The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-17

COusross Hester0ay-A Fre0 DeD"so :"
tho House-The Tariff, Civil Service
and Americas shipbuildiag.
The House of Representatives has certainly
a most remarkable talent for getting up ex-
ject and on the least pertinent text. 1t
manifested that talent yesterday in con-
spicuous degree: first, apropos of bill appro-
priatng ten thousand dollars for the support
OF surf men on the life saving stations OF New
Jersey. The irrepressible funny man of the
democracy, Mr.. Cox, managed to get up a
| comedietta between himself and the solemn
Dawes, of Massachusetts,, the burden of which
was that the republican party was getting
credit before the country for all the popular
and humane measures. If any such there be, that
pass the House, while the democratic party,
which really deserves all the credit, gets none
Of it. One of the measures specially
referred to was the General Amnesty bill
passed by the House on Monday last, Mr.
Cox claiming that that was q democratic
measure, and reminding Mr. Dawes of the
compliment which he (Mr. Cox had paid to
Mr.. Dawes proposition for an unconditional
and universal amnesty In characterzing 1t as
Christian measure. To this Dawes replied.
| with equal truth and wit, that that very
| endorsement from such source had caused
| the rejection of the BILL
| After the curtain fell on this scene another
heavier act came upon the stage. The pro-
logue to it was bill fixing the salary Of the
Consul at Tien-tsin, China. With this as
text, remotely connected with the subject, a
debate sprung up and occupied most of the
day, embracing the questions of tariff, ship
building, civil service reform and the shame
fully inadequate compensation Of United States
consuls in foreign countries. Mr. Brooks, of
New York, having but recently returned from
his Oriental trip, and being thus specially
posted on the subject of the Tien-tsin Consul
late, assumed the leading r6te, and, starting
off with lament over the disappearance
of American built ships in Chinese
waters, gradually and naturally branched off
into the causes of the decay of American COM
MERGE and shpbulding, which decay he i'm
puted, as matter of course, to the influence
Of high protective tariff. Mr.. Kelley, of
Pennsylvania, could not sit silent and hear
anything said against the holiness of high
taxation, and accordingly he joined in and
attempted to refute Brooks. Then Mr.. Shella-
barger, Of Ohio, who has recently been Minis
ter to Portugal, and may be supposed to be
cognizant of the miseries which ill-paid Ameri-
can officials endure abroad, drew most dole
full picture of consuls and their wives and
children starving in third and fourth rate
garrets in European cities. This drew out
Mr.. Dawes, who, in his capacity of Chancellor
Of the Exchequer, or Chairman of the
| Committee of Ways and Means, must
establish character for economy. and who
saw in Mr.. Shellabarger's pitiful appeal to the
charitable an indirect assault upon the Treas
ury. According to him the great evil of our
pensation, but in the want of discrimination
on the part of the appointing power. He
thought that if the Executive would only
establish the rule of refusing Offices to all who
brought recommendations from members of
Congress 1t would go far to cure the evil.
In illustration of his position, that large COM
pensation did not secure good and faithful
services, he instanced the case of travelling
agent who was sent out to China aud
Japan to inspect consuates, and whose
claim for mileage entitled him to the
appelation of the "Great American Travel
ler," and yet whose report to the Department
was not deemed worthy of being published.
Mr.. Butler wound up the play by replying to
his colleagues comments on civil service re-
~ LII. I,ok 10 c~I -.
Representative knew more about the men in
their respective districts who would make
good officials than any board of broken-down
schoolmasters could pretend to know.
The one thing proper and right which the
House did yesterday was the passage of a
bill allowing all contributions from abroad for
the relief of the sufferers by the Chicago
fire to be entered free of duty, and
allowing drawback of duties on all
materials used in the repair or erec-
ton of buildings on the ground burned
over. Strange to say, the latter provision,
which will result in the exclusive use of
foreign glass and such other materials as are
cheaper without duty than the domestic art-
cles met no opposition on the part of the high
protectionsts. A somewhat similar propo-
sition was also before the Senate yesterday,
and was supported in speech by Mr. Logan ;
but the bill went over without final action.
The same fate befel bill for the remission Of
taxes on dividends, interest and undivided
profits, heretofore collected or assessed from
corporations, except such taxes as were levied
during the first seven months of 1870.
The House bill to repeal the duty on sal
and coal was reported in the Senate from the
| Einanca Committee and after an neffpctua