VOL. XXXV. A A Monthly Magazine for Self-Education. AUGUST, 1902. Highw & B y y way No. 5. dealt with at the "short session" of the present congress. CONGRESS, in these days of over- committee stage, and they will probably be legislation, is to be judged by the quality rather than by the quantity of its work. The first or "long" session of the Fifty-seventh Congress lasted exactly seven months, but the number of public measures of importance or moment which it passed is not large. A congress is also to be judged by its omissions and failures, and this test, even when applied by critics disposed to be friendly and entirely impartial, discovers flaws in the record of the session. Congress, especially the senate, was slow in getting to work, and it had before it several questions which not only invited, but challenged and required protracted discussion. It will suffice to name the Philippine tariff, the civil government bill for that archipelago, the isthmian canal project, Cuban reciprocity, the ratification of the Kasson treaties for the increase of foreign commerce (treaties drawn under the Dingley act), and the protection of the president from anarchistic or revolutionary violence. Next in importance, but eminently debatable, were the irrigation bill, the bill taxing colored oleomargarine ten cents a pound, the bill to exclude Chinese immigrants, and one to admit the territories of Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico as states into the federal union. Of these all were passed except the Cuban reciprocity, the statehood bill, and the antianarchy bill. Another exception is the commercial treaties, which were revived and reported to the senate, but not ratified or discussed by that body. Upon the greatest of the measures enumerated we comment elsewhere in separate notes. The statehood and anti-anarchy bills reached the conference With regard, however, to the question of Cuban reciprocity, involving not only commercial but moral considerations of the highest importance, the prospect is by no means bright. The senate did not even discuss the house bill for the relief of Cuba, chiefly because it contained a provision depriving the refiners of sugar of their "differential" - at least, this is the charge generally made in the press. Eighteen or twenty senators strenuously opposed any concession to Cuba in the shape of a direct reduction of the duties on her staple products. They argued that such a reduction. would not only fatally injure the beet-sugar industry of the United States, but tend to reopen the whole tariff question. President Roosevelt was constrained to send a special message to congress meeting these objections and renewing his recommendation for action in pursuance of interest and duty, but this step proved of no avail. Even among the supporters of the president there was weakness, half-heartedness, or insincerity, and the bill reported by the Cuban committee of the senate (a better measure than that of the house, and one minus the anti-differential provision) was not even considered. This in spite of the fact that nearly all the state conventions, Republican as well as Democratic, have supported the president's position and repudiated the anti-reciprocity attitude so far as Cuba was concerned. There is no doubt that an overwhelming majority of the people have sincerely desired the adoption of some proper and liberal Cuban relief measure, for the condition of the freed island is said to be extremely serious, and President Palma's task is as difficult as it is delicate. It is doubtful whether such a bill will have a better chance at the next session. A different course has, in fact, been determined upon. A reciprocity treaty will be negotiated between the United States and Cuba, and, either at a special session in November or at the regular session, congress will be asked to ratify it. The success of this attempt will in a GENERAL EDWARD S. BRAGG, to Cuba. measure be deterUnited States Consul-General mined by the next congressional elections, as the Democrats will make the failure of Cuban reciprocity a leading issue in the campaign. Congress, it should be added, has done nothing to give effect to the president's radical anti-trust suggestions, and has declined to enact new legislation confirming the single gold standard and introducing asset and branch banking into our financial system. Bills dealing with these questions were introduced and casually debated, but the policy of "let well enough alone" prevailed with reference to them, as it did with respect to general tariff revision. It is generally admitted, however, that the session was memorable, interesting, and notable. Some of its debates were on a high plane of intellectual and oratorical merit, Irrigation - Reclaiming an Empire. The Far West is rejoicing over the passage by congress and the signing by the president of an irrigation bill of the greatest possible importance. The question has been under discussion for a number of years, and of course the desirability of reclaiming the arid lands of the western states and territories has been universally recognized. It is stated that private enterprise has reclaimed all the land that could be sold to home-seekers at a reasonable profit, and