The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1908-06-18
What Congress Has Done.

The first session CT the sixtieth
congress. which begaa on Monday,
December 2, 1907, came TIC close on
May 80.
The number OF bills introduced.
nearly thirty thousand, broke all rec
ords. OF this number over three
quarters were introduced in the
House Of Representatives and less
than a quarter in the Senate. The
session has been one of large
appropriations. The second session
OF the Fifty-ninth Congress made
appropriations OF $c1q,000,000 The
appropriations fer the session lust
closed slightly exceed a billion dol
Isrs--S i'0oS,O0O,00O Considerable
uneasiness has been manifested by
tie leaders in Congress over this
great Increase, not because thew par
ticularly cared about spending the
money, but because OF the currency
situation in the country and the state
or the Treasury, Only a few DAYS
ago il was noted that. as against an
excess Of receipts over expenditures
OF sol 2SSo00 a year ago, there was
now an excess of raceipts
over expenditures of S62442-
coo. Here is a difference on the
wrong side of the ledger Of over s123.-
100000. The Secretary of the Treas
ury in bis annual report for last
wear estimated that there would have
az the cad OF the year Q surplus over
expenditures of $42,0GG 00O Instead
OF that, there is an indicated deficit
ency OF one and half times that
amount
It was evident that in case OF an
other panic theTroasury would not
be able to go to the relief of the banks
win S240.OO0000 deposits OF public
money, astit did last year; and even
When possessed OF the information
mat gold was going abroad at the
raIe Oh ere million dollars a day. Com
SFess showed that it was almost in
cdpaDle or reaching an agreement
on the emergenc" currency bills.
Inc great trouble about bringing
about an agreement was that most Of
tne members OF Congress lost the
view that in this legislation I'll that
was needed was a Temporary Hill for
tpe issuance OF currency, that at
best, would not circulate for moro
than few months, and unconsciouslv
became involved in the first skirmis6
OF the great Congressional contest OF
the fuclre, whether there shall be a
currency system based on bank as
sets or whether there shall be a cen
tral bank of issue. The Senate,
winch is understood to be generally !
opposed to credit or asset currency
and in favor OF u central bank, pass
e. q bill providing for emergency cur
rency based on State, city and coun-
" bonds. The House, in response
10 tue wishes Of the commercial bank |
ers, who want credit currency, sue
ceeded in adding the asset feature to
the Aldrich Bill, and passed the Vree-
land l3lll as a first step toward an |
asset currency. In the measure |
which finally emerged from the con-
ference committee much oil bu.h bills
is retained. That the committee fix |
ed the life of the measure at six |
years indicated that long-drawn-
out contest between the friends of |
asset currency and a central bank |
is expected before the Currency Com
mission created by the bill makes its
report
Naturally, with a lack of appreci-
alton by Congress which would not |
pass a Postal Savings Bank Bill, of |
the great necessity for economy, ex-
traYaSance in appropriations ran wild,
despite declining revenues. The |
Public Building Bill carried finally
an appropriation Of no less than s32,-
OuO,0OO. For some of these buildings
there is a National demand and for
a few a real and immediate neces-
s.ty; but for much Of this huge ap-
preparation the only necessity Is po-
litical.
The sixtieth Congress obtained
the nf n 'tln-nntbiyo
at this first session through it's refus-
a! to pass legislation urged by the
President, especially that bearing on
labor. 1t did pass a new Employ
ers' Liability Bill, which is calculated
to meet the objections OF unconsti-
nationality raised by the Supreme
Court OF the United States to the
Act of the fifty-ninth Congress.
This relates to common carriers do
ing an Interstate business, and |
deals with the question Of contribu-
tory negligence on the part CT the
employee injured or losing his life.
And the bill urged by the Admins
tration establishing the right Of en-
ployees of the Government employed
in mechanical trades in the District
OF Columbia finally passed both
houses
With regard to other matters de-
sired by labor organizations, one of
the greatest contests of the session
was over the question of changing
the law in reference to injunctions, as
they are employed against labor un-
lens. The decision OF the Supreme
Court OF the Emitted States against
labor organizati ms ir the Danbury
l:atters' boycott, which found that la
Dor organizations were amenable to
the Sherman Antitrust Law, and
that they could act jus. as much In
restraint Of Interstate trade as the
Beef Trust or the Northern Securities
broadened the question, and
the labor unions asked that a law be
PASSED to take them out Of the cata-
CORY OF corporations that might re-
strain trade for profit, and also that
the conspiracy" feature in common
Jaw be stricken out of the statutes