The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-03-22
END OF THE
SESSION

WASHINGTON, ID. c., March a.
: The broom brigade Is in action; feathe
, busters are flying; darkles are clean
ing the cuspidors. Heavily laden train
= are snorting out OF the depots In wash
ington. bearing the Senators and mem
bers OF the late departed Fifty-ninth
Most OF them are now Senators anC
members of the Sixtieth, some OF then
are-well, lame ducks.
The terrible stress and strain Is over
The Capitol did not rock on its foun-
dations, but II its great mass of marble
steel, mahogany and other materials
could be embodied into one living
breathing, thinking personality. II
would probably roar forth it's rejoicing
that "the spenders" are gone. For the
membership of both branches of the
59th Congress will be known chiefly
hereafter for spending proclivities.
The enormous total of appropriations
stands out as the chief feature of the
session which began early last De-
cember. The spending of s2,00O,00O a
minute is literally one of the sessions
achievements. For one evening not
long ago Senator Hale passed through
the upper branch of Congress the ma
val appropriation bill, carrying a total
of over s1O0,000,000, in fifty-two minutes.
1t was not Mr.. Hale's fault. 1t was
rather to his credit that he could en-
gineer such big bill through with so
little debate and with such expedition.
Right after him came Senator Frye,
who almost equalled that record by
passing a rivers and harbors bill of
about s90,0OO,0OO in a little over sixty
minutes.
But Washington is recovering from
the hury-burly. The city will get
back on an even keel, as it always
does when there is sufficient quiet in
the Capitol to allow ones foot falls
to echo in the corridors. Theodore
Roosevelt, President, with just two
years of his term remaining, is glad
of the quiet. He will not keep his eye
on the Capitol any more for the present.
1t is not known, outside of a few of
his friends, that the President Is tired
exceedingly tired. Vigorous as he
looks physically, full of energy, cheer
full, aggressive in the execution of his
plans, the President nevertheless is be-
ginning to feel the strain. If there
were no other reason for his declining
another term, he would do so because
he is tired of his strenuous career as
a President. He will not pause.
There are twenty-four months more
of his executive career and he must
drive through lot of measures be-
fore he yields to his successor. But
he is tired in the way that comes only
from prolonged effort, effort so en-
thusiastic that one does not stop to
think how exhaustive it is and realizes
only of a sudden when the WEAKNESS
of every fiber of the body becomes
apparent. The strenuous work of the
recent session has brought the Presi-
dent to a realization of this.
With all its profligacy, it's expendi-
lures of nearly billion dollars in a
manner that would have bade even
Tom Reed shudder ten years ago, Con-
gress died an easy death In a few
days the statisticians will have the
exact figures to show that at no pre-
vious Congress We're so many bills in
troduced in Senate or House, We're so
many measures reported and passed,
We're so generous appropriations made,
even when the country was at war.
But the proligacy had been completed
several days before the end of the ses-
sion was due. The bars were simply
ing in the name of economy. There |
was money plenty in the treasury.
The Dingley schedules with their high
protection for captains of industry
We're bringing millions upon millions
into the National Golfers. What mat
ter that the money comes from the
people, even indirectly! Spend! Spend!
Every old measure that carried an ap- |
was allowed to go through. |
1t was not necessary even to observe |
the old formula of waving the flag and |
declaring that the expenditure was
patriotic, that any poor creature who
opposed was an enemy of his country.
Sufficient to say simply that 1--WE want
the money"
Senate and House sat sunday. That
was unusual, but not unprecedented. |
March 3 was in reality the last day of
the Congress and March was Sunday.
The passage of scores OF little bills
depended upon the Sunday session.
The work could not all be done Mon
day morning, March 4, although in a
legislative sense it was not March
till noon of that day. But the Jour-
nails of Senate and House will have
no later date than March 2, for neither
branch adjourned after 1t began its ses-
sion Saturday morning. 1t simply re-
lessed, recessed from late Saturday
evening till Sunday, recessed Sunday
evening till Monday morning, Thus by
an old and honored legislative fiction
Congress was not in session at all sun
day. 1t adjourned Saturday.
One old corpse was left in the cor
ridors, done to death by violence.
This was the ship subsidy bill. It's
last hours We're ones of terrible tribu-
lation. Lobbyists from far and near
tried to infuse 1t with life. The grim
old veterans, who came haughtily upon
the scene back in the days when the
Senate voted ship subsidies that were
little short of national scandals, were
there as were the younger workers who
have had u hand since more reasonable
and more honest ship subsidy bills
We're being enacted at the North end
OF the Capitol.
There was a terrible struggle to get
the Senate bill before the House. 1t
had to be materially amended in COM
mittee, and then Speaker Cannon halt
ed till all the appropriation bills were
out of the way. At least he gave the
word. The special rule for considera-
tion was brought in. the debate of
several days began, and finally Friday