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Show IMAGHIHERT OF WAR 1 RUNNINGWELL NOW BIG THINGS ARE BEING DONE AND SUCCESS OF TROOPS IS CHEERING. PENROSE HAS AN OUTBREAK His Desires Thwarted, the Pennsylva-nian Pennsylva-nian Stirs Up Things in the Senate Women Asserting Their Rights to Official Positions. By ARTHUR W. DUNN. Washington. War work is going more smoothly. It has taken a long time to get the immense amount of military machinery in motion, but apparently ap-parently everybody about the war department de-partment is now satisfied with the way it is running. There is a hitch now and then, and some little criticism of unimportant matters, but the big things are being done and the main fact is that there are over a million soldiers in Europe and that every month sees many thousands more added add-ed to the number. There is some questions ques-tions as to whether the methods pursued pur-sued are the best, but upon the whole the results speak for themselves and, what is more, the conduct of the American Amer-ican troops, their fighting qualities, the successes they have achieved, wipe out everything in the past in regard to mistakes and mismanagement. Even though the weather has been all that could be asked, cool ami comfortable, com-fortable, it did not prevent the rising of temperatures in congress, particularly particu-larly in the senate. There has been a considerable display of temper, one of the principal outbreaks being by Senator Sen-ator Penrose.' The big Pennsylvania senator wanted a recess; but he did not want the bill passed for government govern-ment control of telegraph and telephone tele-phone lines; he was very much opposed op-posed to the prohibition provision in the agricultural survey bill. Not having hav-ing his- way, he expressed his opinion very forcibly, and when Penrose goes on the warpath he . generally bags something. With a strong personality, Impervious to criticism, master of himself, him-self, with a command of language either vindictive or sarcastic, he can generally "make the fur fly" when he decides to "start something" in the senate. There was no more interesting occasion during the present session than when Penrose went on the warpath war-path after the recess fiasco. Several of his opponents were winged during his onslaught. As the woman suffrage program advances ad-vances there is every indication that vomen are going to assert their rights to official positions. A recent statement state-ment from the National Woman's Trade Union league, announcing the appointment of a woman as the assistant assist-ant chief of the new woman's bureau in the department of labor, pointed out that "until traditions are broken, and men acquire the habit of putting women wom-en in administrative and consultive positions po-sitions as readily and as frequently as they put men in such places, the woman's wom-an's bureau has a big work cut out for it." The new appointee also insists upon equal pay for equal work by women and men. That has been the general rule in employment in the government gov-ernment departments. Senator Borah of Idaho did not like the way business was. proceeding late in the afternoon on the day the senate voted to take a recess. He said that if they did not get order he would take the floor and hold it until order was restored. "I do not propose to see legislation pass in this way," he said. "We are holding caucuses, double caucuses cau-cuses and joint caucuses here In the aisle and considering the question of a recess while legislation of vital Importance Impor-tance Is being pushed through in the confusion. One of tvo tilings must happen. We will either legislate in order or-der or we will not legislate at all." And then Senator Overman of North Carolina, chairman of the committee on rules, considered that it was a good time to shut up shop and moved an executive session. Congressman Mersey of Maine made some observations in the house when the census bill was up, which were descriptive de-scriptive of the feelings of a "treasury watchdog." Horsey was acting as one at the time and was barking at the expenditures provided for in the bill. He remarked that President Wilson was under an "awful responsibility" and that "today, in another room of this capitol, sits the great conimilfee on ways and means to provide for the largest revenue hill ever enacted. The responsibility of the Democratic leader, lead-er, Mr. Kitchin, Is tremendous, but the responsibility of the president or of a great leader is not so great and important im-portant as that of the humblest representative repre-sentative who honestly attempts at this time to be a 'watehdogof the treasury.'" treas-ury.'" So that Is how It feels to be one of the pack. No one has mentioned the close shave by which a recess was defeated. defeat-ed. It really hung upon a decision of Speaker Clark and it might Just as well have been made the other way. In fact, the speaker at one time decided the question the other way, bnt upon a parliamentary Inquiry by Congressman Barkley of Kentucky, he decided that there should be a call of the house Instead of a vote directly on the resolution of adjournment. Under Un-der tLe house rnles, when a question comes up to be voted on and It is ascertained as-certained