Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1880-05-07
WASHINGTON LRTTER.
from our regular correspondentl
WASHINGTON, April 30, 1880.

! All tHe proceedings OF congress
during the past week that would be Of
interest to the general reader can be
summed up in one short paragraph.
though much earnest work has been
done. The debate in the Senate over
the Geneva Award bill, long drawn
out and tedious, has finally ended in
an indefinite postponement-wh which is
a mild but positive form of defeat.
This case as it now stands certainly
presents some peculiar aspects. The
arbitration at Geneva awarded heavy
damages in favor of the United States,
against Great Britain for the destrue-
tionof American property on tie seas
during the late war, by vessels fitted
out in English ports The claims
were due to private owners of the pro-
|pcrty destroyed, but after settling
with all whose claims are clear the
government still has ten million dol
lars of the amount awarded. Insur-
ance companies and others have en-
deavored to establish right to this
balance, but Congress does not seem
disposed to allow their claims. It'll
would hardly seem that the money be-
longs to the treasury, because the
government does not pretend to have
sustained any of the damages, yet the
result Is that we pocket ten million
dollars obtained from Great Britain
for specific but iIlnsionary purpose.
Notwithstanding the ability and in
genuity Of their advocates, I do not
think the money really belongs to
those who now claim it, and the con-
clusion naturally is that the award is |
excessive. But upon all these points
there is wide difference of opinion
among the ablest members of the SEN
ate- Matt. Carpenter, who formerly |
resisted the claims OF the insurance
has this session been one
OF their most eloqueat advocates.
The Democratic members of the
Senate Committee on Rules aud of the
Senate subcommittee on the subject
Of counting the electoral votes have
decided to recommend that the two
houses of Congress shall adopt a new
joint rule providing that in cases where
only one certificate of the electoral
vote of State be presented to Con-
gress it shall not be rejected except
by the affirmative vote of the two
houses, and that in case of dual re-
turns neither shall be counted unless
The two houses agree that one of them
IS the valid and true return. This
is substantially the same
hat was offered by Senator Morton in !
he forty-fourth Congress. and then
adopted by the Senate in the form of
! bill, which, however, failed to receive
inal action in that body. in conse-
luence of Mr.. Thurman having enter I
ID motion to reconsider its passage. {
The former twenty-secoud joint rule
IN this subject required every cleo c
oral vote to be rejected to which any t
objection was sustained by either t
louse. to
Senator Kirkwood. WHO generally G
years suit of clothes which could be '
ought new for twenty dollars, and
rould not fetch at second hand store
lore than one-fourth that sum, gave t
xpression to some advanced sumptu- h
ry views in the Senate day or two v
ince. In answer to the objections of P
ther Senator'S that the revenue was n
OF sufficient to justify the addition to II
le pension list OF scouts and other a
ttaches. he urged that if necessary 81
le tax schedule could easily be ex