Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-06-29
RECORD OF CONGRESS
Administration Has Many Victories
i'm Laws to Its Credit.
RECORD IS SELDOM EQUALLED
More Than $4,000 Bills Introduced
i'm Senate and House, and Taft
Very Successful i'm His Re-
form Measures.

In spite of the adverse criticism
upon congress in Iowa and some
other states among the union, and
the policy of obstruction and oppo-
sition of the insurgents in congress,
that body adjourned on Saturday
with a record seldom equalled of
administrative success in passing
reform legislation for which Presi-
dent Taft has stood sponsor during
the past year or more. j
Chief among the legislative pro-
visions for which Taft has contend
ed and has been successful in pass
ing through congress have been the
following:
Revision of the railroad laws, in
cluding tie creation of a Commerce,
court.
Admitting Arizona and .,ew Mex
leo as separate states.
Authorizing the establishment of
postal savings banks.
Giving to the president unlimited
authority to withdraw public lands
for conservation purposes.
Providing for publicity of cam
paign contributions.
Authorizing the issue of $780,
900 900 in certificates of indebted
ness to complete reclamation pro-
jects. -
Creating a bureau of mines.
Extending the activities of the
tariff board and appropriating
S250,0O0 for it's use
Looking to the suppression of
traffic in white slaves"
Authorizing the entry of the sur
face of coal lands. Z.
Creating commission to consider
economies in the administration of
the federal government.
Providing a new tariff system for
the Philippine Islands.
Legislation which, ultimately, is
expected to give practically prohi--
bitiOn to the Hawaiian Islands.
Opposed to the foregoing formid-
able list of legislation obtained were
a comparatively small number of
measures which had administration
sympathy but failed of passage.
They were on the subjects of ship
subsidy, anti-injunction for new
forms of government in Alaska and
on the Panama canal zone, to create
a bureau of health, to provide in
creased rates of postage for second
class mail matter, and to increase
the engineer corps of the army.
The enormous proportion of the
demands for legislation which are
pressed upon congress is shown by
the fact that since the beginning of
the present congress more than 27,-
600 bill have been introduced in
the house and more than 5000 in
the senate in addition to hundreds
of resolutions on various subjects.
This record, so far as the number of
bills is concerned, is without a par
allel
More time was consumed in con-
sidering the railroad bill than was
taken by all other subjects of legis-
lation. This measure not only Gre
ates a Commerce court but it en-
bodies authority for commission
to inquire into stock and bond issues
of railroads, extends the provision
for the interstate commerce act to
telegraph and telephone companies,
and gives to the interstate COM
merce commission power to post
pone increases in rates until the
commission shall have found the
proposed increases to be reasonable.
An act also was passed to compel
railroads to furnish to the inter-
state commerce commission reports
on accidents so that congress. may
be better informed as to the need
of further legislation.
Under the withdrawal act the
president was given almost unlimit-
ed power to withhold lands from
settlement and to conserve the wa
ter power. On the other hand, the
act providing for the agricultural
entry of the surface of coal lands
will open to settlement at least
6O,0O0,OO0 acres and at the same
time reserve to the government the
right to the coal. -.