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The Outlook is a Weekly Newspaper and an Illustrated Monthly Magazine in one. It is published every Saturday-fifty-two issues a year. The first issue in each month is an Illustrated Magazine Number, containing about twice as many pages as the regular weekly issue, and many pictures.

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287 Fourth Avenue, New York Copyright, 1903, by The Outlook Company. Entered as second-class matter in the New York Post-Office.

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Nos. 16, 18, 20, and 22 WILLIAM STREET NEW YORK

CAPITAL AND UNDIVIDED PROFITS, $8,000,000 The Company is a legal depositary for moneys paid into Court, and is authorized to act as Executor, Administrator, Trustee, Guardian, Receiver, and in all other Fiduciary capacities.

Acts as Trustee under Mortgages made by Railroad and other Corporations, and as Transfer Agent and Registrar of Stocks and Bonds.

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EDWIN S. MARSTON, President.

THOS. J. BARNETT, 2d Vice-President.
SAMUEL SLOAN, Jr., Secretary.

AUGUSTUS V. HEELY, Ass't Sec'y.
WILLIAM B. CARDOZO, Ass't Sec'y.
CORNELIUS R. AGNEW, Ass't Sec'y.

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Vcl. 73

What Congress Left Undone

ure.

Published Weekly

March 14, 1903

The filibustering in both houses which marked the closing days of Congress created a popular belief that the session had been disappointing in results. The Aldrich Currency Bill, which displaced the Statehood Bill at the close of the previous week, was in its turn killed by the insistence of Democratic Senators that the measure must be discussed. Senator Aldrich appealed to them to support a bill to expand the currency and thus carry out a Democratic policy, but they refused to secure currency expansion through the medium of bank notes in the manner provided by the measThey particularly objected to the feature of the bill permitting the Treasury to accept railroad bonds as security for Government deposits made with the banks. If, however, the Aldrich bill had been introduced earlier, there would have been little question of its passage, as its proposal to require the banks to pay at least one and one-half per cent. interest on the $150,000,000 of public funds now deposited with them without interest was almost universally popular. To what extent the bill would have expanded the currency is a matter upon which there is the widest difference of opinion among competent critics. Potentially the bill released over a hundred millions of Government bonds now used to secure Government deposits, and permitted the banks to use all these bonds as a basis for banknote issues. But the fact that banks do not now use all available Government bonds as a basis for currency issues makes it a matter of guesswork how far they would have used the released bonds in this way. After it became evident that the Aldrich bill could not be passed in the closing hours of the Senate, Mr. Aldrich withdrew it in favor of the Philippine

No. 11

Tariff Bill, reducing the duty on Philippine products from 75 per cent. of the Dingley rates to 50 per cent. This measure was opposed by nearly all the sugar and tobacco growing interests, in whose behalf Senator Patterson, of Colorado, deliberately inaugurated a filibuster fatal, of course, to its passage. The Immigration Bill was passed, but not until it had been devitalized by the insistence of a small group of Senators, led by Mr. Elkins, of West Virginia, that the educational test for desirable immigration should be stricken out. As enacted into law, the new bill accomplishes little besides the doubtful good of increasing the head tax on immigrants from one dollar to two dollars. While these important measures were thus killed or mangled, Senator Tillman, by threatening to defeat an appropriation bill unless a very doubtful fifty-thousand-dollar South Carolina item was included in it, secured its modification as he demandeda procedure which called forth sharp criticism in the House from Mr. Cannon, the next Speaker. In the pressure of appropriation bills the Cuban treaty was not brought up for consideration, and this measure, together with the Panama treaty held up by Senator Morgan, went over unacted upon to the special session of the new Senate convened by the President immediately upon the expiration of the old.

The long roll of imporWhat Congress Did tant measures defeated the last week of the session must not, however, divert popular attention from the measures which were acted upon. If we except the Littlefield Anti-Trust Bill, which the Democrats, with the support of three Republicans, attempted in vain to take up in the Senate when the Statehood

Bill was defeated, and the Eight-Hour Bill, the preceding paragraph covers all the important legislative proposals defeated by the Senate. The House of Representatives has to its credit the defeat of only one important proposal-the Ship Subsidy Bill. The formation of the great steamship combination by the companies which were to receive the bulk of the proposed subsidies strengthened the opposition of the Western Republicans in the House Committee on Merchant Marine, and they, uniting with the Democrats, definitely killed the bill. In the roll of bills passed by both houses must be put the Philippine relief and currency bills, the army staff bill, the bill for the reorganization of the militia under National supervision though not National control, the bill to increase the navy by five great battle-ships costing upwards of four million dollars each, the bill repeal ing the tariff on coal, three of the four anti-trust measures recommended by Attorney-General Knox-the bills to ex pedite anti-trust decisions, to provide publicity, and to prevent rebates-and the bill to create a National Department of Commerce. Should the extra session of the Senate just assembled by the President ratify the Cuban and Panama treaties, every one of the most important matters upon which the President asked for action at the beginning of the short session will have been acted upon. If to the legislation of this session be added that of the first session of the same Congress, we have the first National irrigation act, the Isthmian Canal act, the repeal of the Spanish war taxes, and the passage of the Philippine civil government bill. We have also, of course, the appropriation bills, and in this line, unfortunately, there appears to have been too great activity. Ten years ago the Nation was shocked when an aggregate of a billion dollars was reached by a single Congress. The Congress which has closed its sessions reached an aggregate of a billion five hundred million dollars-excluding its appropriation of fifty million dollars for the Panama Canal. The tendency of prosperous times and a great National revenue to promote extravagance cannot be doubted, though in estimating this extravagance it must not be forgotten that expenditures necessarily increase with the increase of the on and its wealth.

The New Senate

The new Senate which met

in extra session on March 5 to consider the Panama and Cuban treaties is of the same political complexion as its predecessor, though a shade more strongly Republican. Four Republican Senators-from Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Nevada-gave place to Democrats, and four Democratic or Populist Senators-from Kansas, Utah, Idaho, and Washington-gave place to Republicans, and the two Senatorial vacancies from Delaware were filled by Republicans. The new Senate stands: Republicans, 57; Democrats, 33. Senator Smoot, of Utah, took the oath of office without objection from any quarter. The protests against his retention of his seat are to be considered later by the appropriate committee. Of the work of the new Senate upon the pending treaties the public learns practically nothing, as the rule against considering treaties in open session prevents any authorized report, and the lack of public excitement checks unauthorized ones. Not even the amendments announced by are publicly known. times seem to be as

Senator Morgan Altogether, the ripe for a conservative change in the Senate rules for secret sessions as in those facilitating unlimited filibustering. There are times when, even under a republican government, treaties should be considered in secret session, but it ought to require the affirmative action of the Senate to close the doors instead of affirmative action to open them. Two events in the organization of the new Senate are likely to have an important effect on the Democratic party. The first and less important of these events was the action of Senator Bailey, of Texas, in naming Senator Clark, of Montana, as his successor on the important Committee of Foreign Relations. Mr. Clark, though a silver man, is out of sympathy with the Bryan wing of his party upon the tariff, the trusts, and imperialism. The second and more important of these events was the action of the entire Democratic caucus in electing Senator Gorman, of Maryland, to succeed ex-Senator Jones, of Arkansas, as its Chairman and parliamentary leader. Senator Gorman, while he has always maintained his "regularity" as a party man, has been the intellectual head of

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