Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-04

was after l o'clock when the friends o
the bankruptcy bill succeeded, afteI
many efforts, In having call Of the
House ordered, and 1t was not until
las o'clock this morning that the
Scrgeant-at-Arms brought in tho
first batch Of recalcitrant members.
Some trite and threadbare excuses
which have done duty for years, were
offered. and were greeted with out
bursts of derisive laughter, and were
in every case deemed satisfactory, ard
the new recruits voted for the next mo-
ton to adjourn, which at 2:l5 was car
ried-yeas, 10; nays, 81.
The Speaker pro TEN. tMr. Black
burn) announced the regular order to be
the consideration of the resolution pro-
yiding that for the remainder Of the ses-
sion one hour every morning shall be
devoted to the disposal of measures
called up by individual members, UNI
less five objections are made thereto.
Mr.. Keifer. of Ohio, moved to amend
by striking out the word " five " and
inserting ''ten." Agreed to.
The resolution as amended was adopt
ed.
The House then lat l:45) went into
Committee of the Whole (Mr. Ham
mond. Of Georgia, in the chair on the
riyer-and-harbor appropriation bill, gen.
eral debate being limited to three hours
The general debate upon the bill was
participated in by Mr.. Breckenridge, oil
Arkansas Mr.. Price, of Wisconsin t;
Mr.. Ochiltree, Of Texas; Dir. Stone, OF
Massachusetts, Mr.. Washburn, of Min
nesota; Mr.. Hepburn, Of Iowa; and
Mr.. funston, Of Kansas. After the
debate closed the first section OF the
bill was read.
Mr.. Reed. of Maine, made verbal
amendment for the purpose OF calling
the attention of the committee to the
fact that nearly all Of the time devoted
to the general debate had been con-
sumcd by the friends Of the bill.
Mr.. O'Neil. of Missouri. expressed
his gratitude that the chairman of the
Committee on Rivers and Harbors had
been gracious enough to allow members
to print their speeches in the Record.
He had not been able to secure time to
make his speech, but he could at least
express his views by making motions to
strike out the last word. He proposed
at every stage of the bill to offer that
amendment until his views regarding
river and harbor improvement were i'm
pressed on this committee. Laughter
He had that right under the rules, and
fortunately he had the disposition to
see that his rights were preserved in
this respect. He criticised the appro-
priation for the Mississippi river in that
only sG00, 900 was appropriated for the
improvement between its sources and
the Ohio river. That was not fair
share of the pork. ILaughter.l If the
Mississippi river had gotto carry through
this gigantic scheme the committee should
have been little more liberal. He
was of the opinion that if the commit
tee had allowed him to 60 before them
it would have realized that il did not
understand this question. Let there be
a little common sense applied to the
consideration of the bill, If for only
five minutes. Every sane man wanted
the Mississippi river improved, and be-
tween the Illinois and Ohio rivers were
grouped the most serious distractions
of the course Of the Mississippi Valley.
Engineers who had examined into the
matter had stated that it would take at
least 100000 to remove these OBJ
structions and establish a uniform depth
Of nine feet. With the miserable, beg
carly appropriation of $4,000 a year,
how long would it be before there
was water there: Congress was
supposed to be legiSlating for this
generation and not for posteTlty.
The Improvement between the Illinois
and Ohio rivers could and should be
completed within four years and the
people be given the b left Of cheap
transportation. Unless the River and
Harbor Committee would agree to a
proper divide when it came to appro-
priating for the Mississippi river, he, in
the language Of the poet, would " kick.
lLaughter.l
Mr.. Willis said that the reaches to
which the gentleman had referred had
received the same percentage of the
estimates as the other reaches of the
river. Pending further action the COM
mittee rose and the House adjourned.