Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-03-03
Forty-First Congressional Session
WASHINGTON, D. c., March ?.

copies, leaving one hundred and fifty thousand
copies for the house and twenty-five thousane
for the department of agriculture. Last year
the house had one hundred and eighty thousand
COPIES and the senate twent, thousand.
The appropriation TO provide for collecting,
translating and publishing all the documents
relating to the carly history of the west COM
mencing with the discovery of the great lakes in
| 1863, and including explorations of the Rocky
mountains in 1872, was agreed TO.
MIR. CasSery commented upon the large def
cit IN the bill for the post office department, to
| which last year twenty-four millions of dollars
| were appropriated, it rec living now an addition
al five millions He intmated that the regular
! department expenditures were purposely under
estimated last session, for political effect at the
elections. He understood that the aggregate de-
| felt under the bill amounted TO S9,0OO,000.
Mr.. Cole said it was impossible to state exact
ly the total amount but that, as in the reports
from the senate committee, the estimate did not
exceed ten millions.
Mr.. Edmunds said these deficiencies, though
much larger under democratic administrations
were notthen perceptible, inasmuch as, under the
loose practice OF retaining balance in the treas
ury, the money intended for the use of one de-
partment was diverted to the support of another,
without any settlement of accounts. The re-
publican administration had reformed this gross
abuse, bv substituting for it the present system
of deficiency bills, whereby the actual expendi-
lures of the government were readily seen.
The bill then passed.
The senate insisted on its amendments to the
army and naval appropriation bills, and ap.
| pointed the following committees of conference:
On the army bill, Messrs. Cole, Thayer and
Blair; on the naval bill, Messrs. Sprague Cragn
and Stockton.
MIR. Johnston was appointed on the conference
committee on the legislative appropriation bill,
vice MIR. Thurman, excused.
A resolution was adopted calling on the pres
ldent for information communicated by the
legation at COnstantinople, relative to restric-
tons on the passage of the straits of DardaneeS
and the Bosphorus by ships of other nations.
Inc tortihcation appropriation bill was passed
without amendment.
The resolution of the common council of Phil
adelphia, in favor of the repeal of the income
tax, and the memorial of the wOrkingmen's as
sembly of New York, for relief from the COM
bination of large operators and transportation
companies to enhance the price of coal, were
presented, and referred to the committee on edu-
cation and labor.
MIR. Wiley, from the committee on patents,
reported, without amendment, the house bill for
the relief ofthe heirs of Jethro Woo5 the inventor
| of the modern cast iron pillow.
The house bill, creating Jersey City a collec-
| ton district and constituting Jersey City port
of entry, was indefinitely postponed.
Alr. Scott, from the committee Of conference
| to which was referred the question at issue be.
tween the two houses, as to the right of the SEN
ate TO originate measures repeating the income
tax, made report that the committee failed to
agree, advising the senate to adhere to its posi-
ton, and stating that no further conference was
necessary. The report was ordered printed.
The river and harbor appropriation bill was
then taken up, and, pending its consideration,
the senate went into executive session.
EVENING SESSION.
AT the evening session, bills for the recovery
of damages for the loss OF the Oneida and APP
proprating S1S,50O for damages by the federal
troops during the war to the building and
grounds of the East Tennessee university were
passed.
The omnibus appropriation bill was reported
from the committee with amendments.
new committee of conference, on the legis-
latiye appropriation bill, Messrs Edmunds,
Harlan and Davis was appointed, and the river
and harbor appropriation bill was proceeded
with in committee ofthe whole.
After discussion and amendment the bill
was passed, its total appropriation having been
reduced S122 600 from that fixed by the house.
The house joint resolution respecting the duty
on coal was referred to the finance committee,
and theiomnbus appropriation bill was taken up.
After discussion, the senate adjourned,
HOUSE.
Mr.. Dawes, from the committee of conference
on the legislative appropriation bill, reported
that the committee was unable to agree, and
stated the difficulties which the committee had
encountered. The senate had adopted one hun
dred and three amendments to the bill, on most
OF which there was no difficulty in coming to an
agreement. Inc amendments upon when the
committee had been unable to agree were few in
number, but important in character. The first
was as to the iudges'S salaries. In addition to
the increase of salaries Judges of the supreme
court, to which the house agreed, the senate
proposed TO raise the salaries of all Judges of
United States courts and the supreme court of
the District of Columbia, and court of claims.
The next was the proposition to erect a state
department building, which would ult-
mately cost four or five million dollars,
on the site now occupied BY the war
and navy departments. He thought the
conference committee might have agreed on
that subject, because the state department is
now in a lamentable condition, with its records
and archives exposed 10 fire, if the committee
had not, in its deliberations, puncured the
whole thing by requiring the building to be
granite, and correspond with the treasury dc.
paltment. That provision seemed to have
wonderful effect in cooling the ardor that ex
listed about it,
But that was not all; along with it was the
proposition TO make a splendid park, taking in
all the public grounds from the capitol to the
White house, and defraying the expense by the
sale of other public grounds in other parts of
the city. Another proposition was to extend
the capitol grounds north and south, at cost
estimated at 100000, but which would not fall
short of 81 100000 The next proposition was to
raise the salaries of all the assistant secretaries,
the second comptroller, the register ali auditors
the commissioner of CUSTOMS supervising archi-
tect of the treasury department, all assistant
postmasters general, and commissioners of the |
general land office, pensions, Indian affairs and
agriculture to four thousand dollars
The house contereeS regarded themselves in |
structed by the common sentiment of the house |
to oppose these elevations of salary For him |
self, he was unwilling TO enter upon the plan of
charging the capitol grounds at this time He |
was unwilling to go further in raising the Judi. |
cial salaries than the house had gone raising |
the salaries of the judges of supreme courts |
to $4,000. He was willing under all necessities |
OF the government, to agree to the commence |
ment of one wing of the state department, to |
correspond with the treasury department. but |
was not willing to have any such fancy build
ing erected on one side of the presidents house.
and that MAGNIFICENT pile of granite the treas
ury building, on the Others. As TO the increase
of salaries of officials, while he was willing to
increase the salaries of some of these officers
be was not willing to increase the salaries of ali
of them.
Mr.. Logan objected to the extravagaut an.
propriations for Washington. The people were
not going to submit to these enormous burdens,
imp Jsed on them by congress. He did not de-
sire to attend the funeral of the republican par
ty within the next two years, If he had to do
SO, he desired the assassination perpetrated Inv
other hands, He did not want the life and VI
tality of that party taken from it by its own
friends, by the men calling themselves republic
cans; and yet they were doing it here every
day. They must stop this extravaganza, must
CettSc tucst OutldScs Ou lllt people, or [uey were
doomed party. gentleman from Massachu-
sets said to him the other day, by way of pleas
antry, "Why, Logan, you have postponed
moving the capital" He would say that the one
reason why he was opposed to these appropria,
tions was the one great object of making them,
as sufficient money might be invested in this
sink OF iniquity TO prevent people from ever
changing the capital New England, Pennsyl-
vania and New York had voted already against
giving to the people Of the west the number of
representatives TO which they were entitled I'M
der the constitution. He now notified members
that they could not pass these large appropra-
tons "or Washington, unless they did il on the
pretence that there was no time to go into con.
ference reports. When the west had the repre-
sentation to which she was entitled they would
give notice as to what action they would take in
reference to the removal Of the capital They
might make sport Of him as much as they
pleased, but, if they lived long enough, they
would find, at some day or other, that the west
and south would notify them that this thing
ould not always exist,