The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-12-05
President Not Likely to Use Any
Big Stick in Handling
Congress.
INTENSE INTEREST in
THE COMING SESSION
Paramount Question Will Be
How to Cut Down Govern
ment Expenses.
Rr Leased Wire 10 The Tribune.

lSN l,NaSG1 W Ire 10 LIE JllDUIlf
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. -
Statesmen are thick i'll Washington to-
day as flies around q molasses barrel.
Everything points TO a record'breaklng
attendance in both houses of congress
when the gavel sounds Monday uoou.
This is due in part TO the belief that
the fight between the regular Repub-
leans and the insurgents will develop
early and be of extreme bitterness ls
probable, and the unusual interest at
tachcs to the approaching session by
reason Of the fact that IT Will be the
first general legislative session since
Mr.. Taft succeeded Mr.. Roosevelt as
president The new president is anxious
to get certain things done.
Taft Not Aggressive.
President Taft is not Likely 10 have
any quarrel with congress. lie does
not feel that it his duty TO nso club
on congress. His policy viii be 10 make
bis recommendation to the legislative
body and then trust TO the people to
hold congress responsible il the do
sires regarded as worthy bad not
carried out. No attempt will be made
TO - build a fire. under any senator
or representative who shall fail TO sup
poII III a lpNJI WY the diUIIulShl q llpu
government programme.
While there are sharp factlonal diff
fcreucos within the party IN power IT
may turn out that these differences Will
add strength to the president 5 legls-
latiVc programme. Both conservatives
and progressives are anxious TO WIN
.the favor of the president. Mr.. TAFT
has invited representatives of each fac
ton to sit with him during the many
conferences he has held since his re-
turn TO Washington, and as result
of this policy he has obtained from
the conservatives and progresslvcs as
sursnces of support for the major part
of his legislative programme.
The Serious Question.
While a thousand aud one topics,
most of them of general interest, vii!
come before congress during the com
ing session, the really serious questions
can almost be enumerated on tho fingers
of ono hand: - How 10 reduce gov
crnment expenses; amendments to the
in utcrstate commerce law; legislation
under which the natural resources Of
the public domain may he conserved: /:
the establishment of . postal savings
bank; shall the territories of Arizona
and New Mexico be admitted as states.
No one cap tell IN advance as to
what the paramount Issue win be. II is
true, however that at this particular
moment The administration is giving
more thought 10 lhe proposed amend
ments to the interstate commerce law
than TO any other legislative topic so
far suggested.
The session comes on with the usual
amount Of law talk about investigating
this and that Many Of tho more ag-
greSsivc members feel that the sugar
trust is \ shining mark Of lniquity.
They would like 10 start an iuvestiga-
tion whicG would not only reveal the
extent Of tins trust s trangression
against the government during the last
ten or fifteen years. but which would
result in emphasizing the necessity OF
congress changing the tariff law so as
80 make the trust less beneficiary.
One of the first important matters
to engage the attention of congress
will be the Nicaraguan situation.
Beyond carrying out President Taft ;
policies, little viii be done by congress
during the long session. II IS pro
posed to suppress general Legislation all
that is possible, and hold the new laws
down TO minimum There will be
no monetary enactments, the utmost
in that direction being request for
funds with which 10 print and dis
tribute the vast mass of material gath
cred by the monetary commission dur
ing its existence, The rod OF punish
ment for the insurgents has been taken
down and limbcred mp. and they will
be fed ON cornbread and warm water.