Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1916-09-15
CONGRESS- CLOSES
ITSLONC SESSION
Rush to Get Away Follows
Adjournment
IMPORTANT LAWS ENACTED
Session Just Ended Broke Spending
Record and Was Chiefly Concerned
With National Defence.

The first session of the sixty-fourth
congress came to an end on FRIDAY.
The most momentous session OF any
congress for a generation closed aS
President Wilson signed the a0mlnls-
tration $2OO,00O,O00 revenue bill, last
Of a long series of important meas
ures which have occupied the attention
OF the nine months sitting.
= The fall Of the gavels OF Vice Presl-
dent Marshal and Speaker Clark clS-
solved congress until December 4. ice
drop of the gavels was a signal LOT
general scramble to get away from
Washington, and senators and repre-
sentatives hurried to get into the po-
litical campaign.
The session was concerned chieny
with national defence. When the CAV
ell fell congress had directed reorSani-
zation and re-equipment of the army
and navy for defence of the country
at the unprecedented cost OF $6oo,o ,ooo'-
coo with authorizations that Will III
crease the total in three years to near
ly SSOO,OO0, 900. With all other eXpen-
ditures, appropriations were brought
to the grand total of 1851, ,5S5,6SZ, the
greatest aggregate in the countrys MS
tory and exceeding that for the last
fiscal year by more than half billion
dollars. -
Expenditures, necessitated by pre-
naredness and the calling into action
cf military forces to meet the MeXl-
can emergency demanded revenue
legislation in the closing DAYS Of the
session. Congress responded by dou5l-
ing the normal tax on incomes, Great
Ing an inheritance tax, munitions tax,
and miscellaneous excise taxes to
raise $2O5,O0O,C00 and by directing sale
of $130,00O,C00 Panama canal bonds.
Congress established tariff commits
sion: a government shipping beard to
rehabilitate the American merchant
marine: a workmen's compensation
commission to administer new uni
form compensation law; farm lean
banking system; a child labor law; en-
larged the system of self-goVernment
in the Philippines and enacted many
other important laws contemplated by
the administration.
The session was disturbed through
out by frequently recurring threats or
foreign complications from the Euro
pean war and imminerce at one time
~ +io l. NI-srh Cnrn1onv'
interference with American mails and
commerce, invasion of American soil
and killing of Americans by Mexican
bandits, and danger of actual war with
Mexico.
Later in the session trouble arose in
the senate over the nomination of
Louis D. Brandeis, of Boston, to sue
ceed the late Justice Lamar as a men,
ber of the supreme court. Weeks of
investigation and deliberation by tie
judiciary committee ended in confir-
nation of Mr.. Brandeis by large ma
jority.
In the week before adjournment con-
gress was occupied with legis alton
which prevented a threatened nation
wide railroad strike. President w l.
son after futile negotiations with off,
cials of the railroads and railroad
brotherhoods, submitted the contro-
versy to congress, recommending leg:s
lation to avert the strike and to pre-
vent such emergencies from arising
in the future.
After a week of consideration, dur
ing which the president visited The
capitol daily, comforting with amin
istration leaders, bill was pass-d 10
establish an eight-hour day as basi
for pay of railroad workers, the pres
ent rate for pay for ten hours wo k
not to be reduced and the men to re.
ceive pro-rata pay for work in excess
of eight hours pending an inve5tiga,
ton by special commission into TIE
effect of the eight-hour day on rail
road revenues. So.