The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-02-22
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.

WASHINGTON, February 1Sth.-The adj
ministration is determined that there
shall be an extra session of the next Con-
gress. That is now as plain as the nose
on your face. MIR. Mckinley is talking
up settlement of the Cuban question as
the reason but if the Ship Subsidy job had
been allowed to go through he would
have probably discovered that an extra
session would not be necessary to deal
with Cuba. But there are other strings
to the extra session bow, and it would
not be surprisingifthe Republican leaders
in Congress so manipulated things that
one or more of the big appropriation
bills failed to get through at this session
and then tried to raise howl that it was
the Democrats who were to blame for the
extra session that the failure would make
necessary. Neither would it be surpris-
ing if the River and Harbor bill, which is
is to be reported to the Senate this week,
also failed to get through. That would
reduce the total of the appropriations
made by this Congress-a total that has
thoroughly alarmed the Republican
leaders since the press of the Country, re-
gardless of politics, have opened up omit.
Then there is the bill for the reduction of
war taxes, which is deadlocked in con-
ference and in fair way to fail, because
the House conterees encouraged by Secre-
tary Gage and other members of the ad-
ministration, refuse to accept the cut in
beer and tobacco taxes made by the
Senate. The Senate is now considering
the oleomargarine bill, but whether that
measure is to be voted on or merely be
used as club to kill time is not yet clear
One thing is very certain, and that is that
the intelligent people ofthe country know
that the Democrats will not be response
BILE for the failure of any regular appro-
priation bill. They have at all times as
sisted in Opposing of the appropriation
bills, as fast as they were ready, and
have repeatedly warned the Republicans
that they were wasting time on the Ship
Subsidy bill that should have been de-
voted to the appropriation bills.
The U. S. Government would have
saved money had Congress appropriated
an amount equal to what would be re-
ceived from the sale of tickets to the
Inauguration ball, toward the expenses
of Mr.. Mckinley's second inauguration,
as the receipts from the sale of those
tickets will be very much less than $780,
900, which represents the cost to the
government OF allowing the Pension
building to be used for the Inaugural ball
not to mention the delay in the work OF
the bureau that will be caused by the
holiday of all of it's employees from Feb
ruary 9th, until March Z.
Senator Teller destroyed the last hope
of the hooters in their ability to push the
Ship Subsidy bill through at this session,
when he said: I'm the interests ofpublic
business, desire to give notice that this
Ship Subsidy bill cannotpass." Senator
Aldrich pretended to be much surprised
and said that he had not before any posi-
tive notice that no vote would be allowed
on the bill. Senator Teller spoke ofthree
Republican Senators who had gone to
him and expressed hope that the bill
would not be voted upon, and then said:
There is strong sentiment among the
Republican Senators, shared by probably
halfo of them, that this bill ought not to
pass. am not surprised, for no bill,
ever presented to the Senate, carried upon
it's face such evidences of jobbery as the
Shipping bill, Senator Hanna got ter
ribly worked up while Mr.. Teller and
other Senators were saying things show
ing the impossibility of passing the Ship
Subsidy bill, and made a speech in
which he virtually took the ground that
the reelection of Mr.. Mckinley was a
verdict of the people in favor of the Ship
Subsidy bill and any other measures he
might favor in plain words, that he alone
had right to say what appropriations
of public money should be made. Instead
of showing that the subsidy bill was not
looting scheme, Mr.. Hanna declared
that the River and Harbor bill contained
propositions that would make the Ship
ping bill look pale"
Representative Babcock's bill to repeal
that section of the Dingley tariff law, i'm
posing duties on such articles as are
manufactured by the newly formed Nor
gan Steel Trust, is not likely to be allow
ed to pass by the Republican bosses,
more's the pity, but it has stirred up the
Republicans in Congress, many of whom
are expressing views worthy of good
antitrust Democrats, for instance, Re-
preventative Lands, of Indiana, said:
II am heartily in favor of the bill to re-
move the duty from steel and iron and
kindred products. And the commenda-
ton that bill will receive from every nook
and corner of the country, will surprise
some gentlemen, especially the magnates,
who boldly and in defiance of public
sentiment, have organized the most gi-
gantic industrial combinationi in history.
The people will expect this Congress to
to teach these ungrateful benehciaries of
their bounty less one, and if the next
session of Congress does not do 1t, the
people will send one that will. An an
archist is not necessarily a poor man.
A trust that destroys legitimate compe-
tition by brutal arbitrary power, is just
as much of anarchist as the fellow who
destroys building with a bomb. l am
against both of them"