Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-05
the FfFrr-sEvENTH CONGRESS.

gfeSS there Is muCu 10 ColnAlthus AhN
legislation It enacted will contribute to
the welfare Of the country and while
some Of its omissions are to be regretted,
none of these is of a nature to Interfere
with the business or impair the pros
perity Of the nation. 1t wisely re-
Trained from disturbing our fiscal policy,
under which existing prosperous condi-
lions were created, refusing to heed the
clamor for tariff changes that would
have unsettled trade and put a check
upon prosperity. Whether or not the
failure of proposed financial Legislation
will prove to be a mistake cannot now
be confidently predicted. There was
wide divergence of opinion in regard to
the merits of the measures introduced,
so that perhaps had either of them be
come n law the result would not have
been satisfactory. We do not believe
thar there is any serious danger that
the currency supply will be found mad
eQuate to the demands of business dur
ing the ensuing year, though legislation
that would have made available to the
money market more of the treasury
surplus than can now be done would un.
questionably have proved beneficial.
In the public estimation, and doubt
less in the good results that will come
from IL, the most important legislation
of the Fifty-seventh congress is that re-
latlng to the corporations engaged in in.
terstatc or foreign mmer and to
railroad rebates. In regard to the former
Legislation did not 10 so far as had been
generally hoped fol, but what was done
will render more effective the antitrust
act of 1890. If proper effort is made to
enforce 1t, while the anti-rebate law
puts more power into the hands of the
Interstate Commerce commission, which
1t is safe to assume will be fully exer.
ciscd. Indeed this legislation is already
having good results, there being mani
tested on the part of the railroads a
general purpose to comply strictly with
its requirements in all respects. The
creation of n bureau of corporations,
with full authority under the direction
of the secretary of the new Department
Of Commerce to investigate the ~organiza-
ton of corporations, can hardly fail to
have a salutary effsct. The authority
given the attorney general to expedite
proceedings against trusts, Of which that
official has already taken advantage, Is
not the least merltorious piece of legis-
lation by the Eifty-seventh congress.
1t Is needless to review here all The
work of the last congress, the details IF
which have been given in the news dis
patches. As to the omissions, 1t is to be
regretted that the statehood bill failed
and that something more than passing
a coinage bill was not done for the Phil
ippines. There Is reason to a~pprehend
that some mere or less serious trouble
may be caused in the archipelago he
cause of the failure, due entirely to the
senate, 10 further reduce the tariff on
Philippine products coming to the
United States, In the matter of apprO-
priations the Fifty-seventh congress was
liberal, the total, according to Senator
Allison, chairman of the committee on
appropriations, amounting, in round
numbers, to $1,554,OOO, 900, which is
$4,000, 900 in excess of the ~appropria-
lions Of the Fifty-sixth congress. The
appropriation for the Panama canal &C.
counts for nearly half of this excess,
The expenses Of the government have
gone permanently beyond the billion
dollar mark which was reached a few
years ago and then caused no little ap
prelieusiOn for the future of the coun.
try.
The second session of ngres wal
marked by hllbustering tactics In botf
the senate and the house-for which
republicans were responsible in tn,
? former and democrats in the latter. Tn,
course of neither was defenslble. A
I striking example of so-called "senatoria
courtesy" was presented I'm the fact tina
u single senator was able to prevent tn,
ratification of the Panama canal treaty
!, and thus force an extra session of tn,
!, senate. Such obstruction by the minor
I tiles is a reproach to the senate, but /
y Is extremely difficult If not impossible
especially as to the senate, to provide
rempdy