St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-02-29
WASHINGTON.
Passage of the Pleuro-Pneumonia
Bill with but Slight
Alterations.
A Spirited Debate on the Question of
Ships of War and John
Roach's Contract.
Congressman Deuster Denounces Bismarek's
Letter as disappearing the
German People.
A Reduction to One Cent per Pound on the
Portage ofNewspapers
Asked.
Especial Telegram to the Globe.1

hitting the southern portion as a state.
Among the names suggested are Pembina,
Mandan aud Lincoln. The bill creating
southern Dakota into state will hardly pass
at the present session and choosing name
for the north portion is somewhat premature.
DENoUNCING BIsMARcK's LETTER.
The excitement in the house to-day was
intense when Congressman Deuster and
Guenther, of Wisconsin, referring to the
executive committee of the German Liberal
Union thanking congress for passing the res
olution, denounced Bismarck's letter as mis-
representing the sentiment of the German
people, who would express their kind feelings
towards the United States only through the
method adopted by the union of the German
parliament.
~ = THE LIBERALsUNIoN DISSOLUTION.
There is considerable speculation tonight
as to the course likely to be pursued by the
foreign affairs committee respecting the Ger
man Liberal Union resolution. If the com
mittee shirk the issue an effort will be made
to suspend diplomatic relations with Ger
manyand recall Minister Sargent.
THE PLEURO-PNEUMoNIA BILL.
There was momentary spat in the house
to-day between Mr.. Randall and Mr.. Calkins,
and afterwards between Hatch and Randall
When Randall moved to recommit the pleuro-
pneumonia bill Calkins charged that his OBJ
ject was to kill the bill. Randall quickly
shouted an energetic denial and declared that
his purpose was to have the bill put in a shape
that would relieve it of serious objections
that had been raised on constitutional and
other grounds, and for no other reason. Mr..
Hatch re-echoed, Mr.. Calkins charge that
Randall was leadingan unfriendly movement
and both he and Randall talked at the same
time in loud and excited manner, while
the speaker tried to rap them to order. The
motion was not debatable, but Calkins and
Hatch had accomplished their purpose of
putting the friends of the bill on their guard
and the motion was defeated. The opposi-
side, and the passage of the bill was accom-
plished mainly .hg Republican votes. No
| important cham se Vas n5ade IN The bin ex+
cept the excision Of the section which pro-
vides that the president might quarantine
any state or territory in which the
commissioner of agriculture represented
that pleuro-pneumonia or that other
contagious diseases of animals existed
to dangerous decree and when such state
or territory refused to cooperate with the
general government, in measures for the
suppression of diseases Of that nature.
THE NEW Cruisers.
The opposition to John Roach is the most
promising thing in the senate chamber
whenever the naval bill comes up. Because
Mr.. Roach got the contracts for all four
cruisers last summer, by being several
hundred thousand dollars lower than any
other bidGtr. 1t is assumed that he will get
the contracts for the seven proposed vessels,
and then by a lighttranspostion in the minds
of the opponents of the bill
the proposal to authorize the construction of
seven more ships becomes proposal to put
| money in the purse of the terrible John
Roach.
Senator Bayard took accession to-day to ex
plain why VIM. E. Chandler's general char
acter and antecedents were such as to make
tremely unfair one, and his relations with
Roach in former years such as to make the
country feel very uneasy when Roach got the
contract last summer for the new cruisers.
But he went on to say that Mr.. Chandler's
management of the department had been, as
far as he knew, quite satisfactory and such
as to compare favorably with that of his pre-
decessors and he knew of nothing to justify
the statementth that Roach will not build the four
cruisers for the amount of his bids and make
a good job of them. But he recalled
the fact that the advisory board was created
to supervise the planning and building of
new ships because the country looked with
suspicion on Mr.. Roach's former attorney,
and he thought there was enough of that
suspicion remaining to make it the duty of
the senate to throw abundant guards around
he construction of any vesselto be ordered.
Mr. Hale promptly responded to this sug-
gestion by offering an amendment to his
bill which was adopted, putting the proposed
ships in the control of the board of the four
vessels now building were put.
Mr.. Miller, of California, made an ener-
getic speech on the duty Of congress to pro-
vide the nation with a navy commensurate
with our position as the great power of the
western hemisphere and one of the great
powers of the world, and limiting darkly at
no distant day on our naval affairs, and
dwelt on the importance of war vessels as
the precursors of commercial ships.
| In reply to Mr.. Bayard, Gen. Hawley spoke
of Secretary Chandler's former connection
with the navy department, his learning as
| a LAWYER and his abilities as a
| man of affairs, as qualifying him
in an eminent degree for the head
of the navy department, and eulogized Mr..
| Chandler's administration. Some of the op-
| ponents of the bill have drawn most of their
weapons from Ccriticisms on the Chicago,
Boston, Atlanta and Dolphin by Chief Engin-
eer Isherwood and Chief of Construction
Wilson, and Gen. Hawley remarked that
there was not absolute agreement among
builders about so small and simple thing
| as row-boat. The recommendations OF
such body of men as the naval advisory
board were certainly as worthy of accept
| ance as any opinions congress could get
and we should certainly never have a, navy
if we waited till plans were pre-
pared that nobody would criticse.
| Gen. Hawley expressed the belief that the
obiectors to the bill simply wanted to post
pone the building of ships until Demo
cratic administration came. Senator Jones
| and some other Democrats complained o
the present law forbidding the repairing o.
our wooden vessels if the cost of repairs ex
ceed twenty per cent. of the cost of new
ships, though ithas been generally supposed