The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-12-23

nothing untoward had happened. /
The President was correcting his an
nual message right down to the last
minute before it was sent to congress
Tuesday, but the important document
arrived on time and nearly everybody
was happy-all except those who do
not like his legislative program, pro-
gram by the way that has been con- +.
stantly thinning out. till there is much
less of it than there was under con-
temptation at the time of the western
trip. Just now, however, it looks as
though the President would send in
some supplemental message, special
message, if You please, dealing with par
tieular topics which he has been unable
TO dispose of satisfactorily in his an
nual message.
Then congress came in very tradlIy
this year. Senators and representatives
daliied at home till the very last and
when they came it was with a great
rush. The fact of the extra session. at
which the organization of senate and
house was completed, had much to do
with this Men did not need to hurry
back to look after their committee as
signments, as is usually the case at !
the beginning of the regular long SEES
sion Then they knew well in advance
that the first days session was sure
to endure but few minutes and that
| the senate would adjourn out of re-
spect to the memory of Senator Martin
n. johnson of North Dakota and that
the house would adjourn in similar
way for Representatives Francis r.
| Iassiter of Virginia and David A.
DeArmond Of Missouri. There would
! be in either house little more than a
roll call TO develop the presence of
| quorums, the fixing of the noon hour
| for assembling daily and the naming
| of joint committee 10 visit the Presi
| dent and tell him, in accord with the
| time honored custom, that congress had
assembled.
| Then the extra session sat so late
into the summer that congressman had
! attended to a vast deal of political
and personal business which ordinarily
would have brought them earlier to
| Washington. Many more had been able
to confer at length with the President
while he was on tour through the West
which dispensed with the necessity of
coming to Washington in advance of
the session for talks about patronage
and legislation. Accordingly the week
before the session began there We're
comparatively few congressional visit
ors at the White House offices. AS
matter of fact the President would
have had little time to see such visitors
for he was in the throes of his annual
message and could not put it off longer.
But now that the preliminary rush
is over, the doors of the White House
Offices are open again and this week
the waiting room for congressman is
crowded with those who have come to
pay their visits of courtesy and to at
tend to other business. Everybody is
in good spirits. The President has
cordial greetings, there is no proscrib-
ed class of congressman, as was the
ease so long under the former admins
tration and the goose honks high. The
best of good feeling prevails in every
quarter which is a good augury for the
winter s work. However, the prevail
ing tone is one of doing comparatively
little of actual legislation outside of
the appropriation bills. Something will
be done on the general program, of
course But the talk from day to day
is for doing less and less and to leave
the country to recuperate.
For instance, it looks at the present
moment as though the federal charter
bill, which President Roosevelt advo-
Gates, which President Taft favors and
which Attorney General Wickersham
believes in enthusiastically, would be
dropped for the present session. At
least the opposition to it is strenuous
and it probably comes from some very
influential railroads and other corpora
tons. Tt has been separated from the
interstate commerce amendments, be-
cause it has been decided that it ought
to go before the judiciary committees
of senate and house. Legislation comes
| out of those committees very slowly.
for their membership is made up of
very conservative men and they pro-
coed deliberately.
, + As to the interstate commerce amend
ments the outlook is more promising
The parleys are in progress this week.
| The President and the attorney general
are talking with the members of the
interstate commerce committees, the
opinion of the leaders of senate and
house are being sounded with a prob
ability that some few things will be
found upon which all can agree and
which can be put through congress
without much friction. At least. that
is the present aim. 1t will soon develop
whether such an outcome is feasible.
For the present the great bulk of
. the senators and representatives are
finding their places and getting settled.
The handshaking and home-making
period occupies the attention of the
best part of congress for quite week
after the gavels fall. A few Of the
more prosperous congressman have
houses in Washington and these are
generally opened and made ready for
occupancy some time in advance. The
other more unfortunate statesmen and
politicians must take up their abiding
places in hotels, apartment houses and
private families Some time is requir-
ed to qake ones self feel at home in
the new surroundings and to get ready
for the serious consideration of legis-
lat;ve business.
The outburst of insurgentism at the
| beginning of the SESSION has not mate
rallied exactly as was expected. Rep
resenfative Fowler, Of New Jersey.