The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1901-01-16
HAS BIG WORK AHEAD
FIVE GREAT MEASURES BEFORE
CONGRESS.
Prodigious Amount of Labor Will Be
Required for the National Law Max
ing Body to Dispose of the Business
Now in Sight.
Washington correspondence:

W.
gress when the members resumed their
public duties after the holiday recess.
They We're: 1. The Shipping bill. :.
The Army Reorganization bill. 3. The
Nicaragua Canal Construction bill 4.
The War Revenue Reduction bill.
.. The Reapportionment bill. Three OF
these measures have already been pass
ed by the House of Representatives
l. The Shipping bill: There are many
reasons why this is considered impor-
tant, a few of which may be briefly re-
cited: (a) 1t aims to save to the Ameri-
can people the larger part of the Sl1o,-
10000 a year they now pay to foreign
ship owners. CO. 1t will effect a very
substantial reduction in the rates Of
ocean transportation, which will insure
to our producers, and especially to our
farmers, higher prices for their prod
ucts and larger foreign markets for
them, the latter entailing more profit
able employment for all those engaged
in the many industries that contribute
their surplus for export. (c) 1t will
the only place where it is weak, and in
accomplishing this it will weaken the
auxiliary naval power of our foreign
rivals, to which power our neglect Of
our own merchant marine and our en-
ployment of foreign shipping directly
contributes. Thus the national defense
and the general welfare of our people
are to a large extent bound up in the
Shipping bill.
.. The Army Reorganization bill:
This is of Importance, for the reason
that, under existing law, our army
must be reduced on June 30 next to but
$4,000 men, q requirement that will
compel our complete withdrawal from
the Philippines and the abandonment
of those islands to the mercies of a half
civilized mob, led by band of adyen-
turers, the whole representing less
than per cent of the population of the
islands. The urgency for the passage
of some measure that will enable the
President to prosecute the war in the
Philippines to an early conclusion must
be so manifest that action to that end
by Congress before adjournment seems
to be inevitable.
g. The Nicaragua Canal Construction
bill: This is a measure of great interest
to our industrial and commercial de-
velopment. 1t will help to rapidly
populate our territory beyond the
Rocky Mountains; it will help to de-
velop our almost boundless resources
in that vast stretch of magnificently
fertile and attractive area; it will place
at the command of the teeming work
ers of the East the necessities and luXu-
ries in mine, forest and farm obtain
able from the development of our Pa
cific Slope section; it will enormously
augment our domestic shipping; it will
make easier our access to the Orient
with our surplus products; it will
cheaper the cost of reaching the west
coast of South America with our goods,
and, if wisdom prevails with respect to
measure No. i, it will become an I'M
mense factor in the development of
our foreign-going shipping.
4. The War Revenue Reduction Bill:
With surplus of approximately
eighty millions a year. and
the consequent boarding of a
large portion Of our currency
that should be in circulation Stimula-
ting investment and employment, there
is urgent necessity for a reduction in
the nations revenue. While it is con-
ceded that it would be unwise to lop
off all of the present surplus revenue,
at the same time an enormous reduc-
ton is imperative. 1t is generally con-
ceded that the sum of the reduction
will amount to at least forty millions
annually, and the remainder will act
as safeguard to any possible shortage
that may arise in the general revenues
Of the nation. Another reason for the
exercise of caution in the amount of
the reduction is the fact that the war is
still in progress in the Philippines and
the more speedily it is brought to a
termination the better for the nation,
whatever the expense.
5. The Reapportionment Bill: The
ton by the Census Bureau demands at
the hands Of Congress a reapportion-
ment Of the number CT inhabitants that
shall be comprised within each Con-
gressional district. The necessity for
action at this session of Congress lies
in the fact that in many of the States
their legislatures meet only once in two
years. The task of redistricting the
States devolves upon their legislatures,
and in order that those elected to the
Fifty-eighth Congress may represent
the actual inhabitants of their respec-
tive districts and States, more eQuita-
bly, than they do at present, sufficient
time should be at the disposal of these
several State Legislatures without sub
jecting them to the annoyance and ex-
pense of extra sessions for this single
purpose.
Should the Senate get right down to
business, and it's members devote them