Evening star., 1919-03-25
BILLS THAT FAILED
IN LAST CONGRESS
Seven Appropriation Meas
ures, Carrying Hundred
"Riders," Left.
SOME D. C. ITEMS IN LIST

A staggering array of bills which
failed of passage in the closing days
of the Sixty-f1fth Congress and
which await action in the extra ses-
sion soon to be called shows that in
seven appropriation measures alone
there are one hundred so-called rid
ers" which will have to be done over
or undone.
This despite the fact that President
Wilson approved practically one
fourth of the laws enacted in the
three sessions during the last nine
days of the Congress. He signed 116
bills between February "a and March
The Sixty-fifth Congress appro-
priated s57,OOO.000,O00. 1t passed 349
public laws. 4S public resolutions, As
private laws. 1t conducted 80 con-
gressional Investigations. There
were 22.594 bills and resolutions in
troduced. 1864 of which originated
in the House.
Riders Affecting the District.
The District of Columbia is much
concerned in the riders that rode to
.
vision in the now defunct District
appropriation bill that would increase
the dog tax from So to SIS. Of utmost
Importance is the proposed rider to
abolish the. "half-and- half plan of
financing the National Capital. 9th
er District concerns, aside from the
usual supply bills, are provisions to
increase the salaries of school teach
ers from an aggregate of s1.72S,950
to S2.162.000; proposal for a sched-
ule of rates for water users, the
creation of commission to investi-
gate sources of water supply, includ-
ing the Great Falls project. and items
relating to an employees compensa-
tion fund and garbage disposal.
These are among the studies found
in "two-year book" which is the
very latest in congressional publica-
tions. 1t was compiled by w. Ray
the document room of the House.
This compendium gives a complete
legislative history of the participa-
ton of the United States in the world
war.
What the Summary Shows.
An interesting summary shows that
there really was not much justice in
the claim that southern democrats
compendium reveals that there were
504 laws passed proposed by other
than southern democrats and 521 by
southern democrats, including both
the House and Senate. This notwith-
standing the fact that southern dem
ocrats were chairmen of most of the
committees and so fathered much
of the important legislation on which
both sides of each house were united.
In the Senate there were but ZIG laws
fathered by southern democrats,
while there were 1858 fathered by
other members.
"First-Time'' Features.
First times" played an important
part in the last Congress. For the
first time laws were signed in a for
eign country; for the first time a
measure-the revenue bill-was signed
on a railroad train; for the first time
a President had addressed the Senate
in favor of woman suffrage, had
signed bill for carrying mail in the
air, had signed a bill to ''move the
sun forward and then backward" had
directed that Congress declared war
on two nations at the same time, had
gone on the floor of the House to
shake hands with members of the for
eign war commissions.
There was a heavy death roll dur
ing the last Congress. including two
former presiding officers of the Sem
ate-Theodore Roosevelt and Charles
W Fairbanks fifteen representa-
tives. ten senators and twenty for
mer members oe Congress.