Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-01-17

WASHINGTON LETTER.
THE HOUSE DIsPOsING or
P0RTANT LEGIsLATION.
Status and Harbox and
shippinE RiII + ri of
0pponentss 1 . Defen the Lntter.
INT the Lobby il BecomtpE Dneasy
ana scents Defent.
WASHINGTON, Jan. l6.s-4IshaSh house OF
representatives is keeping up Its record.
for businesslike promptness insdisposs
Ing Of Important legislation, and the
number OF bills accumrlatingin the
senate that have passed the houseSShas5
already SbecomeSappaliing The house
has disposed Of the new apportionrlent3
by fixing q basis ofarepresentation that
will result In a me1lhershipEof 386 in
the#hsuseSo of represenfatiyesSin the5Fif-
acknowledgements be elected n1902.s
It IS not expected that this bill will.
provoke any discussion u thessenate
when breaches there, as II Is purely a
house affair.
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The river@and harbor improvement
bill Is also under way In the house, and
a vote upon 1t will doubtless have been
taken before this reaches theSeyes Of
Its readers. This bill, carrying appro-
priations for nearly $$70,000.000 as g
subsidy to the nations commerce. may
be amended In the senate either by re-
auctions or Increases The &improye-
menf OF our rivers and harbors Is be-
coming q colossal work,and few peo-
pie realize that as much money has,
been spent in that work during the.
closing decade of the last century as.
was spent Ii all the years Of our goy-
ernment's existence preceding that dec
ade. 1t cannot be doubted, however,
that the nation reaps benehtssfrom the
Improvements ar8in$excess Of aexpend-
lures in the accommodation Of rivers
and harbors to larger craft that carry
freight at reduced rates.
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While the river and harbor improve
ments are q benefit to the shipping Of
all the world, not 81 dollar of taxes
being collected from shipping to help
bear the enormous expense of the Inn.
provements, such improvements new
ertheless are i'm the most emphatic.
sense d direct government aid to COM
merce and industry. River and harbor35
Improvements by the government e 8
cape the odious Word Subsidy" as q
characterization, and hence the aid Sis
not offensive to- many people who ops
pose government aid when the am
applied to the latter takes the formof
expression OF subsidy or Of bounty
The only real difference Id the govern
ment expenditures . river and har-
Dor improvements and those for the.
building up Of its own merchant ship
ping is that5the first benefit Ii the ship
ping OF all the world alike, while the
benefits of the other are confined only.
to American craft. II
While the shipping bill is not under
consideration In either branch 81 con-iI
gress atSthe present time It isneyer-
theless one of the most absorbing D
les in5political and In private CONVERSE
tions at the capital. It%oecupies an
amount Of spacein the dispatches sent
out from here to- the newspapers OF the
country fully equal to that enjoyed hy:
those measures that are actually under.
discussion and In process of passage.
Not only are members finding that the.
country is deeply Interested lii the;
passage Of the measure id question,
but the direct and urgent requests
they are receiving from their constit-
uenrs In faYorssof it's passage are haY-
ing q most Favorable effect. enc
mics ofthe bill concede thatif team be
brought to arote Id the senate ifs
passage is assured. They are natural
", therefore, bending every energy 4
straining every nerve in order to- pre-
vent vote in the senate.
S&sS@ EHz
Ever since the Sd OF January the sen.
ate has been almost absorbed Id its
discussion OF the arm INSTRUMENTATION
bill, and nc maj is able to- predIctsthe
end. AT the present writing vote
has not been arranged for, and, AL
though there are those who look for the
end during the week just closing, 1t
would not be ut all remarkable IL ii ex-
tended well into the next week lie not
beyond. Meanwhileas the dlibusters5
expect, appropriations bills are ac-
cnmulating, and an other business is
suspended In the senate until provision
is made for the army necessary to Z d
able the presidents carry out the law
in y territorial possessions.
One Of the most significant things of
the times I'D the efforts that are being
made BY the antishipping bill lobby,
representing foreign shipping inter.
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