by the speaker's count that there is not a quorum present. I lie roll is called and members vote for or ; against the pending measure. A call ! of the bouse Is a little different. Then members answer "present." and the speaker decided that there should be a call of the bouse instead -if a vote on Ihe adjournment resolution. Debate was denied on the resolution, but during the roll call to get a quorum, quo-rum, an opportunity was afforded for private discussion, and this discussion developed the position of the president presi-dent against a recess, and Leader Kitchin withdrew the adjournment resolution res-olution from the house. Had the roll call been directly upon the question of adjournment, it is altogether likely that a majority would have voted to adjourn. For a long time the most abused skeleton In the war department's closet clos-et has been the $040,000,000 appropriation appropria-tion for aircraft, made shortly after the United States got into the war. which the calamity howlers claimed was spent without any return in the way of aircraft. Congressman Kahn of Califoriiia cleared the situation for the bouse by explaining that the money was used not only for airplanes, but to buy land for aviation fields, to build hangars for the machines.- to put up barracks for student flyers, and for many other similar necessary expenditures. ex-penditures. The farmer has. a lot of friends in congress. Even when it was known that , the president was very much opposed to legislation increasing the price of wheat, Ihe senate insisted upon an advance of 30 cents a bushel for wheat and ti e house consented by a vote of 150 to 100 to one of 20 cents a bushel. Of course this action was not taken without considerable opposition. opposi-tion. Congressman Stafford of Wisconsin Wiscon-sin declared that "there is no class of people in America who have been benefited bene-fited more as a result of this war than have the farmers." This statement aroused Congressman Cox of Indiana, who is generally very plain-spoken. He said in reply. "I get all-fired tired when I hear men talk about Ihe present unprecedented prosperity of the farmer. I wonder why suchinen do not resign their seats in congress, if farmers are becoming millionaires, and go out and don a suit of overalls and brogau shoes and go to raising wheat, oats, corn, barley, bar-ley, rye, bogs, cattle, and all ether farm commodities. I wonder why the city gent does not lay aside bis diamonds dia-monds and gold-headed cane and go into the country and get rich." There was an hour's debate on this proposition in the house and seldom has it happened that as much is mid in an hour in congress as on that day. Leader Kitchin of the house does not allow very much to go on in-that body that he does not know all about. He has an oliice close to the house of representatives, rep-resentatives, nearer than any other office, of-fice, liie room which was occupied by the speaker in the days when the speaker was the all-powerful czar. If Kitchin is -not in the house watching the proceedings he has a secretary on the floor ready to tell him what is happening. hap-pening. He also has tne means of keeping in touch with the house proceedings pro-ceedings when hearings are being held by the ways and means committee in the big auditorium of that committee in the house office building. Nobody can doubt that Kitchin is on the job all the time. Meyer London, Socialist congressman from New York, has a long memory. He proved it when Congressman Me-Clintic Me-Clintic of Oklahoma asked unanimous consent for permission to print certain cer-tain remarks in the Record on "Congressional "Con-gressional Service." "Reserving the right to object," Interjected In-terjected London, "I will ,ask the gentleman gen-tleman If he means to repeat the offense of-fense committed by him in the Sixty-fourth congress, when be used the right to extend -emnrks In the Record In an attack on the sole Socialistic member of congress." Not until Mc-Clintic Mc-Clintic promised to let London see the material before it went into the Record did the New Yorker withdraw his objection. One of the most determined and hostile hos-tile opponents of woman suffrage is Senator Brandegee of Connecticut. The Connecticut senator arrayed himself him-self against practically all of his colleagues col-leagues recently by saying that there is no such thing as "the right to vote." Brandegee held that it was not a right, but a privilege. He stood just about alone on that proposition, but found more of his colleagues agreeing with him a few minutes later when be asserted as-serted that "all this talk about striking the shackles and the manacles from the limbs of the enslaved women of this country is perfect tommy-rot." The bouse pages were probably as disappointed a lot of hoys as could have been found In Washington on the night when recess plans went To tlin-1 tlin-1 ders at the last minute. There was i a great deal of legislating done during dur-ing the day and the pages were kept on the job all the time, running errands er-rands for the many members who were on the floor. Congressman Stafford of Wisconsin had them working in re-lavs, re-lavs, for be takes an Interest In every-' every-' thing that is going on in 1 lie house. |