Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-06-28
IMPORTANT WORK,
Congress Has Greatly Extended
Federal Regulation during
This Session.
TWO PURE FOOD BILLS
---------------
Almost 10000 Measures Have Bccn In
trOduccd - Appropriations VIII
Amount to nbout 5000. ZOO. 900
employers Liability Dill"
Bfudc Law.
TWO PURE FOOD BILLS

Washington, June 2i.-ImpOrtant meas
urcs extending federal regulation and
control have been enacted at the first
session of the 59th Congress now rapidly
drawing to Il close. The railroad rate and
the meat inspection bills will soon become
! laws and before adjournment of Con-
gress both houses will have passed pure
food bills, which. though dissimilar in
! terms. are both based On the same prin-
| ciplc Of federal control.
There has been no l. arked division on
party lines in cffecting the above results,
! the differences being only as TO ways and
means rather than as to police.
, The present session has also added one
and perhaps two new States to the
Union, and by SO doing has disposed Of
four Territories.
Great results to the roope are expect
cd from the removal 90 the tax on de-
| natured alcohol. If predictions are full
flied. heat. light and power are to be
supplied by alcohol made from the corn
fields of. the country, from sugar beots
and sugar cane, from fruits and other
vegetation.
The President has been empowered to
dig lock canal as fast as he pleases
\ Joint resolution was agreed to re-
quirng canal supplies to be made Of
American manufacture.
An act making much needed re-
organization of the consular service
was passed, tariff revision for tho
! Philippines received the attention and
! approval of the House, and an act was
! passed revising the tariff collected by
| the Philippine government. y coinage
| act for the islands also was passed.
a large number Of bills were intro
| duced in the two houses. The calen-
dar records that the number has
reached nearly 10000, five hundred
more than were introduced during the
entire three sessions of the last Con-
gresS.
1t is interesting to note that with
| all the strenuous cNcrtions of an ap-
| preparations committee in the House
with a new Acknowledgement
| Tawncy--it has been Impossible to
| hold the appropriations down to much
less than nine hundred million dollars
| although Economy was the watch
| word from the start.
1t should be stated, however, in this
connection, that various measures
looking to economy in departmental
| ana other administration were enacted
| into Jaws
Although there has been an effort to
prevent the enlargement of what is known
as the permanent annual appropriations"
! this character of expense has increa Sod
during the session To- the eXtcnt of nearly
five million dollars making n total per-
manent annual appropriation of more than
$40. 0c0.
Organized labor has succeeded in its
requests Of the present session of CON
gross to the extent of securing the enact
'nent Of what is Known as the "employers
liability bill"
Ihiff enactment will make it possible
for an employe to secure damages for his
| injury, Notwithstanding his own nogli-
g"nce may have been IN part responsible
for that injury. Another bill which has
received the approval OF the Senate and
Will doubtless become law before the
end of the session, is that limiting the
hours OF continuous service of railway
trainnon to sixteen consecutive hours
work to be followed by ten hours rest.
one of the novel features of law making
was the enactment of Il measure to pre-
serve the scenic beauty of Niagara Falls.
This action was in direct response to n
popular demand that the falls he not de-
nuded of their beauty to serve the pur-
pos" OF commerce which seemed to de-
mand the transformation of the great
cataract into a series of unornamcntal
canals and power stations. The lcCisla-
ton was difficult to frame but once set on
root had no opposition in either house. I,
was perfected in the House committee on
rivers and harbors under the guidance of
Chairman Burton who introduced the
bill