Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1901-02-07
Latest Intelligence Concerning I'M
portant Measures Now Be.
fore Congress.
PRESENT ASPECT Of the SHIPPING BILL
There IL But Little Probability Of a.
Extra SeSsion-Werk On the More
Important Hills Well Advanced
-Merits Of the ship Subsidy Meas.
are.
Especial Correspondence

Washington, D. C., Feb. !.
In every short session Of congress, about
the LIST Of February, gossip about an extra
session always springs up. This year il no
exception to the rule. The Philippine stu.
stion and the Cuban constitution are the
provoking causes in this case. The pres.
dent and cabinet are desirous that the re-
quired legislation in regard to these subjects
should be speedily perfected, and every.
body knows that there is not time for it b.
fore the 4th Of March. Hence the enter.
prising reporters have jumped to the conclu.
sion that there must be and will be an ex.
ira session, but nevertheless it is dollars to
doughnuts that there will not be.
Here and there q senator or representa-.
tive is reported as opining that such seq
sion is probable. But most Of the old.
timers will have none Of it. TT is all news.
paper talk" says Representative Payne, Of
New York, the leader Of the houes. And
the veteran Senator Hoar, when informed
by youthful scribe that there was great
deal Of extra session talk in the air, beamed
upon him graciously through his spectacles
and calmly inquired: ANY more than
usual?"
The fact is, that though there is . great
deal Of unfinished business in both houses,
as usual, the work Of the session is far more
advanced than commonly in the short ses
sions TO be sure, there are, aside from
the appropriation bills, two or three i'm.
portant measures which the majority de.
sire to pass before congress adiOurns, and
which are still in the early stages Of devsl'
opment. Most prominent among these b
the pending shipping 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 for action and announce
their intention Of keeping At it without
yielding to anybody until IL 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 the light Of better knowl.
edge of the subject, has now been with.
drawn. At first agreat many thought that
the bill was simply intended to give lot
of public money to few big corporations
which are already comfortably supplied
with funds, like the American line Of steam.
ships, the Pacific Mail company, the Penn.
sylvania Railroad company, and what Sen
ator Vest alluded to in his recent speech
against the bill as that poor, emacated.
starving corporation, the Standard Oil
company In point of fact the bill granti
comparatively very little aid to the larger
and richer existing companies Its chief
benefits will go to the owners Of low-power
freight steamers Of large cargo capacity, and
TO the farmers, miners meta-workers,
merchants, manufacturers and industrial
artisans generally, whose business or wager
will be greatly enhanced by the new ship
building and commercial activity engendered
by the bill.
The democrats in congress are making
dead set against the bill, but their attitude
as viewed from a disinterested outside
standpoint, is rather comical In the first
place, a great many democrats all over the
country, and including the southern states
are known TO be strongly in favor Of tho
bill, which, they see, would en.arge theiI
business, and would be especially advan
tageous to cotiongrowers. This is the posi-
ton Of the most important southern bust
ness organ, the Manufacturers Record Of
Baltimore. Again, it is curious to see the
democrats making SO much fuss about the
expenditure of $9,OOOOO6 called for by the
bill, when they make no such combined op
position 10 the Sl45,0O0,0OO for pensions, The
$700O0,O00 for the navy, OF the $50, 0W
for rivers and harbors. Indeed, the demo
Gratis from the Mississippi river valley
which is the chief beneficiary Of the big river
and harbor bill, it is thought may relent
little from their ptiess hostility to the 49,,
100000 shipping bill il they find that un
less they do relent their pet 80,OOO,OOO APP
preparation may be endangered
Commander briggs, executive officer Of
the auxiliary cruiser st. Louis during thu
Spanish war, remarked with emphasis tho
other day, in conversation on the practical
merits Of the shipping bill, that according
to bis experience "the actual value Of the
st. Louis to the navy in the war was more
than the total amount Of the proposed sub
sidy during the whole IS years OF IFS opera
ton" The st, Louis, it will be remem
bered, is one of the swift steamships Of thu
American lire which was used as an aux
Hilary cruiser in the war. Commander
briggs explained further that il the Span
iards had not known that the st. Louis and
her sister ships Of the American line were
in active service a. wsrshps, they would
have sent some Of their Spanish vessels up
to our Atlantic coast to devsstate our sea
board cities, according To their original in
tention but they were deferred by the con
alteration that they had no vessels which
could cope with such speedy and powerful
cruisers as the St. Louis, St, Paul, Yale and
Harvard. And yet Senator Vest declared
the other day that such auxiliary cruisers,
drawn from the merchant marine, would be
Of no use to the navy or to the country, and
that all the talk about them was "a subter.
fuge" and "a mere glamour"
Most citizens, and most congressman, will
he inclined IA think that n ounce NJ approv.