Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-02-07
Latest Intelligence Concerning Im-
portant Measures Now Be-
fore Congress.
PRESENT ASPECT OF THE SHIPPING BILL.
There Is But Little Probability of an
Extra SesSiOn-WOrk on the More
Important Bills Well Advanced
Merits of the Ship subsidy Meas
ure.
Especial Correspondence
Washington, D. O., Feb. :

Washington, ID. O., Feb
In every short session Of congress, ABOUT
The lst Of February gossip about an Extra
session always springs up This yea is no
exception to the rule. The Philippine stu
alton and the Cuban constitution are the
provoking causes III this case The presi-
dent and cabinet are DESTROYS nat the re-
quired legislation in regard to 'aese subjects
should be speedily perfected, and every
body knows that there is no time for it be-
fore the 4th Of March. 1ence the enter
prising reporters have juIped to the conclu-
sion that there must be and Will be an eX-
ira session, but nevertheless it is dollars to
doughnuts that there WI not be.
Here and there sepator or representa-
tive is reported as opining that such sese
sion is probable Blu, most of the old
timers viii have none 81 it. 1T is al news
paper tax, says Representative Payne, of
New York, the leader Of the houes. And
the veteran Senator Har, when informed
by youthful scribe tn It there was "a great
deal Of extra session tai in the air, beamed
upon him graciously though his spectacles
AMI calmly inquired: ANY more than
usual?
The fact is, that thclgh there is a great
deal Of unfinished bus less IN both houses,
as usual, the work Of e session is far more
advanced than comm My in the short ses-
sions TO be sure, t4ere are, aside from
the appropriation bis, two or three inn
portant measures " Oh the majority de-
sire to pass before ngress adjourns, and
which are still in tn early stages of devel-
opment. Most prol nent among these Is
the pending shippiu. bill for the develop
ment of new American merchant marine.
According to the custom of the senate, this
bill has been taken up and laid aside half
dozen times already this winter, suffering
repeated postponements at the request of
other interests, but its managers now have
cleared the decks ior action and announce
their intention Of keeping at it without
yielding to anybody until it is disposed of.
The shipping bill has been greatly misun-
derstood in many quarters and has thus en-
countered much unreasonable opposition,
most of which, in he light of better knowl-
edge of the subject, has now been with
drawn At first great many thought that
the bill was simIy intended to give lot
Of pubic money 20 a few big corporations
which are alreay comfortably supplied
with funds. like .le American line of steam
ships, the Pacif, Mail company, the Penn
sylvania Raroa3 company, and what SEN
ator Vest ALLUDED to in his recent speech
against the bi as that poor. emaciated.
starving corporation, the Standard Oil
company" II point of fact the bill grants
comparatively very little aid to the larger
and richer existing companies. Its chief
benefits wlil 20 to the owners Of low-power
freight steamers Of large cargo capacity, and
TO the farmers, miners, metal-workers,
merchants. manufacturers and industrial
artisans gou.lily. whose business or wages
wa be gres enhanced by the new ship
building auc numerical activity engendered
by the hiI.
The dem rats in congress are making a
dead set al n.t the bill, but their attitude,
as viewed rom disinterested outside
standpoint 5 rather comical. In the first
place. a many democrats all over the
country including the southern states,
are know to be strongly II favor Of the
bill. viii they see, would enlarge their
business, ID would be especially advan-
tageous cotton-growers. This Is the posi-
ton Of most important southern bust
ness orr the Manufacturers Record Of
Batimoss Again, it is curious TO see the
democr making 50 much fuss about the
exper9 re Of $4,000 900 called for by the
bill. " thcy make 10 such combined OPP
posit;oa 0 Tie $l45, 900 600 for pensions the
$4,000 . for the navy, or the S6O,OO0.00o
for rivers and harbors. Indeed, the demo-
Gratis ON the Mississippi river valley
which the chief beneficiary Of the big river
and Dor bill, it IS thought may relent a
little 1m their pitiess hostility to the So
OOO.0e shipping bill if they find that IN
less y 60 reient their pet S60, 000,0 900 ap-
pro1 tion may be endangered.
nander briggs, executive officer Of
the Hillary cruiser ST. Louis during the
Sps h war, remarked with emphasis the
oth day, in conversation On the practical
M Of the shipping bill, that according
to 5 experience the actual value Of the
ST ouis 10 the navy in the war was more
Il the total amount Or the proposed sub
: during the whole l. years Of its opera
" The. 81, Louis. It VIII Be remem-
| 4. is one Of the swift steamships q the
erican lire which was used as an aux
y cruiser in the war. Commander
ggs explained further that if the Span
: had not known that the st. Louis and
sister ships Of the American line were
active service as war>hips they would
ve sent some Of their Spanish vessels up
cur Atlantic coast to ieyastate our sea-
ard cities, according to their original in
nt.on; bur they were deferred by the cons
Gerayion that they had No vessels which
5u.G cope with such speedy and powerful
-uisers as the s. Louis s.. PAU, Ya5e and
Harvard. Ard. yet Sera6r Vest declared
- other day that such auxiliary cruI-e-s.
drawn from tie merchant marine. would be
u Mouse t. c5e navy or 10 the e5ill try. and
ss.at al tas tax aboutohem Sas ia subteI-
tuze" and "a Eere glamour.