Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-05-06
CONGRESS IN SESSION.
In the Senate.

4 spirited debate on the provisions OF
The railroad bill authorizing the making
Of rates was engaged in on the 2Sth by
Senators Clay. Rretow. Cummins. Craw-
ford. Bafey. Aldrich. ROrah. Root and
Heyburf.
The first test vote on the railroad bill
was had in the Senate and resulted III Il
victory for the administration members.
on the 29th. The Cumm.nS amendment.
which would require all traffic agree
mpnts made between railroads. and d.!
rates. fares and charges to be approved
in advance by the interstate commerce
commission was defeated by Il vote OF
% t. %. Eleven Republicans. most OF
them from the inSurgent r.nkS. ana
eighteen Democrats, voted for the Cum
MINIS provision. All of the votes against
il were cast b. Republicans.
The acceptance by Congress Of Il
statue Of Francis II. Pierpont from the
state Of West Virginia. for the perma
nent exhibition III statuary hail at the
capitol. was the occasion Of euloGies III
the Senate on the Roth
In addition to considering the railroad
bill for two hours. the Senate on the md
discussed 1T length and passed the bill
creating Il bureau of mines i'll the lnte-
rOr department. The bill had received
the sanction Of the House and now only
requires the signature of the President.
The long and short haul amendment 90
the railroad bill prepared ny Senator
Dixon was the subject of lively debate.
In the Senate on the Bird the traffic
agreement provision and section -. deal
ing with the combination of railroads,
were stricken from the railroao bill. The
Senate also passed Il House bill creating
an art commission for Washington.
Among the bills passed on the 4th by
the Senate was one approprat;ng S15J.-
100000 for pensions. Other measures
passed modified the laws relating 10 mon
cy orders and registered letters and au-
thOrized the naturalization Of aliens who
serve in the navy.
Senator Simmons delivered speech
condemning the method Of the depart
ment of justice in its prosecution of the
cotton pools.
In the House
The small number of the Democratic
members in attendance in the House
on the 18th during most of the session
made it impossible for the insurgents to
score victories over the regular Repub-
llcanS. An amendment was adopted TO
include telegraph and telephone compa-
MES within the scope of the interstate
commerce law.
In the House the railroad bill was I'M
der consideration also on the 10Th M
merouS amendments were offered most
Of which were voted down. An amend
ment making provision that the phyScal
valuation OF railroad properties shall be
ascertained was offered by Mr.. Madden
of Illinois and adopted after an extend
ed discussion. The provision adopted
yesterday for the inclusion of telegraph
and telephone companies within the
scope of the interstate commerce law
was further amended so as to permit of
different charges being made for press
dispatches and for night messages than
are made for commercial dispatches
The House accepted the Pierpont
statue and heard eulogieS. Several hours
were also devoted to the passage of
several private claim bills.
1t WAS suspension day" III the House
on the 2nd. and numerous bills We're
passed. Among them were measures to
increase the personnel of the engineer
corps of the army. to provide for addi-
tional lighthouse equipment and to build
a monument at Midway. Ga. to the
memory of Gen Stewart of revolutionary
fame. the great great-grandfathe of for
mer President Roosevelt.
The House also removed the traf 1iC
agreement provision from the rail bill
on the Bird. The House agreed to The
long-and Short-haul clause of the Hous,
bill in the form that it came from tn,
committee except that it provided for al
investigation by the interstate commerce
commission of data relating to that class
of rates.
The entire session of the House on tn
4th was devoted to the consideration O
bills relating to Indian lands.