The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-01-08
Closing Hours of the Fifty
Ninth Congress Will Be
Badly Congested.
IMPORTANT BILLS
NOT ACTED UPON
Will Probably Be Railroaded
Through With Little
Consideration.
FAULTS OF THE PRESENT SYS-
TEN, AS SEEN BY THE JOUR.
NAILS WASHINGTON coRRE.
sPoNDENT, AND POSSIBLE REM.
EDiEs-Too MUCH POWER IN
THE RESPECTIVE COMMITTEES
BY William Wolff Smith.

Washington, ID. c., Jan. Con,
gress is now engaged in giving the
country most interesting exhibition,
and one which furnished food for
thought At this writing the date OF
final Adjournment is only two months
away and substantially every import.
ant appropriation bill remains to be-
acted on. Yet to all appearance both
the House and senate are proceeding
as though time were unlimited In
addition there are many matters OF
grave importance outside the apprO-
priation bills, sufficient, indeed, to oc-
cupy every spare moment 1t is easy
TO see that the closing hours of the
59th congress will be congested more
than those of any late proceeding
congress.
Observations of the proceedings
during the next two months will cast
some light on our system of govern
ment and may lead to some insiruc-
tive conclusions. AS is well known
congress sits from the first Monday
in December OF the year after ii is
elected, until it adjourns some time
the following summer 1t meets again
the next December and sits until the
following March 4, when the life of
the House of Representatives expires,
Thus it sits about six or seven months
one session and three the next. The
consequence of this system is that the
short session is consumed almost en-
SDa- Recommendation hills.
before. There is no time or rt.s.-S
very little, to consider new legislation
Of Importance, and if any is taken
up, the consideration given must be
very scant or other regular measures
must be slighted
General legislation can be initiated,
therefore. only once every two years.
An objective feature Of the present ar
rangement is that most of the general
legislation must be considered in the
committees when about twenty-five
per cent of the members are sitting
for the first time. During the second
session about twenty-five per cent are
sitting for the last time and their in
terest is diminished. Thus the work
of the committees suffers during both
sessions, to some extent.
Another objection is the power that
the committees WELD during the sec
ond session Time Will not admit OF
a close scrutiny by individual men,
bers of even the appropriation bills.
They are necessarily held back until
late, and showed through with express
speed. In consequence the commit
tees must be relied on almost entirely.
During the closing hours one confer
ence report after another is adopted
with the scantiest consideration and
under forced draught
There Is no chance of change in
the system at presentA but it would
seem a better method If Congress d.
vided its work into two sessions Of
six months each. The stumbling
block is that a representative does
not take his seat now until nearly
thirteen months after he is elected,
unless an extra session is called. Tie
matter is worth keeping an eve on,
for the rush which will characterize
the termination of this congress will
again attracts attention to the faults
of our system.
The above calls to mind the fact
that the demand for a change in the
date of inaugurating our presidents
from March 4. 70 April 20 appears to
have been side-tracked. Last year
this movement was backed by a num-
Der of states through their governors
and legislators, but nothing has been
heard of II for some time.