The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1906-06-29
work OF congress
MANY MEASURES OF FEDERAL
REGULATION ENACTED.
Bills Soon to Become Laws Pure
Food Bills Sure to Pass-Adds New
States-Decided on Lock Canal at
Panama Over 10000 Bills Intro
neutrality-suspicious. Nearly a Bill
lion.

important measures extending fed
e-al regulation and control have been
enacted at the first session of the Eff
ty-nlnth congress. The railroad rate
and the meat inspection bills will soon
become laws, and before adjournment
both houses will have passed pure food
bills, which, though dissimilar in
terms, are both based on the same
principle of federal control. 1t is the
present intention to try and adjust
these differences before adjournment.
There has been no marked division
On party lines in effecting the above
results, the differences being only as
to ways and means rather than as to
policy.
Besides branching off into this new
legislative field of endeavor, the pres
ent session has made itself important
in other ways. 1t has added one, and
perhaps two new states to the Union,
and by so doing has disposed of four
territories. Great results to the people
are expected from the removal of the
tax On denaturiZed alcohol, and if pre-
dictions are fulfilled, heat, light and
power are to be supplied by alcohol,
made from the cornfelds of the coun-
try, from sugar beets and sugar cane,
from fruits and other vegetation.
By deft turn of legislative points
of view, the questions that have per-
picked congress for some time regard
ing the Panama canal have been set
tied.
The president may dig lock canal
as fast as he pleases. A joint resolu-
ton was agreed to requiring canal
supplies to be made of American man
ufacture.
Congress has not dealt with the for
eign situation to anv extent An act
making much needed reorganization
Ct the consular service was passed.
Nothing was done in the Santo Do
mingo controversy, and the legislation
affecting our colonial possessions was
meager and unimportant, although tar
iff revision for the Philippines receiv-
ed the attention and approval of the
house, and an act was passed revising
the tariff collected by the Philippines
government. A coinage act for the
island also was passed.
But congress talked about our own
tariff law. 1t broke the record for
words. Thousands and hundreds Of
thousands more than have been ut
tered at any other session were COM
piled in the con gressional record. Not
only on the floors of the two houses
has the word record been heavy, but
the publications resulting from COM
and more numerous than at any pre-
vious session.
Tens of Thousands Of Bills.
A large number of bills were intro
duced in the two houses. The calen-
dsr records that the number has
reached nearly 10000, 500 more than
were introduced during the entire
three sessions of the last congress.
Before discussing the number of
acts passed, it is interesting to note
that with all the strenuous exertions
of an appropriation committee in the
house with a new chairman-Repre-
sentative Tawney-it has been impos-
sible to hold the appropriation down to
much less than 9OO,OOO,OOO, although
economy" was the watchword from
the start. One of the important fea-
lures of the session has been the care
full scrutiny with which the demands
of the different government depart
ments have been received by the house
appropriations committee.
|. The hearings accorded to govern
ment officials asking for money to run
their departments and bureaus have
been more exhaustive than ever be-
fore. The result has been the enact
ment of restraining legislation on
nearly every appropriation bill, which
it is intended will have a beneficial ef-
feet hereafter.
Organized labor has succeeded in it's
requests of the present session of con-
gress to the extent of securing the en-
actment of what is known as the 'em-
ployers' liability bill" This enact
ment will make it possible for an en-
ploye to secure damages for his inju-
ries, Notwithstanding his own negli-
gence may have been in part respon-
sible for that injury.
Another bill that doubtless will be-
come law is that limiting the hours
of continuous service Of railway train
men to 16 consecutive hours work, to
be followed by 10 hours rest. The
much agitated eight hours day bill re-
from the labor committee, but too late
to secure action at the hands OF con-
gress. The anti-injunction bill was
postponed in committee until the next
session.