that the 750,000,000 acres of the arid domain which can be rendered productive by irrigation demand an expenditure far beyond the capacity of private capital. The states might undertake the work, but congress has refused to cede the lands to them, and the act just passed provides for irrigation at the national expense. A modest beginning has been authorized, but the opponents of the measure (and they are many, even among the leading Republicans in congress) assert that the government has been committed to a dangerous plan that will mean heavy annual irrigation appropriation bills and an aggregate cost of perhaps a billion. The objections to the act are serious and apparently well-founded, but the friends of irrigation dwell on the great benefits of a scheme that will provide millions of industrious men with homes and farms, that will "reclaim an empire" from nature and stimulate every industry in the country. The bill appropriates the proceeds from the sale of public land for irrigation. The work is to be directed by the secretary of the interior, who is given the authority to determine what lands are to be irrigated and where the irrigation works shall be located. The secretary has now about $6,000,000 at his disposal to begin operations, and about $2,000,000 will accrue each year from further sales into the reclamation fund. The amount will be larger when publicans do not hesitate to say that the money appropriated by the bill is not, strictly speaking, a public use. Congressman Ray said, in a minority report to the House of Representatives: "The use proposed by this bill is not a public use, unless congress has the constitutional power to improve the government lands for the purpose of making them more salable, bring a higher price in the market, and in so doing is carrying out a governmental purpose and executing a power conferred by the constitution for the benefit of all the people. "The water and water rights condemned are not to be kept and used for the general government, but sold again for private use. But is it constitutional? Prominent Re- by the Moro (Mohammedan) tribes, and provides for the continuation of the policy of establishing municipal and provincial selfgovernment. It also provides for the establishment of a central territorial legislature of two branches-one popular and elective, the other composed of men appointed by the government. This legislature, however, is not to be established immediately. First a census of the islands is to be taken, and then, if a condition of complete peace and order shall prevail for two years thereafter, and that fact be certified to the president, the latter shall order the Philippine commission to call a general election for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly. The assembly is to send two delegates to congress. "The bill is unconstitutional because the Congress of the United States has no power to provide for irrigation improvement of its public lands situate within a state-probably not those situate in a territory." It is further objected that it is unjust to take the proceeds of public lands in one state and use them for irrigation in another state; that the government has no power to condemn water rights in one state for the improvement of lands in another state held for sale to private citizens; that water may not be taken from California, for example, and conducted by canals into Nevada for irrigation purposes. It is not denied that railroad lands and private property will be made vastly more valuable than now by this irrigation plan. In fact, Congressman Hepburn of Iowa, a distinguished Republican, denounced the act as "the most insolent attempt at larceny ever embodied in a legislative proposition," while Congressman Grosvenor described it as "a direct draft made by the railroads." This does not exhaust the pros and cons of the question, but it sufficiently indicates the nature of the industrial, financial, constitutional, and legal points which the act will continually raise. Civil Government for the Philippines. Military rule and division of power and of responsibility are at an end in the Philippine Islands. The new act for the government of the archipelago makes the civil commission supreme, except in the islands inhabited CHRISTIAN IX., King of Denmark. This provision was favored by Governor Taft and opposed by the senate. Thanks to the insistence of the house, it was retained in the compromise bill elaborated in conference committee. It is regarded as a substantial concession to Filipino sentiment and will no doubt please and reassure the more enlightened natives. The act is comprehensive, and covers economic as well as political needs. The silver standard of value remains unchanged, serious differences between the two houses of congress having prevented legislation upon this subject, except that the commission is authorized to coin subsidiary silver money. The ownership of land by individuals and corporations is strictly regulated, as is the acquisition of franchises and privileges. A corporation may not hold more than 2,500 acres of land, while individuals are to enjoy opportunities similar to those conferred by our homestead system. The constitutional bill of rights is ex |
