St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-04-17
CONGRESS WORKING
But 1t Will Not Get Outside Of Ap
preparation BilIs.-Every-
one Talking Politics.
Washington, April Is.

washington, april 10.
Esteemed CaIedonians:
Thunder storms this evening after
day of summer heat, and an organ
grinder playing Dixie under my
window. Such is the setting of the
picture, and now we will briefly
wander and drift.
Congress is at last doing things,
such as they are. Not because they
want to, but it is easier to do them
than it is to keep dreading them.
Both houses are now hustling the
appropriation bills through, which
indicates approaching dissolution.
1t will be weeks yet, probably into
June before the end comes, but at
the present rate we will soon be
able to see light in the distance.
AS to the appropriation bills the
House has now passed nine of the
fourteen and the Senate four. As
soon as the House closes up the re-
mainder of them it will pick away
on odds and ends, waiting for the
senate to catch up on the supply
bills and also make some disposition
of the four tariff bills which the
House has sent over. What the
senate will do then, if anything, is
extremely uncertain.
May Pass Two Bills.
The tariff bills include steel,
chemicals, sugar and wool. There
is a bare possibility that the two lat
ter may be passed after being
amended out of all semblance to
the originals as they came from
hut &c a
that they will be pulled over the
Goals for two or three weeks and
then dropped. Nevertheless, there
is always the possibility of the re-
publicans of the senate getting to-
gether on a moderate reduction of
the duties on wool and sugar and
putting them through. AS to steel
and chemicals, there is no possibility
of their passage through the senate
in any form.
That body does not take these tar
if bills seriously, and in the legis-
lative scheme they are hardly ever
referred to. They are regarded as
a bluff on the part Of the House,
put up for campaign purposes, and
in their present form they are hard
ly worth the time taken to discuss
them. However, there are some
senators who will use them as a ba-
sis for some speeches to send home,
and so they will be cuffed around
for a while.
No Conference on Pensions.
The conference committee on the
pension bill has not yet even met to
exchange views, but they must soon
get at it. 1t is the current opinion
that they will finally compromise on
something intermediate between
the Sherwood bill as it passed the
House and the Smoot bill as it pass
ed the senate.
The city in general and the CAPT
toll in particular was again invaded
by a numerous company of Vermont !
ers last week, last but far from least |
being Agent Henderson's sweet six
teen chorus. A few older ones were !
chucked in for ballast, but most of
the party of 35 or Whereabouts !
were early blossoms culled from the |
precincts of the Academy. It was /
a mighty fine representation of the |
quality of old Caledonia, too, and |
they evidently had a jolly good |
time throughout.
Politics are Mixed.
AS to the political situation here,
there is none. What should be a
situation" looks like moving pic
ture film of a midnight cyclone in
a cellar. Nothing but dust and mud.
What we may be doth not yet APP
pear. All we know for sure is that
we are swiftly and vociferously on
our way somewhere. Congress is so
full of politics that when one is ask
ed for his opinion as to the result he
merely smiles at the joke and pass
es on.
The much heralded and long ex-