The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-04-01
CONGRESS WORKING AWAY.
ON ADMINISTRATION BILLS
Only Presidents Measures Will Receive Much
Consideration Between Now and
Adjournment.

ward with propositions upon which all
can unite.
The President is with the peace.
makers art and soul in this matter.
He is loath to have the railroad bill
changed but has come to prize highly
any demonstration of Republican harm
ony. The postal bank bill vote in the
senate cheered him immensely. He re-.
garded it as one of the best things
done by either branch of congress at
this session. These efforts at harmony
have accordingly given the senate de-
bate on the railroad bill great signi-
ficance and much attention is being
paid on the views that the insurgents
are voicing. The influence of a har-
mony vote in the senate on the railroad
bill, when it is taken up in the house
would be very marked. As matters
stand now the leaders are afraid the
more radical attitude of the honse re-
garding railroad legislation is likely to
I be tremendous obstacle to getting the
, bill enacted into law and may delay the
session for week or two if il does not
result in killing the legislation alto
gether.a
l'o Statehood Shelved.
Practically nothing except tia rail.
road bill is receiving any attention in
the senate. The statehood bill is on
the shelf, although it has been favorably
reported from the committee on Terri.
tories. No decision has been reached in
the senate as.to whether a serious effort
will be made to enact it into law.
Whenever an appropriation bill is ready
for consideration the senate will put
the railroad bill aside till the supply
measure has been disposed of, for it Is
an old established rule that appropria-
ton bills have the right of way. Sen.
ator Hale, chairman of appropriations,
has just returned from a rest to Civ,
the appropriations bills that have
passed the house big boost. He will
demand, some time from the senate this
week and will get it.
President Being Helped.
The session is now so far advanced
that measures which are to go through
must be given constant and careful at
tention. That is what most of the Pres
ident IS bills are receiving. 1t is notable
in that connection that whatever is
done, outside of the appropriation bills,
will be done simply because the Presi-
dent wants it. The senate did not want
the postal bank bill and it does not
want the railroad bill. Three fourths
of thu Republican senators think
neither measure is needed at this time,
but they have been willing to defer 10
the President g judgment in the matter
and to his argument that such legisla-
ton issa party pledge, made in the ma.
tional tplatform. Had the President
not insisted in these matters; congress
would have ignored the party pledges
for this legislation.
Thea situation has not developed as
fully in the house, but enough has be-
come apparent to show that the house
does not believe in the postal savings
bank bill. However, it is expected TO
pass there for the same reason that it
passed in the senate-because the Presi-
dent wants it. Apparently there must
be party caucus before the house takes
up The bill.
From all appearances these various
activities presage an exceedingly inter
esting and industrious congressional
period from now on to adjournment.
The first three months of the session
have been leisurely. But the inactivity
of those opening months may be more
than made up by the extraordinary
achievements of the last two or three
months. No one now undertakes to tell
how long it is likely to take to finish
the work. 1t will hardly be less than
two months; it may be as much as
three months. The leaders generally
think they can get the work completed
so as to have adjournment by June /.
The President would like to have an
early adjournment, that he may make
in the summer his long contemplated
trip to Alaska. If adjournment should
be delayed till July i, he would have
to postpone his trip to Alaska till the
early autumn, because he wants some
time at his summer residence at Beverly.