Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-04
RECORD BY DYING CONGRESS-
Story of Sessions Torn by fractional
Strife and Bitterness.
MANY MEASURES ARE BLOCKED
Divisions of Majority Prevent Any
Concerted AetIOn-Tnriff Revision
Accom- mpIish ed---Payn
Act Notable Measure.

WASHINGTON, March 3-In the retro
spect. the Sixty-first congress, which will
expire by constitutional Limitation at noon
tomorrow, appears to have been dlstin-
guished by three things: The revision Of
the tariff in the Payne-Aldrich bill, which
was passed at an extra session in the sum
mer Of 1909; the large amount OF important
legislation, much OF it upon the recon-
mendation of President Taft enacted at the
regular session Of 19O9-1O, and the exceed
ingly small product of the short session"
now coming to a close.
The interval between the last two ses-
sions was marked by the political upheavai
registered at the general election last No
vember, which changed large republican
majority into a still larger democratic ma
jority in the house Of representatives, cut
the republican majority in the senate al
most to the vanishing point and Incl
dentally effected striking changes in the
senate personnel.
The failure of this session to enact much
important legislation has resulted in the
practical certainty that the new Sixty
second congress will be called almost i'm
mediately in extraordinary session, espe-
cially by reason of the strong desire Of
President Taft to secure action upon the
pending reciprocity agreement with Can
ada, to the consummation of which the
contracting parties pledged the utmost ef-
forts Of the two governments.
Majority Party Divided.
In strong contrast with the support which
the Taft administration received from the
republican majority in the matter Of legis-
lation in the, regular session Of 1gO9-lO is
the fact that at the present session the
majority has been anything but united
the reciprocity agreement was passed I'm
the house by the aid of a large portion Of
democratic votes, while In the senate the
rift in the majority between the regulars
and the insurgents has been an important
factor in its sidetracklng and In the conse-
quent summoning OF the extra session.
To this division In the majority was
largely due the most dramatic feature Of
the previous long session-the protracted
and sensational conflict last spring which
ended in material changes in the house
rules, generally interpreted as the over
throw Of the speaker" and which, after a
bitter fight lasting many hours and includ-
ing one all-night struggle. stopped only
just short Of the actual unseating OF
Speaker Cannon. While the acrimony be-
tween regulars and insurgents neither be-
gan nor ended with the battle over the
rules, that was it's most conspicuous cpl
sode, and there has been little peace be-
tween the factions since in either house.
bitterness in Senate.
In the senate the most sensational fea-
ture Of this session was the unavailing
effort, In which the insurgents were the
most active, TO unseat William Lorimer
as junior senator from Illinois on the
ground Of alleged bribery IN connection
with his election by the legislature Of that
state in the spring Of 1903. The echoes OF
that battle are still reverberating and its
bitterness adds friction to the closing
hours OF the senate session.
Another important recent action OF the
senate was the defeat Of the resolution
embodying a proposed amendment 10 the
constitution OF the United States TO pro-
vide for the direct election OF senators BY
the people.
This resolution received more than
majority OF the senate but IL needed a
two-thirds vote and fell short by only
four. Had the senate passed II the house
CONTINUED on seeond PaRel