The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-02-06
FROM WASHINGTON.

congress ana OtnerS TO It's fOrm6
j, status.
e The committee on ways and mean
y have prepared and will report resolr
r tion to fix the amount of greenbacks q
i four hundred millions, including til
reserYo, i',gs keeping it within the lin
! its of the law prior to 1866. The
! deem it just to the country that til
, limit should be absolutely fixed.
. The national board of trade thinks j
3 not worth while for congress to spend an,
l money in building through railroad
, for the purpose of solving the transpor
} tation problem, and regards as equal,
/ hopeless any attempt to settle it b,
| prescribing tares and rates by law
They favor the passage of laws b. otat
Legislatures to compel railroads trans
} porting grain in bulk to deliver the samt
quantity they received.
Mrs. DIR. Guthrie was heard befOr,
: the house committee on judiciary las
week, in opposition to the enfranchise
ment of women in the District of Co
lambda and elsewhere. She said the
ballot in the hands of women would de,
moralize society, undermine the state,
and tend to detract from the finer quail
ties of the sex, and consequently destroy
woman's usefulness as a mother and
citizen. This lady made several at
tempts to be heard in Lincoln Hall
during the recent suffrage convention.
She alluded to the fact, and thanked
the committee upon concluding her re-
marks, for according her privilege
which had been denied by her own SEX
Cheaper transportation is to be got,
according to the plan of the transporta-
ton convention at Washington, which
has just adjourned, by state laws regu-
lating the railroads, but not fixing their
rates, by throwing the roads open to
all who are willing to pay for the use of
the tracks, by improving the water
ways from the interior to the ocean,
and by the construction of roads and
canals by the federal government, to
be used by citizens on the payment of
| tolls. A national bureau IS to be es-
tablished, the members of which are to
look after the passage of state laws
preventing excessive charges and unjust
determinations. The abolition of the
free-pass system and the subsidy swim
die are other meaus to the same end.
The senate committee on commerce
have agreed to report favorably Vests
bill giving the secretary of war full con-
troll over the channel at the mouth of
the Mississippi river, where dredging by
the United States government is in pro-
gress. The bill authorizes him to pre-
scribe binding regulations, any viola
tion of which will be punishable by the
United States courts. Senator West, of
Louisiana, Senator Window, of Mime
sofa ard Representative Stannard, of
Missouri, appeared before the com.
mittee and explained the necessity for
enacting the bill. They stated that the
Tow Boat association of New Orleans,
in order to secure continuance of
their present monopoly, are in the habit
of sinking vessels and otherwise block
aiding the bar so as TO impede and some
times wholly stop the work of excava-
tion.
Thesecretary of the treasury has writ
ten letter to Senator Chandler, chairman
of the senate committee on commerce,
giving, by invitation of that committee,
his views on the subjects covered by
Senator Fenton's bill, to regulate the
customs service and the disposition of
fines. penalties and forfeitures. Secre-
tary Richardson goes into an extended
discussion of these and collateral sub
jects, and recommends the following
measures: ]. A revision and consoli-
dation of the tariff acts. 2. The sub
stitutiOn as far as practicable of spe-
ciic in lieu of ad valorem duties. 3.
The abolition of the present system of
moieties with one exception, to-wit: That
where attempts at smuggling are de-
tected, or where the act of smuggling is
accomplished and the goods are seized
afterwards, the seizing officer or officers
I'LL
be entitled in equal parts to one-tenth
of the net proceeds, or if there be no
infOrmers, the seizing officer TO be en-
titled to the whole of such one-tenth.
4. That provision be made for a spe-
cial fund to be applied under suitable
restrictions to tie compensation of spe-
cial persons affording information which
shall enable the government to detect
and punish frauds upon the customs
revenue rather than in the act of at
tempted smuggling. 5. That the law
authorizing the seizure of books and
papers be so amended as to afford due
protection to the rights of private par
ties. 6. That no compromise of any |
fine, penalty or forfeiture accruing from |
a violation of navigation or customs
revenue laws shall be lawful until after |
That the compensation of customs Off
GERS be graded in accordance with the
and responsibility of their
respective positions.
Hon. w. Orton, president of the
Western Union telegraph company, who
has recently been before the senate
committee several times, the
Hubbard telegraph bill being before
them, concluded last week his argu-
ment, maintaining the following pro-
positions l. Congress has no right to
pass the bill, because it would indirectly
take private property, for telegraph
without just compensation;
and furthermore, the passage of the bill
would be a violation Of the contract
between the government
and the telegraph companies, now exist
ing under provisions of the law of 1866.
2. If there were no constitutional OBJ
jections or any violation of the contract,
it would be impolitic to adopt the Hub
bard scheme contemplated by the bill,
because it constitutes partnership be-
tween the government and a private
to be conducted by both
official and private agencies at the same
time, under which there is to be a
division of expenses between the gov
ernment and the company, while all the
profits are to accrue exclusively to the
latter. 3. That whatever may be the
faults of the existing telegraph system
of the country, the scheme proposed
affords no means of remedy for them.
In this connection the fact is established
by abundant evidence from official doc
uments, that the present average rate
for messages in the United States is
lower than in Europe for like dis
and that in this country busi-
ness is conducted without any expense
to the government, while in Europe the
several deficiencies raised by taxation
upon the people amount to several mil
lion dollars. In reply to Mr. Hubbard's
be referred him to the action
Of the Western Union telegraph COM
pany with the associated press, and
showed that there is no combination
between them, that the associated
press depend upon the Western Union
telegraph company in no respect for its
own monopoly, and that all other press
are offered the same terms
a. the associated press obtains. Also,
hat the associated press is an independ-
ant agency for the procurement and dis
tribution of news, and the Western
TT,;oy, taIauranb nomnanv 10 an aouo1lv |