Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1906 — WORK OF CONGRESS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WORK OF CONGRESS.

SESSION JUST CLOSED HAS BEEN . A BUSY ONE. In Hath JlouHen Out ot 27,600 Bills 4,000 Beach Statute Books—New Hecnrdu Set in Labor and ’' . _ . i ' Oratory. ' Wash iaywaTWryospbndenoo;. ■ ■ .

THE first session of the Fifty-ninth Congress is distinguished.’ from its immediate- predey N' cessor.s by the » ' things it has done and not by the M tilings it has not done. It has’been a particularly notable session for the influence of public sentiment, lOvi led by President III" RooseVelt, upon it. ,I* ‘ it has broken, or

tpproxiniately equaled, all records made by any other peace session in thejnsb; lory of'the country in bills introduced and passed, both public aricEprivate, in the amount of appropriations voted and in the length of debates. It lity passed mure corredive legislation than any otlier session Ini recent years and has pa id-doser- -attention to business. In the making of speeches and drafting of bills the Congress fairly outdid itsilf. Tlie Congressional Record, puffed and swollen far beyond Its usual proportions, will embrace a small-sized library in telling of tlie work of the session, while the file?, of the document rooms were jammed and overflowing with more bills, resolutions and reports than any single session has ever had and more than'Rh*e-4»rC&accuniulated in many an entire Congresl. The ilood of bills was greatest in th'e House, although the Senate was pot far bfhind in proposing laws. The bills, filed hrthe House during the seven months of the session numbered almost 2 l.tKlf-c- —lit - the - Fifty-eighth G’-ongress, wmsidiiig of three-sessions, there were only 19.209 bills introduced in the House. The Senators presented 6,600 bills from December to July, as against 7.295 for the three sessions of the Fif-ty-eighth Congress. The- two Houses did not take up all the time filing bills find talking about them. They passed 4.000 laws, 300 of which were public- in character and destined to wield a tremendous influence on the nation. The balance were “private bills,” mostly pension grants. The Fifty-eighth Congress was content with the enactment of 5,406 laws, a record wbiclLlS-outdone by the “private acts” of a single session of tlie Fiftyninth Congress. In view of this accomplishment the people who believe the lountry suffers from too many lawswill have just grounds to complain. Sets Record fur Speeches. But it was in the field of oratory that both- Houses won fame. With the first weeks of the session the talkfest began, and it continued to the end, a veritable Niagara oTword*. It is estimated thaT" during the seven months of the session mere than 40,000,000. words were spoken and reported in the two houses of Congress, a record that will probably never be equaled by any legislative body on earth; The Congressional Record for the session numbers more than 10,000 pages. The most popular speeches of the session, judged by outside demand, were the rate speeches of Senators Bailey and Knox and Senator Tillman's attack on the President in connection with the Mrs. Minor Morris incident.

Mnjiey Bills Nearly *000,000.000 Lavish appropriations have been made. In the total appropriated, all previous- records have been broken. Tlje exact amount is not yet known, but it will approximate $875,900.0110, and may nearly reach the $900,000,000 point. The appropriations of the closing session of the Fifty-eighth Congress, for the fiscal year, 1906, amounted to $820,184,634, the high record up to that time. One of the largest Items of Increase is in the postoflicc bill. Last year the postal appropriation was $181,022,093. This year it Is $198,000,000, an increase of $17,000,000. An increase of over $2,000,000 had been made in the meat inspection appropriation and $2,600,000 went to San Francisco. Exd traordinary appropriations of about $11,000,000 were made for the Panama Canal. An enormous Increase was made in the sundry civil bill, which carried for the fiscal year 1900 a little less than $67,000,000, but which went through the Senate this session with a total of over $102,000,000. Of this more than $25,000,000 was for the Panama Canal for the coming fiscal year. Permanent appropriations carried at the close of last session amounted to less than $147,000,000. This total is now much larger and is growing with every session. It will probably approximate $109,000,000. Chairman Tawney of the appropriations committee and most of the House jchairinen having charge of big appropriation bills have worked hard to keep them tlowfi, but have had an almost Impossible task. Congress has been crowded for money fbotn every quarter. The Panama canal has required libera] treatment, San Francisco, bad to be relieved, the meat inspection appropriation had to be largely Increased, postal business has been expanding so as to require much larger sums.