Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1906-07-06
To reorganlze our army medical
Important Bills That Failed.


one of the pet administration meas
ures and which was forced through the
house by making a concession of % per
cent of the Dingley rates on sugar. to-
bacco and rice, by the vote of 2JS to -
as early as Jan. 16 was put II sleep eff
fectually in the senate committee Oh
the Philippines through a combination
of Democrats and stand pat Republic
an senators. The committee voted 8 to
8 against reporting this cherished ad-
mlnistration measure, and the efforts
TO bring about a reconsideration proved
futile.
The senate on June > tabled the pro
posed constitutional amendment per-
hitting a federal divorce law.
The house defeated by n large major
ty the Adams bill authorizing whip
ping posts for wife beaters in the Dis
trict of Columbia.
The senate on Feb. IA voted SO to q
in favor of the ship subsidy bill estab
fishing thirteen new contract mail lines
to Central American, South African.
Australian and Pacific island ports at
the rate of S. per ton a year for the
foreign trade and $3.50 per ton for the
colonial trade. 1t includes provision
for naval reserve force by payment
of retainers to officers of subsidized
vessels. This measure is stranded
however, in the unfriendly house com
mittee on the merchant marine
A new bill to restrict and regulate
immigration, which passed the senate
May %, contained provision for an
educational test-namely, the ability to
understand the English language-and
raised the head tax from 50 to So,
while creating a commission to investi-
gate the entire subject. When, how
ever, the house passed this bill June 26
the educational test and the head tax
were stricken out and, the senate re-
fusing to agree, the bill died in confer
ence.
Throughout the session the senate
committee on foreign relations reso-
lutely resisted the administra TONS in
fluence to report favorably the Santo
Domingo treaty.
Other administration measures which
Jared badly in one house or the other
were:
For federal control Of life insurance
companies.
Specific laws for prevention of cleo
ton corruption.
Uncle Sans Big Expense Account.
Just before the close of the session
ii became apparent that the total of
appropriations to carry on the govern
ment for the next fiscal year would be
somewhere in the neighborhood Of
5000 100000. At this writing the exact
figures have not been officially report
ed. 1t is customary for each party to
insert in the record a week or two
after the end of the session a statement
Of the appropriations and its own ex-
PLANTATION thereof This total recalls the
outcry that was made only fifteen
years ago, when the Fifty-f1rst con-
gress. under Reeds speakership, appro-
priated n little over $1,000 100000 in
the two years of its existence. Reply
ing TO the criticism that 1t was a Dbl
lion dollar congress-" Reed said. ut
is billion dollar country" Even the
Fifty fifth congress, which covered
much of the Spanish war expenses,
spent only S1.553 100000 in its two
years; hence, at the pace set by this
first session, the Fifty-ninth congress
is certain to outstrip all its predeces-
sors in the matter of public expendi-
lures. To the criticism of the minority
the dominant party replies that the
country has grown in all directions. AS
matter of fact, the numerous investi-
cations and federal inspections provid-
ed for have added largely to the cost
of government
The approximate amounts carried by
the different appropriation bills and
some extraordinary appropriations
were as follows