The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-08-03
What Congress Did and Did
Not.

Concerning the WOTk OIL tue ldSt
Congress the following statement
issued by Representative John
Sharpe Williams, the Democratic
floor leader, will prove most com
prehensive and cover nearly all
the ground.
Representative Williams of
Mississippi, the Democratic floor
leader, issued the following state
ment: The only notable things
Congress did was to adopt tue
Democratic policy Of railroad rate
regulation and the Democratic
policy of admitting Oklahoma in
to the union and to refuse to tie
in indissoluble wedlOck Arizona
and New Mexico. The Democrats
regret that Congress did not do
some measure of justice to the
Filipinos by passing the Philip
pine tariff. This Congress will be
almost as much celebrated for
what it failed to do as what it did.
What it did was distinctly Demo
cratic in initiative, origin aud
character. One of the things
Congress failed to enact which
will need much explanation was
some measure to check the collec-
ton Of vast and corrupting cam
paign funds. Nothing radical or
extreme was demanded, yet Con
gre,s refused to keep national
banks from contributing TO cam
paign funds; it refused to prohibit
corporations engagediu interstate
commerce from contributing the
money of Stockholders TO cam.
paigns; it refused to provide for
publicity Of contributions Even
that could not get through a Con
gIeSS the Republican members of
which feel that without a fund
they could not 90 through a cam
paign and realize that the sources
of contributions must be kept
secret After the President thund-
cred in the index about insurance
frauds and wanted Congress To do
extreme aud uuc0nStitutlo II ii |
things thiS failure to do Il very
reasonable and c0n>tltut OF "a |
thing will he hard to explain.
Congress failed to lup off single
abuse or eXcIescence of tue tariff
system. 1t would not agree that
a single duty should not be over
100 per cent of the entire value of
the thing taxed, They would not
even untaX diphtheria Serum nor
heed the cry concerning it Of the
little children all over the land.
They refused to reduce the duty
on iron and steel. although proof
was made and finally admission
was had that our steel manutact-
urers are habitually selling their
products cheaper abroad than at
home, even steel for building
ships, thereby building up Tor
eign merchant marine at the eX
penSe of an American merchant
marine. With a .pig-headedneSs
that is remarkable Oklahoma was
useleSsly kept out of the union
for nearly six months, while the
children OF the Indian Territory
were growing up in ignorance
without schools. The Congress
is to be congratulated upon the
fact that it did not follow the
lead of the President in the Mew
Roosevelt doctrine that he seems
bent upon substituting for the
Monroe doctrine. This was shown
in the refusal of the Senate to
ratity the Dominican treaty.
This refusal threw cold water up
on most of the Presidents big
stick policies. and the Senate was
able to make this refusal effective
by Democratic votes Congress
passed a very good naturalization
bill after several good amendments
offered by the Democrats had
been adopted. 1t refused to pass
any immigration bill, and it is
rumored that the refusal was due
to the petnlancy Ex-senator Lodge,
who found the times out of JOINT
because the house had amended
the bill offered by his son in-law.
The bill as amended contained
many excellent features, and
ought to have passed.