The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-08-13
the bird, doesn't apply in American
CONGRESSIONAL ADJOURNMENT

CONGRESSIONAL ADJOURNMENT
The forecast TINT Congress will prob
ably adjourn within fortnight ought
not TO be true; for there is 4 vas;
amount Of belated work on hand that
ought TO be attended to by that boly
1t will be remembered that at the
beginning Of the fiscal year, July LIST
the regular appropriation bills for the
year had not been passed. The same
was true on August 1st, and the ap'
propriations of last year had twice
to be continued by joint resolution
One or two of these bills have been
passed since the beginning of the
mouth, but not all. and the two Houses
arc even now haggling over an appro'
priation for clerk hire for the pen
sion office which will enable that bu'
to the pensioners the increase allowed
BY the act of last May,
Both Houses of congress have been
TOO husy playing politics. to attend
TO the regular public business that
ought TO have received attention first
before the political play began, The
result is that very much important
legislation is still on the shelf
1t really began to look as though
Congress was going deliberately to dc
lay tho opening of the Panama Canal
by refusing to pass the necessary leg
islation authorizing the opening, pro-
viding for the government OF the canal
zone and the operating of the canal.
and fixing the tolls. But the Sen
ate 3 passage of the House bill with
some amendments Of detail give hope
that the Panama Canal bill will be
passed before adlournment; and since
President Taft has indicated his vii"
ingness to sign the bill as passed, by
the Senate. anxiety on this score ought
TO he obviated.
The insistencc Of both Houses OF
Congress on long wrangles over tariff
measures which u was known IN ad-
vance the President would veto, has
consumed very many of the 230 days
during which Congress has been in ses'
sion The wool bill, for instance, an
exact duplicate OF the bill vetoed by
the President last year, caused much
wraugliug, and repeated divisions in
both House and Senate. And yet there
was no reasonable suppostiou that the
President would sign this bill, because
il is lust as objectionable this year IS
it was last, and it ignores the report
of the Tariff Board, just as the bill
last wear anticipated that report.
The bill changing the sugar tariff
is hung up in contention between the
two Houses on disagreeing votes. The
House insists that the measure as the
Senate has passed it does not con"
form to the idea of ca Democratic tar
iff;' aud since the House insists upon
a Democratic tariff, there is not much
likelihood of the two Houses agree
ing upon any bill that the President
will sign. We are not of those who
believe that a decrease In the tariff on
sugar wonld make a decrease In the
price of sugar, for, as we look at it,
the sugar combines have such firm
control Of the market that they would
simply pocket the difference between
the tariff as reduced and the tariff as
it is now, and charge the consumers
the same old price.
1t is probably true that if Congress
would quit its plays for political ad-
vantage and would stop trying to "put
the President in a hole,' it could fin
ish the necessary work of the session
by the end of the present month. But
the question is. will the two Houses
do sol The chief point fayoring this
is that the Representatives are ex"
tremely anxious to get home so as to
see about their own denomination, aud
to keep control of the political cur
rents within their States. This is so
powerful an incentive, that it is quite
possible that folly may give way tc
sense. so that the members will be able
to get down to business and presently
get home.