The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-12-23
EXPECTING 4
BIC WINTER
Washington Looks Forward to a
Hot Congressional Session
and Plenty Doing.
By Ernest G.. Walker.
(Mail Special to The Advertiser.)

(Mail Special to The Advertiser.)
WASHINGTON, December 6.-The
red letter day of every Washington
year, except that in which President
is inaugurated, has come and gone. It
is the opening day of session of con-
gress. Government business now has
the call The activities of every fed
eral branch are at high tide. The city
has taken on the hustle and hustle
that belongs to the tasks of governing
a great big nation of 90,000,000 of peo
pie. The people 5 governing plant,
with its intricate and extensive ma
chinery and the enormous personnel re-
CURED to man it, is in full operation.
The coming of congress brings this
state of affairs about. Not chat con-
gIess always takes off its coat and
gets down to hard work in short order,
after it has assembled. Far from it.
These are to be days of dilly dallying
for while on Capitol Hill. The enor-
NOUS legislative plant starts up slowly.
The wheels have a tremendous momen-
tum, however, which grows as the speed
is accelerated. The opening week is
generally one of formalities. They can
no: be avoided in the big business of
federal government.
But a desire to expedite is apparent.
Committees of senate and house have
received the word to "get busy" The
chairman are sending out notices to
gather around the long mahogany tables
at 10 clock in the morning. A shower
of bills has already been projected in
to senate and house, making abundant
material TO begin on. And it will be
only few days-probably before the
end Of this week-when the house will
have big appropriation bill to con-
slider and debate.
But whether the house celebrates or
whether the senate celebrates, or
whether both bodies adjourn few min
utes after the noon hour every day for
a while till a program is ready, the
presence of the congressman and all
that that implies gives the famous old
town life The powers of government
are all assembled within one city The
men return with new ideas and views,
and the great annual exchanging pro-
cess, by which general sentiment is de-
veloped has gotten into swing. There
are many visits of courtesy and many
visits on business to the White House
offices. Everybody is in the best of
spirits, characteristic or the attitude of
men on the threshold of new period
of effort All are entering upon the
preliminaries zestfully, planning for the
inevitable struggles and hoping for per-
sonal and party triumphs.
1t will be big winter. The pessi-
mists. who came on the scene with
prediction that there would be little
doing have already retired in confu-
sion. There will be agitation and leg
isfation and shaping of policies to in
terest the country before this session
of the sixty first congress expires.
There was a great rush in the final
preIiminaries, the like unto which has
not been in many years The President
Most of the annual preparations in the
departments came IN tardily. The sec
rotary Of the navy made slip in the
estimates for battleship construction
which came hear throwing all the ma
chinery of the treasury department out
of gear. 1t was matter of about $12,-
100000, the cost of new ship construe-
tion during the year. No one over at
the navy department seems to have
thought about it in fact it is under
stood that the cost of new ship con
struction has not usually been included
in the estimates.
Some one discovered at the very
eleventh hour that it ought to be and
although it knocked sky high some of
the big talk about cutting navy ex-
renses for the coming year, the estimate
had to go in. There was a tremendous
euss around the treasury department,
the expert statisticians on estimates
began 70 rebuild the towering structure
they had been a-9niaing. Hurry calls
went out for the government printers.
The advance copies of estimates were
corrected and after quite big fuss it