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Show A DILATORY CONGRESS. , Congress is not making an enviable record in legislation. An eastern east-ern writer points out one of the shortcomings of that body, as follows fol-lows : Unable or unwilling to legislate for the public interests, the Interstate Commerce Committees of the Senate and House are suddenly in a great hurry to do something to cover up their own shortcomings. They cannot at this late day agree upon a permanent per-manent solution of the railroad question, but to save iheir icpu-tations icpu-tations they will prepare a temporary measure continuing to the railroads foi an indefinite period aftei they shall have been returned re-turned to their owners on January I the rentals now paia by government. By this arrangement a do-nothing Congiess will proud1.' a make shift remedy for its own neglect and perhaps save the country from a breakdown in transportation and rV.iance. Congress has been in session since May 19. It was called by the President to consider all the pioblems of peact and reconstruction. recon-struction. It was told that the railroads, commandoes' for war, were to be given up at the end of the yea.. Its leaders professed to be indignant that. With so much urgent work at hand, they had not been summoned earlier. Yet after nearly SIX months devoted chiefly to partisanship and obstruction the record rec-ord of their accomplishments is almost a blank. With the railroad settlement deferred until 'he country is seething with presidential politic?, the various lins continuing under war subsidies, it is likely to be worked out at last in demagogy dem-agogy and jobbery. If this is not the deliberate purpose of Congress, its neglect of a paramount duty to the railroads no less than to the people is almost as scandalous. |