Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-07-03
GREAT WORK
By CONGRESS, :,
SESSION WHICH CLOSED sATuR-
DAY NIGHT MADE IMPORT.
ANT HISTORY
BIG PROPOSITIONS

AO L hO Z " . i u lV IN =
from Beginning to End Of the Session,
the Fifty-ninth Congress Dealt With
Great Questions and the Results Of
the Deliberations viii Be Far Reach.
Ingc
Washington. D. c., July 2-(specia,
History will undoubtedly record and
properly so, that the first session of the
nlty.nlnth congress equalled. If indeed
u did not surpass, any other session
oI congress since the reconstruction
period, in point Of important legisla.
tion enacted. From beginning to end
the congress has dealt this session.
with big propositions Some of them
nave received the signatures which
make them the law Of the land; others
nave laled and still others await the
actlon OF the next session of congress.
tne last OF the f1fty-ninth congress.
(, VI course interest has centered in
tne railroad rate bill and the greater
portion OF the time of congress has
peen devoted to its consideration either
~ coninlttee or on the floor. That it
10 d good Dill is conceded on every
nanu IN fact 1t is much better bill
tnan the President or Senator Dolliver,
VINO was the Presidents chief lieuten-
ant from the beginning until the bill
was passed by the senate, believed it
"ould pc possible to get through con.
gress. Undoubtedly there are minor de.
iects IN the bill, and for that matter
there may be major defects in it, which
llme alone will develop, but consider.
Ing the strength of the forces arrayed
against the proposition, it is remarka-
PIE that anything approaching the rate
Pill in effectiveness could have been
worked through both houses in one ses-
sion.
Where the Credit Goes.
That the President is entitled to a
very large portion of the credit for
4 Wnat 'a was accomplished goes without
saying. The inside history Of the
fight, from the moment Senator Aldrich
: undertook to get his hooks into Senator
Dolliver and failed, until the President
affixed his signature to the bill making
1t law, would make several volumes
OF most interesting reading. And
somebody ought to write that history.
The Pure Food Bill.
Scarcely second in Importance to the
rate bill is the pure food measure
which is at least long step in the
right direction and which will enable
the people to have advance information
concerning the character of certain
foods they consume. 1t Is probable that
at subsequent session the law will
be strengthened so as to ultimately
give the people the protection to which
they are entitled.
The denaturized alcohol bill W .ch
1t is hoped and expected will prove a
great benefit to the farmers of Iowa
could never have been passed had not
the conditions brought about by the
consideration of the rate bill and other
matters paved the way for it. The in
terests that would have opposed the al
cohol bill were so busy at that time
that they were unable to spare the
time from more pressing affairs to op-
pose it.
The Statehood Bill.
The statehood bill was passed in q
fine new -Oklahoma-to the
union and puts it up to Arizona and
New Mexico to determine whether
they will wait more opportune sea
son in the hope of getting into the
union as separate states, or vote to 20
it alone. AS the vote of either terri
tory in opposition to joint statehood
annuls the act, it seems probable we
shall still have two territories for some
years.
Type Of Canal.
The type of canal to be constructed
across the Isthmus of Panama has
been determined according to the de-
sires Of the President This may seem
to have been comparatively small
matter, yet the decision in favor of ;
the lock type probably means a cut
ting off of eight or ten years In the
time required to build the canal. s
Meat Inspection.
The meat inspection proposition {
which had behind it the power of the {
President. while accompanied by some 6
features of publicity which many peo- t
pie would have preferred to have '
avoided, will, nevertheless work to the Y
ultimate good of all concerned, in fact I
whereas consumers may, heretofore, I
have entertainer doubts as to the
wholesomeness of meat products. now
all doubt will have been removed s
The President also got what he q
wanted in the way of law which /
takes from corporations and trusts the T
immunity cloak and subjects them to \
the same processes as ordinary natural i
persons. a
Great, Far-Reachlng Work. y
Taken as a whole, the session has +
produced results not only great when II
By themselves, but far reach
ng in other ways. The people have be. :
come deeply interested in the trust =
question and the President has develop , ,