The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-02-26
WASHINGTON LETTER
MATTERS OF GENERAL INTER-
EST FROM THE CAPITAL

is just now defrying the labor
union regulation and working
more than eight hours a day. On
tuesday it did not adjourn until
10 30 o'clock p. m. Senator La
Toilette of Wisconsin is the cause
of this. He is butting in on Sem
ator Hale's prerogative to manage
the naval appropriation bill and
to secure incidentally something
for the State of Maine.
Only fifteen days of the session
remain. There will doubtless be
a number of night sessions but
Notwithstanding this, it is scarce
Iy possible that all of the appro-
priation bills will be passed by
the fourth of March. This con-
tingency does not appear to troub-
lie the insurgents in the House of
the young Senators, as Mr.. La
Toilette and some recently elected
senators are termed. They know
that an extra session will be call
ed on the fifteenth of March, to
consider tariff revision. But there
is no law or precedent that will
coDtine Congress exclusively to
tariff revision and they will then
have ample time for the full dis
cussion Of the naval bill or any
other bill. From present appear
ances it seems probable that the
bosses both in the House and
Senate have had their day and
their will, in the future, be a more
equal distribution of work and
honors. The big four in the
House and the bosses in the SEN
tie will perhaps be less conspic-
uious in National legislation than
they have been for the last ten or
twelve years.
The amendment providing that
half of the navy shall be kept on
the Pacific coast is significant.
OF course the President already
has authority to divide the fleet,
but the amendment is equivalent
to en expression OF Congress in
favo! Of such action. The Senate
also voted to restore the marines
to the hattleships and armored
cruisers. This amendment will he
iuaffective, however, if President
TAFT as gcneralissimo On sea and
land shall fail to issue the nee.
essary order.
President-elect Taft is in the
city, as are also the engineers,
who accompanied him to the
Isthmus and a formal statement
OF the result of their observations,
in a message to Congress by the
President in which he refers to
future talk about a sea level canal
as inexcusable folly. An enter
tainment was given by the Wash
ington Society of engineers at the
Chamber Of Commerce head
quarters last night and a number
of speeches were made by the en-
gineers that accompanied Mr..
Taft. All the speakers declared
that they were proud of being
Americans, when they witnessed
the success, with which the pro-
ject at Panama is being attended.
Mr.. Stearnes, the engineer from
Boston said: "The canal is go
ing through and going through
rapidly" Similar views were
expressed by Engineers Hazen
and Randolph. Another engineer
vert into detail explaining what
the French accomplished and Civ
ing reasons for the failure that
overlook them. Mr.. Schuyler of
California said that Panama was
becoming so beautiful and health
full that he feared it would event
ually draw from California as a
winter resort. The climatic fea-
lures of the Isthmus were dwell
upon by a number of the speakers
1t appears that about eight hun
dred thousand dollars were spent
last year for fly and mosquito
rec and it was said that
eight millions of dollars has been
expended in discriminating the
mosquito and improving sanitary
conditions on the canal route and
that about twelve hundred thous-
and dollars more would be spent
in sanitation before the plan of the