdting its ma
chinery. John Dalzell Albert j. Hop
klns, Charles Fl. Grosvenor, Charles A.
Russell, George w. Steele. James A.
Tawney, Samuel w. Mccall and Ches-
ter I. Long officiated as oilers and
wipers. Serene Payne is skilled con-
gressional machinist. He thoroughly
understands parliamentary intricacies,
and knows when to tighten or loosen
a nut or a screw so as to avoid fric-
tion. He keeps his eye on the safety
valve, and never let's the water run
low in the boiler. He has been in the
employ OF the house for sixteen years,
and he is u perennial candidate for
governor of New York. If his familiar
ity with the New York machine was
as perfect as his familiarity with the
congressional machine, he would prob
ably have been governor many years
ago.
The minority members of the COM
mittee, as usual, will be invited to look
at his job after it Is completed. Jona-
than p, Dolliver, an experienced en-
gineer, has discharged himself from
the working force. and roamed into a
more digniiied body of workingmen in
the United States senate, with no In
crease I'M wages. hut shorter hours,
greater opportunities and more pom
derous honorS.
1t looks as if the brewers would hard
ly be able To extract much of the eS-
sence of comfort from the political
moralizers OF the ways and means. The
oilers, cleaners. and polishers of the
minority may secure time to express
their Indignation on the floor of the
house, but even this is probematical.
Nor can the brewers cast more than
wistful eye To the senate. Its prohibi-
ton tendencies are even stronger than
those in the house, and there are no
indications that they are to remove
either of the two war taxes on bser.
Indeed. the sale of stimulants Is for
hidden in the senate wingsof the capi-
tai. 1t is nip and tuck as to the stamp
tax. There will undoubtedly be much
fiddling, fuddling and faddling over the
matter, with the prospect that the peo-
pie may eventually obtain slight re-
lief, All the oilers in the ways and