The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-26
WORK OF CONGRESS.

1 be on The work which cOnIronlS lAS
members of Congress is Of a nature
which will call for the exercise OF the
greatest care and the widest range OF
craftsmanship, and there viii be niue
chance for political plays or factiouS
lopposition to the plans of the majority,
either in the dominant party or from
the minority.
| THE important measures which viii
lcone before this session are numerous,
and the demands upon the heads OF
the leading committees viii be great
The range of proposed legislation IS as
defensive as the needs of the great Re
public and there seems every reason 10
believe from the indications now at
hand that there will be enacted laws
which will mark advance steps In the
| history of the country and It's rela-
lions with other great powers of the
world. The World powers have come
to view our country with species Oh
alarm, and II may rest upon the ac'S
of this Congress whether or not there
shall be commercial peace or war
Viewed from our insular standpoint
there are no matters OF more Inoiiien'
than the Isthmian Canal the Pacihc
cable relations with Cuba and the
Chinese Exclusion law. There VIII be
a hard fight made upon all these meas
ures. In the first place the Canal bill
will be the signal for drawing OF lines
which will involve the senate at least
| in n battle royal of words. There is in
| the United States growing feellhS
that Il may be better to secure the
Panama Canal Company's ditch. make
a treaty with Colombia and complete
that work, than to push ahead the
Nicaragua Canal, which II Is certain
will involve vast expenditures and per-
haps lead to complications over terri
tory. before the end. which the United
States will insist upon, sovereignty
over the right of way. is reached. The
time has come for the digging OF the
waterway and from every indication
the Congress will authorize the work.
The same kind of a struggle Is in the
air with regard to the Gable bill. There
will be opposed the two factions. those
who believe in government control OF
any way of communication, and those
who favor a private line. The Mackay
peopIe seem in earnest, but there VIII
have to be made some showing of in
tention, before the rights asked Will be
granted The nationalists are in force
and they will make hard fight. Every
one who has looked into the cable dis
cussions during the recess, is Of opin-
ion that some bill for a cable will be
put through.
There are two forces which are at
work TO have decided at the coming
session the question of the relations OF
the United States with Cuba. The
Cubans themselves are anxious to know
what advantages the United States Will
offer to start the new republic on It's
way. The capitalists, and among them
nf
gress and former members. are deter
mined that they shall have the matter
settled right now. Opposed to these in
terests, and the alignment Is being
made at this time, will be several ele-
ments of strength. The beet sugar men
are a growing force. Their weight was
felt during the long fight for annexa-
ton. They are now in line with the
local interests owing to the fact that
both regard the granting of any favor
able terms to Cuban sugar men as q
menace to American growers. Then
there is the element which aims to have
Cuba in the sisterhood of states and
! territories after while. and they will
work to see that there is no concession
now which will give strength to the
new republic This will be hard fight
and while the result must be consid-
cred in doubt it may be said fairly that
the elements against any action at this
time appear to have the greater
strength.
AS to Chinese exclusion the reports
from the East would seem to indicate
that the fight has not yet reached a
stage that the fighters themselves may
form an estimate of their strength upon
a vote The matter is one upon which
many Of the leading Legislators have an
open mind, and they will wait until the
contest has progressed further before
they will declare themselves. There
seems no reason at this time to believe
that the labor unions, once they begin
to use the strength they have among
the members of Congress. will fail to
secure the votes to pass the bill, al
( though they may have to yield little
In their demands for absolute exclusion.
! One of the strongest fights will be
upon the ratification of the reciprocity
treaties. There is a growing sentiment
that there should be concession made
in the way Of customs duties to coun-
! tries which are large patrons of this
nations manufactures. But as usual
in this expansive land there are so
many interests that to find a basis up
on which the concessions are to be
made, appears impossible. What New
York wants California deems ruinous.
This Is shown in the French treaty.
Venezuela wants machinery and would
send wool, but that, while pleasing to
New England, is opposed strenuously
by Ohio. and so the interests of the
wide country conflict. The fact that
the nation has been so prosperous I'M
der the Dingley tariff is taken as a
text by many opponents of reciprocity
and 1t will be a hard fight to pass the
treaties If they get through at all.
with the ship subsidy bill, special
appropriations. demands of the West
for irrigation measures in the Rivers
and Harbors bill and reform of the In
ternaI Revenue measure, to reduce the
income of the government, there cannot
be any wasting of votes by the major
ity leaders and these may affect reci-