The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-12-30
MEMBERS DID
THUMB TW|RL|NG
Before Holiday Work Was Very
Light With Senators
and Members.
BY Ernest G.. Walker.
mail Special to The Advertiser.

lew sessions of congress TOR the hrst
two weeks have raised questions of
wide interest about future policies and
procedures. Unless the signs fail a
second week of parleying and con-
ferring is not going to clear the at
mosphere materially. Only the New
Year will mark any decisive steps for
ward, if, indeed, there is to be much
progress beyond the appropriation
| bills.
| The leaders of senate and house
have been busy, laying plans, throw
| ing up defenses and mapping out cam
| paigns But the hundreds of plain
senators and representatives, who are
only soldiers in the ranks, have had
a thumb twirling time Of it. There is
little or nothing for them to do. Of
course, it is well enough TO point to
the departmental errands but, after
all, live congressman can do pile
of departmental errands in one fore
noon and day or two a week suffices
W htCp up W 0abV WALL tAN AOddSSCo
Of constituents.
Congressman have the same weak
ness as the rest of human kind
about emphasizing the arduous char
acter and the tremendous Importance
of their duties at Washington. But
in these modern days there is not one
congressman in twenty at Washington
who is hurting himself with work. A
few men on the big committees do
the bulk of the work. The rest find
time hanging heavily on their hands
from the moment they come here IN
December till they get away IN the
| spring or early summer. Washington
| is to them sort of winter resort
| where they can come to keep IN agree
| able company and be in the thick of
| things and, of course, participate in
| legislation. Most of the congressman
prefer to have part in what is do
ing but the leaders do not give them
the opportunity.
Hanging Around.
| Accordingly sthese congressman are
waiting for things to turn up. They
go to the Capitol every day, listen to
the latest gossip, watch for indications
as to the trend and, in the majority
| of cases. fall into line for whatever
| program may be determined upon. And
that is what they are doing now. There
are exchanges Of opinion, with which
the leaders keep informed. They gauge
the sentiment of the rank and file who
have votes to give in support of this
and that proposition or against it and
| govern themselves accordingly.
The President s delay in handing
out his views about the big legislation
of the winter is in part responsible
for the coloress condition of affairs
but, even had he announced those
| views in his annual message it is open
to question whether there would have
been much more progress before the
! holidays. And it should also be
said that the comprehensive discussion
OF matters ahead will in the end prob
ably be beneficial and quite as much
may have been accomplished by the
end of January or February or March
as would have happened had the en-
tire grist of business been pumped
right before the lawmakers in heap.
Critics Are Busy.
However, just now, when everybody
is drifting along the critics put in hard
licks and find an opportunity to pro-
claim that the start is with such a
lack of energy little is to be expected,
that the leaders do not want much
legislation any way and that the Pres
ident is falling in with their ideas.
The program certainly has been cur
tailed since President Taft returned
from his western trip but, perhaps yet,
! enough of it will go through to enable
the Republicans to say they have
made a gratifying advance in enact
ing the Presidents recommendations
into law.
Hears Both Sides.
President Taft favOrs giving all sides
a hearing on whatever proposition he
has in hand. That comes from his long
judicial training and is in the interest
of fair play. 1t is what he is now
doing with every big measure he and
his attorneys general are framing for
the legislative branch. And so it is
that Washington is filed with repre-
sentatives of the railroads and of ey-
cry corporation affected by the prop0s-
ed legislation. These arrivals have
made Washington a buster center for
these interested visitors than it has
been SINCE the days of the memorable
railroad rate regulation fight. They
are directing their steps toward the
department of justice and are holding
there long talks with Attorney General
Wickersham and also with Solicitor
Lloyd Bowers.
But when the President has listened
, patiently to the representations of his
> cabinet officers and also of the few
representatives of the corporations who
| get to him from time to time, it |:
altogether likely that he will speak
out definitely. Not only win he sene
in his special messages bnt he will bt
able to tell the leaders in the senate
and the leaders in the house exactly
what he wants and just how much leg
islation there must be to satiafy him.
When that stage is reached. the com
! mittees of senate and house that ex
pected to begin their deliberations ear
" on the Taft measures viii 90 ahead
and there viii be live times at tht
Capitol. AS already stated, 1t prob
ably viii not come about till after thu