The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-02
LAWMAKERS AT SEA
FISCAL SITUATION ENGAGES THE CONGRESSMEN.
Leaders VIII Get Together on Plan and Democrats Will Prod Re- publicans on Issuance of
 Certi6cates.

Washington, Dec. 1.-Never at the beginning of any Congress have the Congressional leaders of both parties found themselves more at sea con- corning legislation than they are on the eve of the convening of the present session which will take place tomor- row at noon.
 Very little except the fiscal situation is engaging the attention of any mem- Der of either house, and all the mem bers of both houses confess their ina bility to forecast what may be done on that subject. All of them lament the presen. situation, but many of them do not bel. ve that the remedy for it Is to be fol in legislation. Those who believe that such remedy will prove efficacious, are in the majority, but their opinions as to means vary so widely that all admit the great diff1- culty of getting together.
 There Is some general division along party lines, but there is also great divergence of view among both Repub- licans and Democrats. In view of this state of affairs, it is evident that very little attention will be given to other questions until there can be some specialization of thought on the finan- cial problem.
 IT. his speech of acceptance last night Speaker Cannon intimated the possibility of some amendments to the railway rate laws and but for the dis turbance in the money centers there is little doubt that this would have been undertaken during the session. It is still possible that something may be attempted in that line, but all plans to that end are quite nebulous.
 The Democrats have already indi- cated a purpose of trying to force the tariff to the front, but the Republi- cans are so largely in the majority in both houses and are so we'll united in their purpose of postponing action on this ubject until after the Presidential election that their opponents have very little hope of accomplishing anything beyond getting recognition for a few speeches for campaign consumption.
 Among other subjects which will re- ceive serious attention will he the ques- tion of taxation of sales made on the Stock Exchanges and while it is ap- preciated that even an effort in this direction may affect the market, there are a number of Senators and members who attribute most of the disturb ances in the financial market to those speculative processes and who would like to make the road as rocky as pos sible for them.
 There will be some antitrust talk, but the financial panic will probably k.lI considerable extent.
 The Philippine tariff bill and the bills for the admission of'New Mexico and Arizona as States will be intro- duced early in the session, but it is not probable that any one of them will become law at this session.
 The friends of the scheme for the deepening of the channel of the Mis- sissippi River will undertake to inau- that nntarnri4a dnrin0 inc sion and in that connection there will be an effort looking to the systematic development of the inland waterways. The President is expected to recom- mend in his message a channel of not less than fourteen feet from New Or leans to Keokuk, and thus initiate a campaign which will be pressed until the desired end is attained.
 It is understood also that the Pres ident will recommend an appreciable enlargement of the navy and while Congress does not seem prepared to completely follow him in this matter the prospect is good for some in- crease of the navy.
 A number of resolutions of inquiry growing out of the financial situation will be introduced by Democratic Sen ators and members early in the session. Some of these will make inquiry con- corning the recent issuance of certifi- cates by the Treasury Department; the distribution in the national banks of the Treasury reserve and others will deal with the different phases of the financial question.
 Even now the men who do most to formulate the policies of the two houses are putting their heads togeth- CT with view of securing an adjourn ment of the session at as early a date as possible. They are using the fact that the national conventions will prob ably be held in June to influence both Republicans and Democrats and the re- sponse received Is generally favorable to the view that the session could come to close not later than the last of May.
 The Speaker will make an effort to get the House committees in working order before the holidays and a eau GUS of the Republican Senators will probably be held tomorrow after the adjournment of the Senate for the pur- pose of starting the machinery to- ward the reorganization of the Senate committees.