News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1906-12-05
WASHINGTON LETTER
Continued from page ~

N'h pe Hiadc Ut uHtll tue PRESIDENT
transmits his annual message, due
right off. Besides the regular mes
sage he has acquired the habit of
sending in special messages on various
important topics at frequent inter
walls. which disarrange and knock
endwise whatever Congress may be
working on at the time. Things NAV
be moving alol G placidlv of an after
noon, with pretty much everybody
asleep or telling stories in the coat
rooms, except the hot air orator pro
temPore, where along will come a
message from The other end of the
avenue and have about the effect of a
bleak bear in a quaker meeting. For
this reason among Others, it is mighty
difficulty to lay out and continue on
any particular line of work.
Whatever work is left undone at
any long session, the first one OF any
Congress, is left in statu quo and un-
disturbed until the tiAal or short Ses-
sion. Whatever is left undone at
that session dies beyond resurrection
at its dissolution March fourth. In
this connection it may be instructive
to see what was left on the calendars
and in committees on adjournment
last spring | spoke of a few of these
matters last week which We re out in
the open, but besides them are hun
dreds OF others which have not yet
seen the light,
Gu the Senate Calendar there are
seventy-eight measures reported and
ready for action, and in the House
are more than three hundred and fifty
public and private billsnow waiting
action, beside those unreported and
yet in committee. These latter ale
legion, and many of them are of the
greatest importance. Among them
is Senator Frye's ship subsidy BILL
which passed the senate last session
and which is said to have been helr
up in the House Committee bv the
influence of Speaker Cannon. He is
said to be opposed to ship subsidy on
principle, but the friends of the meas.
ure are hopeful of ma king deal which
will permit it to go through.
A river and harbor Improvement
appropria ton hill is customary at
the end Of each Congress, and it is
limited that the ship subsidy people
will hold up the river and harbor bill
unless the friends Of the latter, which
includes most everybody, consent to
allow the shipping bill to go through.
This mutual back scratching scheme
is frequently resorted to in order to
"get together" on two measures,
neither of which would stand alone.
An Investigation has been under
way for some time by special CON-
mittee of Congress looking toward a
general revision of rates of postage
on all mail matter, and it is expected
that report will soon be made.
Chairman Overstreet of the House
committee on postofhces, is of the
opinion, however, that no radical
change will be mad in the rates on
newspapers and either regular period
icals which are no w included in second
class matter, Mr.. w. d. Boyce of
Chicago, publisher of certain more
or less well known semi literary week |
lies and president of the National
Weekly Publishers Association, has
been here this week and paralyzed |
the postoffice department by offering
to buy it outright OF the government.
He told the officials that he repre-
sented body of eminent fnanciers,
most of whom were publishers and
patrons of the mails to the extent of
hundreds of thousands of dollars an.
nuallv, that they knew the mail ser
vice thoroughly, aud wereready, with
millions of dollars back OF them, to
take it over and operate it as a pri-
vate enterprise. With this was a
guarantee of bene6cient changes,
large reductions in postal rates and
du CISdSSu SCI NlCS SNSI WUSTC. MT.
Boyce said that, in the first place,
they would reduce all present postage
rates one-half. They would wipe out
the present deficit of twenty FIVE mil
lion dollars annually, take all respon-
sibility off the government and pay
in all surplus profits H owe a net Z
per cent. With this the, would also
10 postal, check and Xpress parcel
business at very small cost.
Of course no such bd gain can be
made at present, but HAT such an
offer can be genuinely ard sincerely
made indicates the trend ol the times
ind will set the peopIc To thinking.
On the whole, why not? Opponents
IF government own ship of rail- !
'oads, telegraph, tel, ,hone and ex-
,ress companies use a. n argument ,
hat the government sapuld not go
nto such business. II they are right
low can they object To putting the
'ostal business back into the hands
If private corporation where these