The Dickinson press., 1917-07-21
Washington, D.. c., July IA, 1917.

Washington, D. c., July IA, 1917.
The First Session of the Sixty-ffth
Congress has already continued much
longer than any of the members of
Congress thought it would when the
Congress was called in Extraordinary
Session by the president on April End.
The oldest and most experienced men,
bers predicted that the session would
not continue later than June 18th.
Now, while there is much talk of adj
journment by the first of September,
the probabilities are that the present
session will not adjourn until about
the time provided, under the statute,
for the beginning of the regular ses-
sion in December. It is we'll in these
momentous days that Congress should
continue In session, and, as Represen-
tative Fitzgerald of New York, chair
man of the committee on A%ppropria-
tons, remarked in the House yester-
day, when the matter of adjournment.
was debated, II am still of the opinion
that the most important thing that
members of Congress can do is to
stay in Washington and attend to the
public business" After all, loosely
criticised, condemned and maligned as
it sofoften is, in the final analysis,
the Congress of the United States is
the safest and most dependable
friend of. the people of the Republic.
At the suggestion and request of a
number of newspaper men of the Dis
trict, I shall present in a weekly let
ter, during the remainder of this ses-
sion of Congress, some of the more
important happenings in the Congress
and in Washington.
At the present time, the legislative
program for this session is badly tied
up, both in the House and the Senate,
with the Food Control Bill and with
the new Revenue Bill. The Food Con-
troll Bill passed the House on June
twenty-third, with provisions author
lzlng the president to control the
supply and distribution of fuel and
food stuffs and to prevent boarding
and injurious speculation. In the SEN
ate Committee to which the bill was
referred, an amendment was added,
giving authority to the president to
also control the supply, distribution
and price of petroleum, aluminium,
steel, iron, copper, cotton, wool, sisal,
lead, timber, lumber, and their vari-
GUS products. With this amendment
injected in the Bill, Senatorial calm
and courtesy have been badly blown
up. The petroleum, iron, steel, cotton
and lumber interests have arrayed
their influences against the bill, and
no n today knows definitely what
the outcome may be. Discussions in
cident to Food Control legislation and
the uncertainty as to what the law
will finally be and how it may be adj
ministered, have already greatly de-
pressed the markets for cereals and
other farm products. The upshot Of
the present condition of Food Control
Legislation in the House and Senate
seems now to be, that the president
will be authorized to fix and guar
antee a reasonable price for the wheat
crop of the present year. A condition
under which the farmers of the
country may receive but SIPS to
$3.50 per bushel for their wheat at
threshing time, and under which this
same wheat may be sold by the food
spectators next spring or next sum-
mer for $3.50 and $500 a bushel, is
intolerable, and the most drastic and
arbitrary legislation is justifiable to
prevent it. There is now under con
sideration in the Senate a compromise
on the Food Control Bill between the
different factions, providing for an
amendment directing the president to
fix a fair and just price for the wheat
and the corn crop of the country for
this year.
The new Revenue Bill has been re-
|ferred to the Committee on Finance
on account of the amendments in the
Senate to the Food Control Bill in
reference to alcoholic liquors. The
big fight in the House and Senate is
yet to come on this bill. A majority
of the Senate members seem fearful
to levy a just proportion of the wars
expenses on large incomes and on the
huge profits that have been made by
many individuals and corporations d.
rectly from the necessities of the
war. The general principle of the
bill, as recommended by the Senate
Finance Committee a few days ago,
will receive very vigorous and very de-
itermined opposition in the House. It
would seem it is only fair and just
that each one should contribute to the
burdens of this war in proportion to
what he is reasonably able to con-
tribute. Certainly no citizen is justi-
fled in any way in making large pc
cuniary profits out of the war. The
sooner many insatiably greedy indi-
viduals and large corporate interests
are made to clearly understand this,
by legislation and otherwise, the more
easily it will be to conduct the bust
ness of the present war along lines
of certain success. Without admins
~trative interference, the majority of
the members of the House Of Repre-
sentatives will insist on an Excess
Profit Tax at this time of at least
sixty per cent. .
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