Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-12-20
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Composition Of Speaker Carlisle's COMMITTEES
Senator Anthony-Senator Edmund's Pc.
Iygamy Measures-6overhr,e1
Printing Ofice@-teSiean
Veterans.


ioas committees and the turn likely to
be given to legislation by the Demo-
cratic House constitute the chief SUBJ
jects of speculation and discussion here
Just now. Whether we shall have a
tariff issue in the campaign next year
depends somewhat upon circumstances,
but it is certain that the Democrats
will avoid it if they can. As to the
shaping of legislation on that subject,
much depends upon the makeup of the
Ways and Means Committee. 1t has
| generally been conceded that VIM. X.
Morrison, of Illinois, would be the
Chairman of that committee, because
he is pre-eminetly the leader of the
taritf-reform section of the party and
because he held that position under Mr..
Kerr's administration as Speaker of the
Forty-fourth Congress. But there is
some talk that it would be good policy
to give this committee to Mr. Hewitt, of
New York, an iron manufacturer and a
man of large business interests and ex-
perience. IL is not improbable that the
consideration of policy will prevail if
Mr.. Morrison is satisfied to take some
other position.
While the Democratic House is en-
gagged in scramble and division by lot
of the spoils of office, the Republican
Senate has postponed all action looking
to change of employees. 1t is under
stood that Judge Edmunds desires to
resign the Presidency of that body and
that Senator Anthony is likely in that
case to succeed him, provided he is sufA
ficiently restored to health. With the
present Congress Mr., Anthony enters
upon his fifth term as Senator, and if
he survives to the end it will make a
period of thirty years continuous SER
vice. But one similar case exists in the
history of the Senate--that OF Thomas
Benton. Mr.. Anthony is now very
appropriately called the Father OF the
Senate, while Judge Kelley occupies
that responsible relation TO the House.
Senator Edmunds has promptly
brought forward his supplementary
measure for the suppression of poly
gamy in the Territories. One great
difficulty heretofore encountered in pro-
secutions for polygamyin Utah has been
the lack of authenticated evidence of
marriage and the impossibility of getting
the testimony of wives against their
husbands. The new bill provides, under
adequate penalties, that full certificates
shall be filed and recorded in court
with probate powers of every marriage
that takes place in any Territory, and
makes both husband and wife compe-
tent witnesses, who may be compelled
to testify in any case where a violation
of the laws relating to bigamy, poly
charged. Another difficulty in dealing
with the peculiar institution of Utah has
been the right accorded TO women to
vote at all elections in the Territory.
Mr.. Edmunds' bill takes away that
right. 1t goes further, and abolishes
all elective offices in the Territory, and
provides for the exercise of their fun c.
tons by commission until such time
as the Legislative Assembly shall make
new provisions conformed to the re-
quirements of Congress. This last fea-
ture of the bill is the most likely to en-
cite opposition.
The report OF Public Printer Rounds
appears in pamphlet form, gotten up in
the best style of the art preservative.
Mr.. Rounds takes some new departures
in the way of recommendations not the
least important of which is contained
in the suggestion that the expense of
publishing the Congressional Record
would be materially decreased if the
practice of printing speeches which
were never delivered before Congress
could be abolished. This practice has
| grown to such enormous proportions in
the last four years that the Record has
come to take rank with that endless list
of public documents that are printed
only to be thrown aside as waste paper
If it is the height of a Members ambi-
ton to see his speeches in print, he
should shoulder the expense of printing
them himself and not take this clandes-
Tine way of plundering the Treasury,
to say nothing of the imposition prac-
ticed upon the public Mr.. Rounds
succeeds in establishing the fact that
| his administration of the Government
printing establishment has been admir-
able; that it employs more than 1900
hands; that it is the largest concern OF
its kind in the world, and that the ex-
| pense of running it during the past
year was over two millions of dollars.
1t is close on to forty years since the
Mexican war, and although the Mexi-
cans are said to have fired copper bull
lets the better to insure the killing OF
the hated Yankees, there are no less
than 10000 of the veterans yet among
us, as lively as crickets and ready, ap.
pareutly, for another brush with the
Greasers. The Vets met here on the
seventh, for the purpose of swapping
lies and laying out some sort of a pro
gramme to get themselves remembered
by Congressional enactment. In other
words, they want pension with bach
pay adjustment, ard they ought to have
it if they did any fighting. Among
those who are still prominent living
characters, and who did valiant service
at Cherubusco, Buena Vista. and othel
sanguinary fields, are Mr.. jeff Davis
L. G.. f. Beauregard, Mr.. Ulysses S
Grant, Gen. Totten, Gen. Drum, anC
perhaps less than score of others
JtrNIUs.
Rosewood.
1t has been a mystery to some PEG.
II -, IL, a l.