The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1911-03-10
sI WILL TELL JUDGE DOUG
LASS FRANKLY I AN NOT IN
FAVOR OF NEGRO CITIZEN
SHIP"
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WHAT CAN BE DONE BY CON
GRESS AT THE EXTRA
SESSION.

The Sixty-irst Congress expired last
Saturday by limitation of law and adj
journed sine die.
President Taft Immediately called the
Sixty-second Congress to convene in
extra session on the fourth day of April.
1t is useless now to discuss what was done
by the closing session OF the SiXty-frst
Congress except in so far as to recall the
fact that so far as new or important legis-
lation it was a dismal failure, and in so
far as it appropriated hundreds of mil
lions of dollars of the peoples money
almost without consideration and with
such haste and confusion as rendered 1t
impossible to consider the appropriation
bills with any knowledge of what they
contained. 1t was careless and reckless
to a degree never before witnessed by
any Congress ever elected. We hope it
will be such warning as will prevent a
repetition in the future Of our country.
The Slxty-frst Congress is dead, and
all that is kept Of it is its record for good
or bad and the misfortune is that the evil
it did by far exceeds any, and all possible
good it accomplished.
What shall we get from the extra ses-
sion of the Sixty,second Congress |?
Suffice it to say that much is expected.
and much more hoped of it by the people
without regard to party.
1t meets under a stress of conditions
such as has not existed since the civil
war, and the conditions ought TO furnish
an absolute guarantee that there will be
some relief given the people from the op-
pressions under which they are now suf-
fering.
The first question which will come be-
fore the Congress will be the ratification
Of the reciprocity treaty with Canada.
This treaty as negotiated by President
Taft and Mr. Knox, Secretary of State,
makes large reductions on the duties be-
tween the United States ard the Domin-
ion of Canada, and while it does not
make sufficient reductions. and does not
embrace number of articles upon which
a reduction OF the tariff ought to have
been made, ought to be ratified by all
means.
But in the ratification Congress ought
to so amend it as to provide a reduction
of the tariff on all WOODEN and cotton
clothing, on all food stuffs, and also on
lumber and all building material in addi-
ton to lumber.
If this much is done there will be a
great reduction in the high cost of living,
because these articles are all necessaries
of life. Clothing and food are plain
necessaries of life, and lumber, nails and
screws are necessities in building houses
for the poor 1t will not require an inves-
tigation by an expert tariff board nor
even any tariff expert to assist Congress
to make the reductions on these articles.
They have been condemned by the
people at the last election, by Republi-
cans as well as Democrats. Not only
have they been condemned by the
people, but Mr.. Taft has publicly con-
demned them in his public speeches,
since the duties by the Payne-Aldrich
tariff bill was passed. but also pronounced
to the people before his election there
should be reduction Of the tariff 1t
seems to be indicated that Congress will
not go further than this at the extra
session, but it certainly ought to go that
far AT the regular session which meets
in December a general reduction Of the
tariff will be made so far as the House of
Representatives can make it and it is be-
leved that Insurgents in the Senate will
unite with them.
But whether they do or do not the
plain and manifest duty of the Demo-
cratic party is to give the country a simple
revenue tariff. which will give all the pro-
lection any interest needs or ought to
expect
Ills ID dOoOlhlC INNOoSlNJ III OlQCl
to take from the special interests the
power to tax the people as much as they
please to fill their own pockets and to re-
store the taxing power TO the representa-
tives of the people in Congress. If this
is not done fresh energy will be given TO
all the socialistic and revolutionary in
ffuences which even now are undermining
representative government. Congress can
not fail to rescind it to be its duty to pass
such bill, and the President cannot fail
to see that it is his plain duty to sign the
bill is the overwhelming public senti-
ment.