The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1911-03-03
WASHINGTON.
Legislative and Cen
eral Topics from
the Capital.
(From our Regular Correspondent
Washington, February q, 1911.

y
Less than week of the session remains
and Congress will doubtless crowd as
much legislation as possible in the final
Saturday, and probably move the hands
of the clock backward in order to secure
a few minutes more time. The, Presi-
dent will be busy on March 4th, affixing
his signature to the delayed bills Con
gress is working frantically in order to
finish things before twelve O'Clock March
4th. Men, legislators, statesmen, max
ing laws for the greatest nation of the
world. fritter the early days of the session
most irivolousy and then do hurry-scurrv
! work in final fleeing minutes So it has
been, so it is, so it will be-
Whether there will be an extra session
called Immediately after March the 4th
depends entirely upon the action of Con
gress on the reciprocity agreement which
the President has made with the Canad-
ian government Much of the time of
Congress has already been taken up
listening to the selfish plants of isolated
intereSts-interests that have so long been
favored that they imagine themselves the
people and the nation. They are active
and loud and like scant brigade march
ing around a hill, by their activity and
noise make an impression upon a one
sided onlooker of the whole army. They
have their representatives in both houses
of Congress- too, though some of them
will not stay much longer. Bellweather
Aldrich is at Southern resort having, as
he says, the time of his life; and Bell
weather Hale, of Maine. has Just seven
days more. but lie is PLAYING his role of
obstructionist and will play it till the cur
tain falls. There will be no encores as
far as he is concerned. After he is out of
the Senate his inability to learn or forget
will hinder progress no more.
Much precious time has been wasted
this session on the Lorimer case, and that
portion of the Senate gallery occupied
the past week by impressonable ladies
was a scene of fashion and of tears when
Senator Lorimer pleaded his case for four
hours and rehearsed his career from
bootblack to the Senate was to be as
Cribed to popularity won by his kindness
TO Jew and Gentle alike incidentally
he disclosed what kind of statesman he
is by saying that Senator AdriCh was, his
bellweather and that he always voted the
way he did. 1t has long been known by
the wise that in the Senate little Rhode
Island swung some of the larger States,
but confession direct from Illinois may
be edifying to stalwart doubters.
The Japanese war scare will not down.
Representative Hobson paradeS it in the
House and says there will be war with
that country>in Ten months or long before
| the completion of the Panama Canal. 1t
seems that our treaty with that country o
1894 is about to expireand that the Pres-
dent has submitted to the Senate the
text of new treaty with Japan. Protests
from California against this treaty are
coming in. ii appears that the exclusion
clause preventing the Importation of Jap
anese coolies or laborerS is omitted from
the new treaty The situation is ugly, no
matter what viewpoint one may have.
| San Francisco. the nerve center of the
/ Pacific slope, is the most intensely union
| labor beridden city in the hemisphere,
| il not in the world Two years ago ii
came near disrupting our peaceful rela-
| tons with Japan by the exclusion of
! Japanese children from the schools. Now,
after securing from Congress its approval
| of San Francisco for the International
! Exposition, it is foremost i'll alternating
| Japan on whom in great part the success
of the Exposition will depend.
! The chief signal officer of the army,
General Allen, is disposed to make
prompt use of the twenty-five thousand
dollars appropriated in the army bill for
| the purchase of flying machines. This
| country has been behind European Coun-
tries in the adoption of aeroplanes for
military purposes. France is the leader
in the art, and now has fleet of more
than thirty fliers manned by thoroughly
trained aViatOrc If has aDDrODriated one
hundred million francs for improvements
in military aviation. AS many as seven
types of aeroplanes are used in the
French equipment. Besides there are
hundreds of aeroplanes owned by private
individuals and should the time come for
military operations, the French army
would be strengthened by the skilled
owners of these private flying machines.