The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-03-02
WASHINGTON.
Washington, Feb. 2S, [

Washington, Feb. 2S, 1905
Congress is now engaged in the
usual Titantic struggle of crowding
into the last two weeks of the sess-
ion all the work that has been neg
lected through the previous months
and the result is legislative jam
which compels hasty and ill-consid-
cred legislation, the neglect of work
that ought to be done and the care
less performance of work that should
command the utmost care and pre-
cision. Appropriation bills provid.
ing millions of dollars are rushed
through the closing hours of Con-
gress with less consideration than
should property be given to bills
appropriating hundreds and great
policies are initiated on the assur.
ance of few men that they are
judicious or necessary. The oc-
casion of all this is the constant
fear that improper legislation will
be enacted under the spur of local
demand, that members Of Congress
unable, or unwilling, to rise above
the petty considerations of their
own political futures, will loot the
national treasury and that under
the lash of agitators legislation
inimical to the interests of the great
corporations will be forced upon
the statutes. The leaders in both
houses of Congress permit, there
fore, waste of time throughout
the session in order that they may
have the excuse of lack of time"
for not passing the private bill of
this, that or the other member, in
stead OF denouncing the undesired
private measure if it be unworthy,
or of passing the public bill, if
worthy, regardless of the pressure
of lobbyist or capitalist.
#*4
No more striking instance of ILL
considered legislation has been fur
nished III recent years than is pre-
sented by the naval appropriation
bill of this session. Early in the
session Republicans as we'll as
Democrats declared that the con-
dition of the nations finances would
not permit of the construction of
more great batIleships at enormous
cost, and it was generally accepted
that none, or at most only one,
would be authorized at this session
of Congress. The President, how
ever, who is determined to have his
"big stick" policy carried out, has
demanded that not less than three
big battleships be authorized and
the House this week passed a bill
providing for two, all that the
President really expected. Now
the Senate committee on naval
affairs has determined to follow the
lead of the House, not because it
believes that the country can afford
to, or ought to, build two ships,
but because the time is so limited
that greatest expedition can be eff
fected by accepting the house bill
and refraining from crossing the
will of the President.
XXX
Fortunately the Senate does not
expire with the Congress and for
that reason the San Domingo treaty
will not be rushed through while
the hands Of the big Senate clock
are turned back in ludicrous at
tempt to establish the fact that the
hour of IL o'clock noon on March
4, has not arrived. Senator Bacon,
the leading Democrat on the COM
mittee on Foreign Relations, has
given notice that the San DOMINICAN
treaty cannot be ratified at this
session of Congress and the time is
so short that no difficulty will be
experienced in preventing the ap.
proval Of the convention. Instead,
the treaty, or protocol, will be con-
sidered during the special session
of the Senate which invariably fol-
lows a presidential Inauguration
and which is held for the purpose
of confirming the cabinet and other
nominations which the newly inau-
gurated President always sends to
the Senate.
Xxx
Rarely has the Sena te seemed
prepared to judge of a great problem