Show RELIEF OF DEBTORS Prospects of Bankruptcy Legislation 1Ti in Congress i i PRESSURE FROM CITIES 3 COUNTRY PEOPLE GENERALLY ARE OPPOSED I I Opinions of Representatives Hender i son Mercer and Cannon Beplying to a Question on Currency Cannon Can-non Alludes to the Free Silver I Battle of 1900 IJ I II J I i New York Dec 4Yhat in your opinion is the prospect of bankruptcy legislation at the coming session of congress asked a correspondent of the Tribune in Washington last night of Geneial Henderson of Iowa who is chairrran of the house committee on judiciary On Monday I propose to introduce a barkruptci bill which will be substantially substan-tially identical with the one pressed by the hour of representatives in the last con gr + ss There has also been referred to this committee the bill passed by the senate at the special session There Mjll bo a meeting of the committee early in the week and we will exchange v iewt on the subject and see what jjrospict there is of favorable commit tP action Then a subcommittee will tavf the matter up and frame a meas uiv either a pubstitute for the senate I bill + r taking that as a basis propose aiiendiiKiits to it PRESSURE IN FAVOR Do you think there is a strong public j pub-lic demand for such legislation asked the correspondent j i Yes 1 do and I believe there will be a strong pressure brought to bear in favor of it Such legislation I properly prop-erly framed and guarded is required in the ojinicn of a great many people beanies myself and all for the same reason During the hard times of the last administration thousands of men went to the wall and their energies were bottled up who if they could find legal release from the chains which now bind them would again and immedi j nJ 5 y resume the activities of a business life and add immensely to the leverage j ir fav < r ol general business prosperity j prosper-ity They would he able to share in j the 1Lnelits of the tariff legislation of last summer and the country would I be all the better for it j RESISTANCE AGAINST i And yet continued General Hen dNin strong resistance will und un-d > uitedl > be offered to the enactment I of such legislation and no man ought I now to attempt to predict what the outcome may be so tar as the coming session is concerned The most I dare fcd u that my hope is strong j 1 ucprtpentative Mercer of Nebraska j who is chairman of the house committee commit-tee on public buildings and grounds agrees with General Henderson as to the desirability of bankruptcy legislation legis-lation In conversation with a Tribune Tri-bune correspondent Mr Mercer said NECESSARY LAW i f It is absolutely necessary in my j r opinloti that a bankruptcy law should I 1 > enacted at the coming session We have thousands of men in Nebraska v V ho were damaged by the hard times a vlo will never be able to regain their 1 i feet naufially speaking until such a law is parsed If they were released j from the burden of indebtedness which > continues to hold them down they I j i would at once engage in the activities I ot usimF l and not only be sharers in i but contributors to the prosperity i which tin Dingley law is restoring to the country not only by the direct advantages I ad-vantages it is giving to American home e industries but by the hope and confidence I 1 confi-dence it has inspired throughout the i I country A good bankruptcy law would i be fairly supplementary to the new I taritf because it would add to the in iluencefa at work in behalf of the national na-tional prosperity CHAIRMAN CANNON Chairman Cannon of the house appropriations ap-propriations committee was found in his committee room In reply to a I i c ucstion as to whether the people in his j 1 I part of the country are in favor of i i bankruptcy legislation at the coming j session Mr Cannon said I I Iv not in the country districts i I There is considerable feeling in favor j of it in Chicago and also considerable j opposition to it I understand It might perhaps be a good thing to have a voluntary I vol-untary bankruptcy law to expire by limitation six months after its enactment enact-ment mentWhat t What do you think of the nrosnect of currency legislation asked the correspondent cor-respondent FREE SILVER BATTLE Oh whats the use of talking about that in the face of the condition of affairs af-fairs in the senate Why if the house should pass a currency bill the senate would probably strike out everything after tlw enacting clause and send usa us-a free coinage bill Whats the matter with the currency anyhow if we can collect revenue enough to pay the current I cur-rent expenses of the government and have a little left So far as the retirement re-tirement of the greenbacks is concerned concern-ed I do not believe that a bill containing contain-ing such a passage could pass the house of representatives Then why not let I well enough alone Weve got to fight the free silver battle over again in 1900 and we had better prepare for itWhat I What about appropriations Chairman Chair-man Cannon was asked i KElP OUT DRIFTWOOD I Well if we keep the driftwood out I of the appropriations I guess we I Q should manage to get along but 1 do I not see how great reductions can be i made We cannot cut down the appropriations I i appro-priations for pensions As the country grows in population the cost of the j postal service naturally and necessarily necessar-ily increases The expenses of the military and naval establishments cannot I can-not be very well reduced We will be I 1i obliged to pay 20000000 s year for the next two years osi contracts already made for river and harbor improvements improve-ments and so on The fact is the I country is growing uid for that simple reason the multifarious expenses of I the government are also growing That I is all there is to it I |