The Cordova daily times., 1921-03-18
RECORD MADE BY CONGRESS
 JUST CLOSED
BY COL. WINFIELD JONES

by law March 1 was notable in many ways. In the first place that con- gress was elected with a Republican majority in both house and senate IS a repudiation of President Will sons public appeal to the country in 1918 to elect a Democratic congress to uphold his hand in the World war. It was congress of protest. The protest congress" repudiated the treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations scheme. President Will sons demand to the country just be- fore the armistice for a Democratic congress eventually led to all the ills of the Democratic party, including it's defeat last November The Wilson letter was indeed an important docu- ment, and it's results were little fore seen at the time 1t was addressed to the American people.
 Probably the most important ac- complishment of the congress that has passed into history was the re- duction in the estimates for con- ducting the federal government. This amounted to about $1,000,000,000 an- nually during the life of the con- gress. The federal department tried to grab all the appropriations in sight, and gave absolutely no coopera- tion to congress in it's economy pol icy.
 Much attention was paid to bene- ftcial legislation for veterans of all wars, particularly of the World war. A total of nearly $249,O00,OO was ap- propriated for soldier relief, and benefits of various kinds.
 The congress passed more than score of bills planned to aid the agricultural interests. The most i'm Dortant of these measures was the resolution authorizing the federal re- serve board to rehabilitate the war finance corporation. An auti-profi- teering act was passed which curbed the robber landlords in the national capital The sugar equalization board was continued.
 Army legislation took up much time. Congress passed over the presi- dents veto a resolution limiting the army to 175,000 men. In 1919 con- gross officially thanked General Pershing and the officers and men of the American armies who won the World war on the battlefields of France. Pershing was made a full general by special act.
 Committees of various kinds made exhaustive investigations into the conduct of the war but brought out nothing startling, except that the war department had managed the war with an extravaganza and waste never known before in the history of any nation. The Investigations were more political than practical, more critical than constructive, and re- suited in little.
 One big fact stands out in consid- eration of military affairs by the last congress. It was plain that the majority of senators and representa- lives were not willing to learn from the lessons taught by the great war, and showed an indifference to prepar- ing for the next war. This was shown in the attempts to reduce the navy and to cut down the regular army, to say nothing of the persistent agitation for naval holidays" and limitation of armaments. It would seem to the ordinary citizen that the unprepared position in which the United States found itself when the war was declared on Germany would have led to the last congress to at least make preliminary preparation for coming storms of the future. Practically nothing was done toward real national defense legislation.
 Fad of the war found the rail roads in the hands of the federal government. They were handed back to their owners a year ago last March in much worse condition than when the government seized them under its war powers, and they are still in badly disorganized condition. Gov erument control of the public carriers, it was clearly demonstrated during the war, was not a conspicuous sue cess. It damped the ardor of prac- tically all advocates in the Sixty-sixth congress for government ownership of public utilities. The telegraph lines also taken over during the war, were returned to their owners, in June, 1918.
 At almost the very last minute of the last session the senate adopted house resolution repeating most of the wartime laws, many of which