The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-03-04
LEAVES
A ASX|N|NC RECORD
TWO YEARS OF BRILLIANT
ACHIEVEMENT FOR CREDIT
OF ADMINISTRATION.
NO NATION COMPARES
With United States, in Number Of
Laws Passed Beneficial to People
Record Never Equaed.

special dispatch from Washington, ID
c. to the Tribune, says
Monday noon will mark the end not
only of the life Of the Fifty-ninth con
gress, but of the first half of the in
dividual administration of Theodore
Roosevelt.
II has been a strenuous two years
from a governmental point Of view,
l. okng back upon 1t, now that con.
gless is about TO close its labors, it
is easy to see that these two years
mark an extraordinary time Of mu-
tual achievement.
It may well be doubted If during
any other two years of profaund peace
SO much has been done by congress,
instigated and sanctioned by the ex-
ecutiye of such vast importance to
the interests of the people at large.
Pr iden. Rooseyelts reputation as
a doe of things has been matched by
congress. 1t is quitecongresssh
congress. 1t is quite possible that the
president spurred congress on to do
things it might not otherwise have
dom, but history in the long run will
probably make mention Of the period
from March 4, 1905. to March 4 1901
as the one most fruitful of beneficent
laws, and the credit will probably he
shared in the years to come by the
president and the congr SIS in about
equal proportions.
Great Record of Big Achievements.
These statements are not eXtrava
CANT They seem TO be borne out by
tha facts. 1t does not even take d
legislative expert to recapitulate the
big things which have not merely
been talked about, but which have ac-
.ualy been dcne during the life of this
one congrs IS. The average citizen
can run over on the finge,s of his two
hands the measures of vast import
ance put throrg gh after a hard fight in
each case and now actually in opera
ton for the manifest benefit of the
country.
II would be natural for mos peo-
Pile in ch ckng off the legislative re
cord of the Fifty-ninth congress TO
start with the railroad rate bill, run
tkf ough the pure food law, Japanese
exclusion, immigration reform, the in
crease of the pay of members of con-
gress. cabinet officers, postal clerks
and carriers, the remission of the tax
upon alcohol used in industry and tine
arts, the passage of the Aldrich bill
providing fer a reissue of the green
packs into lower denominations,
reform of the consular service, |
III appropriation of ever $50
700 600 for river and harbor work the
of the artillery the pas
sage of tr aties or resolutions con !
,ening our relations with Santo Do |
n.ngo, the Congo and Morocco, the |
aw restricting the hours of labor of !
rail- Dad employees, and a number OF
,thcr measures of almost equal i'm
)ortance many of which are cola eral |
o those already mentioned d and in,
ended to strengthen them.
Kate blll Alone RECORD.
In the case of the history of almost |
my other country one would be quite |
satisfied TO record such an achi We
ner as the passage of the railway |
ate bill. II involved a reform Of /
proportions, it was
ought pcrsistcntly by some OF the /
greatest financial interests in the |
country, and tn re was an honest diff
ercnce of opinion not only as to how |
ar it wa proper 10 go, but as to the |
.xtent to which the federal govern /
nent could assume 70 control private /
property.
The principles laid down by con
,ress in the railway ate bill. although /
N its surface revolutionary in the ex-
rene. because il involves the righ. Of 4
he government of the United States
o declare whether a given rate on the /
a lroad is fair or unjust. already has /
lTov-d itself a good law 10 the ex-
ent hat 30 has hurt no railroad prop /
rites has depressed the prices Of no
AHtnrr nNN lnN- lAha lhHs d. ltd6A III
Iicted no open injury on any one.
It is likely in the long run the rail
oad rate law will confer its cr az
st benefit. not hrO gh the arbitrary 4
ctiOn ~ governmental commission
-med with extraordinary powers. bat I
y the moral effect Of the law itself
The railroads hal begun t0 cuusider 1
hens Ives superior 20 the law. sys-
en- Of combination had been adop'c1 (.
,hich had rendered hem almost in-
10 attacks through the
urts- The assumption on the part 4
( the government that e. would exer-
ise tn right TO regulate rates on
D erstate commerce was the one
hings necessary to bring the railroads
D terms.
Means Boon &c the ePople.