The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-03-04
co NGRESS WILL
ADJOURN TO-DAY
Failure to Enact I1npor-
tant Legisls, tion Means
Extra Session.
MADE NOTABLE
BY THREE THINGS
Revision Of Tariff Regarded as
Most Important Action Of Elk
piring Congress-Its Life
Marked by Great Political
Upheaval and Split in
Party Ranks.

Washington, D. c.. March s.--1n the
retrospect. the Sixiy-frst Congress.
which Will expire By constitutional lin.
ation at noon to- morrow. appears 10
haze been distinguished by three
things--thc revision OF the tariff In the
so-called Payne Aldrich bill. which wa {
passed II an extra session in the sum
iler OF 1899: the large amount OF i'm
rortant lcgis!a ton, much OF II upon
ne recommendation OF President Taft.
enacted at the regular session Of 1909
~ ana the exceedingly small product
OF the short session." so-called which
now comes TO close
The interval between the last Two
sessions vas marked by the political
tpheaval, registered at the general
election OF last November, which,
Changed large Republican majority
ihto stiii larger Democratic majority
IN the House OF Representatives: cut
the Republican majority in the Senate
Almost to the vanishing point. and
incidentally effected striking changes
in the Senate personnel
The failure OF this session to enact
much important lcgislat ion, has result
Cd IN tho practical certainty that the
new Sixty-second Congress will be
called almost Immediately in extra or
binary session, especially by reason or
the strong desire of President Taft 10
secure action upon the pending. reel
procity agreement with Canada, to tho
concentration of which contrac ring
parties pledged the utmost efforts Of
the Two governments. In strong con-
trast with the support which the la st
administration received from the Re-
publican majority in the matter of
legislation in the regular session of
lso9-10 is the fact that a the present
session 1t has been anything but united
me reciprocity agreement was passed
In the House by the aid OF a large
proportion OF Democratic votes. while
in the Senate the rift In the majority
between the Regulars" and the In
surgents" has been an important fac
tor In its sidetracking and in the con-
sequent summoning of the extra ses-
sion.
Fight on Speaker.
To this division in the ma jority was
largely due the most dramatic feature
OF the previous long session, the pro
tracted and sensational conflict last
spring which ended In material changes
In the rules Of the House. generally
interpreted as "the overthrow of the
Speaker" and which. after a bitter
fight lasting many hours, ana includ-
ing one all-night struggle. stopped
only Just short OF the actual unseat-
ing Of Speaker Cannon.
While the acrimony between "Regu-
lars and Insurgents neither began
nor ended with the battle over the
rules, that was its most conspicuous
episode, and there has been little peace
between the factions since in ei,uei,
house
In the Senate. the most sensational
feature of this session was the I'M
availtng effort. in which the "Insur
gents" were most active to unseat
William Lorimer as junior Senator
from Illinois. on the ground Of alleged
bribery in connection with his cleo
ton by the Legislature OF that State
in the spring Of 1909. 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 reso-
luton embodying a proposed amend
ment to the Constitution OF the United
States to provide for the direct cleo
ton of Senator'S by the people
This resolution received more than
a majority Of the Senate; but 1t need
ed a two-thirds vote. and fell short by
only four Had the Senate passed it,
the House almost certainly would
have done so. The friends of this
proposition entertain little doubt that
1t will pass the next Congress-, and
go to the States for ratification OF de-
feat.
The output at this session in the
way Of general measures consists
chiefly Of the appropriation bills, and
several Of those have seemed in dan
ger more than once in the tense situa-
ton Of the past few days. when long
hours passed away in hlibustering on
one side or the other.
Thousand Of bills have been intro
duced, and several thousand more
came to the closing session as herit-
age from the first and second sessions
In all, there are between $4,000 and
$4,000 measures before the Congress
as it comes to a close. The failure to
enact many laws was not due to lack
of raw material
Measures Enacted Into Law.
These are some of the more import
ant measures, outside Of appropriation
bills. that the final session of this
Congress enacted into law:
Providing for forest reserves in the
Southern Appalachian and White
Mountains.
Providing for the inspection OF
boilers on locomotives.
Providing for the purchase or erec-
ton of embassies. legations and con-
sular buildings abroad.
AN ocean mail Dill, passed the Sens
ate. but the House did not manifest
enough. liking for 1t to send 1t on to
the White House.
Barren as the final session may have
been of fruitful legislation. the Re-
publican leaders point to the preced-
ing sessions as more fruitful.
For the first or extra session. they
point to-:
The Payne-Aldrich tariff act. with
It's maximum and minimum features
and corporation tax provisions, and
its customs court
The resolution providing for an in.