Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-06-03
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER or KAND1YoH1 COUNTY
Entered Dec. s, 1909, at Willmar, M1nnes0Ja, Is
second class matter, under act OF Mar. 8. 1879. ]
VICTOR E. LAWSON, Editor and Manage,
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3. 1908.
THE WORK OF CONGRESS.

Congress has adjourned. AL
drich and Cannon have done the
best they could for the predatory
trusts and therefore permitted their
subordinates to hurry home to look
after their fences, which are-or
ought to be- in poor condition.
The session just closed has been
called do-nothing session, but
that is not strictly true. If it
were, it would be better for all con-
cerned.
In the first place. it has been the
most extravagant session of con-
gress we have ever had. The total
Of appropriations amounts to con-
siderably over one billion dollars.
1t is only few years since the
country was stirred to indignation
on account of a "bil|ion dollar con-
gress;" but that was the total for
the two sessions of that congress.
covering two years appropriations.
No one will for a moment claim
that the country has doubled in
wealth or population since that
time; hence this congress is clearly
entitled to the championship belt
for extravaganza.
In the very last hours of its ex-
istenee congress passed a compro-
mise currency measure. The exact
meaning of the measure is not
clearly known, but from what scant
outlines thereof have appeared it
seems that the compromise" con-
sisted of picking out of the worst
features of the Aldrich and the
Vreeland bills and uniting these
features into one measure that
passed. Aldrich managed to get
in the one proviso for which he
was principally fighting, and one
that wasss so vicious that even the
plutocratic senate had knocked it
out of the original bill before its
passage, namely the provision for
using certain railroad bonds as a
basis for currency. The intent and
purpose of this proviso is of course
to enhance the value of said bonds
and create a market for them at a
higher price, thus making dona-
ton to the fortunate holders of
those bonds. No doubt it will be
found that Aldrich's genial rela-
tive, John D. Rockefeller, and his
associates have practically all those
bonds in their wallets.
The passage of this bill affords
an interesting study Of the game OF
politics. Up to few days before
the end of the session it appeared
impossible to get the congressman
to consent to the passage of any
such bill, and especially of the rail.
road bond feature thereof. Their
Cannon and Aldrich got together
and decided what they wanted
Now. there was pending before the
house a bill known in common par.
lance as "the pork BARREL" other.
wise designated as the public build
ings bill. Practically every con.
gresham was interested in the pass.
age Of this bill, as it contained
some item for his district. So Joe
|quietly sat down on this bill, re.
fuslng to have it brought before
the house for final action. 1t wa:
"a case of currency bill or NJ
pork and the desire for porl
won. The senators, too, were in
terested the same way, and Joe sal
on the measure till the senate haC
acted on the currency measure. L;
Toilette of Wisconsin, Stone O:
Missouri and Gore of 0klahom;
were the only senators who coult
not be led astray by the smell O.
pork. La Toilette held the foo
for over sixteen hours, making tn
longest speech in the history of tn
American congress; Stone spoke TO
seven hours and Gore occupies
t several hours, but the filibuster wa
f hopeless against such odds. TIL
? pork barrel won.
Of the fourteen house member
!, who voted with the democrat
against the currency measure Min
InQSnta furnished ono-C0noroeoyna