The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1911-03-09
AT the Session Just Ended and
Previous Sessions as
Well.
FAILURE IN CASES
May Not Mean That Ger.
tain Great Measures Will
Never Be Laws.

WASHINGTON, d. G., Mar. A.,
Summary of sixty-arst congress.)
In the retrospect the sixty-nrst con-
gFess, which expired by constitu-
tional limitation at noon today APP
pears to have been distinguished by
three things: The revision OF the
tariff in the so-cailed Payne-Aldrich
bill, passed at an extra session in the
summer of 1904 The large amount
OF important legislation, much of it
upon recommendation of President
Taft, enacted at the session OF 1909
10, and the exceedingly small prod
uct OF he short session. So
called, now closed. The interval
between the last two sessions was
marked by the political upheaval
registered at the general election
last November, which changed a
large Republican majority into a
still larger Democratic majority in
the House; cut the Republican ma
jority in the Senate almost to the
vanishing and incidentally eff
fected changes in the Senate person
Incl, The failure OF this session to
enact much important legislation
has resulted in a practical certainty
that the Slxty-second Congress will
be called almost Immediately in ex-
ira session especially by reason of
the desire of President Taft to Sc
cure action upon the reciprocity
agreement with Canada, to the con-
summation OF which the contracting
parties pledged the utmost efforts of
the two countries In strong CON
trast with the support which the
Tart administration received from
the Republican majority in the mat
ter OF legislation in the regular ses-
sion Is the fact that at the present
session the majority has been any
thtas but united; the reciprocity
Igreement was passed in the House
by the aid OF large proportion OF
Democratic votes, while in the Sem
ate the rift in the majority between
the regulars" and the insurgents
has been an important fact In its
sidetracking and in the consequent
summoning of the extra session.
To this division in the majority
was largely due the most dramatic
feature OF the previous leng session
the pFosrac;ed conflict last spring
which ended in material changes in
ihe rules OF the House generally in
teFpreted as "the overthrow OF the
Sptaker,' and which after a bitter
right lasting many hours and iac!ud-
ing enc al! night struggle stopped
ony just short OF the actual unseat-
ing OF Speaker Cannon. While the
acr.mony between regulars and in
snrsents neither began nor ended
with the battle over the rules, that
was its most conspicuous episode,
and there has been little peace be-
tween the factions since.
In the Senate the most sensational
feature of this session was the nm
availing effort TO unseat William
Lorimer as senator from Illinois, on
the ground OF alleged bribery in CON
neclion with his election by The leg
islature in the spring of 1903. The
echoes of that battle are still re-
Ferberating and its bitterness adds
friction TO the closing hours.
Another important recent action
OF the Senate was the de.ea OF the
resolution embodying a <propose1
amendment to the constitution to
provide for direct election OF sena-
tors BY the people. This resolution
received more than a majority of the
Senate but needed a two-thirds vote
and fell short. Had the Senate
lpassed it, the House almost certainly
would have done so. The friends of
this proposition entertain little
doubt that it will pass the next Con-
gress and go to the states for rati-
lIication or defeat.
The output of this session in the
way OF general measures consists
chiefly Of the appropriation bills and
several of those have seemed in
danger more than once in the last
few days when long hours passed.
away in hIi6ustering on one side or
the other.
Thousands OF bills were intro
duced and thousands more came to
the closing session as a heritage
from the first and second sessions,
In all, there are between $4,000
and $4,000 measures before Con
gress, the failure to enact many
laws was not due to raw material
These are some OF the more i'm
portant measures that the final SEES