The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-08-24
USUAL CONGRESS
RECESS JANGLE
Many Important Matters
Left Enacted On In
1 : the Senate
SMALL CLIQUEs ~.
i. j BLOCK ACTION
LaFOllette. and Borah Stop Legislation
for Settling Foreign War Loans -
Friends of Beer Win In Anti-Beer
Fight-Recess Good Thing.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

i
Fight-Recess Good Thing.
| BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
| Special Despatch to The Reformer.)
Copyright 1921.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24-Congress
| is in jam as usual on the eve of an adj
| iournment or recess. Again it is demon
strated that the house with its large
| membership can dispose of public bust
ness rapidly while the senate with ita
practically unlimited debate is at the
mercy of small groups.
Filibusters and threats of the same can
| tie up legislation at the last minute in
| the senate and that's why administration
| leaders abandoned all hope of passing
| certain major bills which they had hoped
to put through before the recess which
/ begins this week and lasts until about
! Oct. /. The measure which President
+! Harding and Secretary Mellon requested
| passed so that negotiations might be be
/ gun with the allied powers to arrange for
/ payment of principal and interest on the
| S1O,00O.0 100000 they owe the United
| States has been sheived until after the
Borah wanted to ask questions about it
| and -since-protracted debate was inevi-
| table, it has been set aside.
! Railroad Bin SidetracIed.
| The, bill to enable the war finance
corporation to handle the emergency i'll
| the railroad situation by paying large
/ sums to the railroads which have been
| due them a. war claims. is also side
| tracked. The money was to have been
/ spent by the roads in buying equipment
l and might have given business as a whole
| a general stimulus this fall. Congress,
| however, influenced by the agricultural
group which wants a reduction in freight
rates before helping the railroads was I'M
| able to get the legislation through. of
course the house passed the bill and
/ cleaned up its slate nicely but in the SEN
! ate the chances of n tiiibuSter against
the railroad bill made it seem wiser to
postpone consideration of it until after
i the recess.
/ The real stumbling block. however.
has been the so-called anti-beer bill. The
4 house passed the conference report sub
stantialIy a. the anti-Saloon league lead
| Crs wanted it. But in the senate great
| constitutional objections have been
| raised wherein the fourth amendment is
H held to conflict with the 18th amendment.
Il The beer bill faced temporary defeat.
II The friends of beer have this advantage
Il in poStponement if the bill isn't consid-
cred until after the recess regulations
Il will have been issued meanwhile by the
Il treasury department permitting the man.
ufacture of beer for medicinal pur-
i poses. Once that regulation r. made the
chances of alteriR II by subsequent leg
Il iSlation are nil.
II The only measure which has been GER
II tain of passage is the bin enabling the
Il war finance corporation TO lend large
sums of money to agricultural export or
PLANTATIONS The farmers have had 'their
way this session though the manufac-
i turing and business interests still wait
action on the tariff and revenue bills.
Senate to Begin Tax Bill.
II OF course the purpose of the recess is
II to enable the senate finance committee TO
hold hearings and write a tax bill. The
III argument was wisely made that unless
the senate recessed and gave members
II IF the senate finance committee a chance
to work unintCrruptedly on the tax bill
there wouldn't be any new revenue law
and the old one would have to be reeu-
acted. The senate has been in session
II only a few months but the usual troubles
Of new administration have been aug
mented this time by the clash in inter
csts between the eastern and western Re
Il DubllcanS. The latter have played the
better strategy and have managed to get
consideration FOR most of their bills but
the easterucrS have not had effective
leadership. As Il consequence there Is
an admission now that much more prog
resS would have been made if the tax
bill had been given right of way in the
house and if President Harding had in
sisted upon such priority. Congress is
glad of "A chance. however, to leave thu
writing of the tax bill to the senate fl
nance committee and get away on brieI
vacation. The months rest will be {
good investment for the country because
it viii give members a chance to hear
Efresn the folks back home and particu
larly of the Impotence of the people fol
tax reductions 1t will assist jim puttins
individual senator's in a better humor
There has rarely been time when 81
much bitterness and personal feeling wa
y evident cloakTOoms. 1t is not confined
to one party but is an evidence of wha
happens when one individual or grouI
gets behind pet pieces of legislation ant
resents the Obstructiveness of anothe
individual or group. The senate hasn'
been the happiest family these midsum
/ mer days-and a breath of outside ali
away from the national capital ma!
bring the solons back here in much bet
! ter spirits and with more of an idea o
the demands of public opinion. The re
4 cess specifically looks like delay. Ulti
! mately it means substantial progress.