Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1886-07-31
From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WASHINGTON. July %, 's6.

Judging from the way In which the
House Of Representatives has spent n
portion of the week, one would say
that members are not anxious to do
anything important, and are in no
hurry to adjourn They spent one
whole day in filibustering roll calls,
through an effort to give precedence to
the bill imposing tax Of two cents a
pound on oleomargarine. The bill
slipped back TO the bottom Of the cal
endar at the end of the struggle, but
it had prevented action on more i'm
portant measures.
The bill to prevent anybody max
ing or inventing anything that will d.
minish the price Of butter, or the
greasy bill" as it is called, got before
the House next day again by some
stratagem, and was hustled through as
it came from the Senate. 1t will now
go to the President. Thousands of poor
people in all parts of the country, who
for the first period in their lives are
able regularly to annoint their bread,
wait with anxiety to see what Mr.
Cleveland thinks of it.
The people of Washington are com
planning that the present Congress has
done so little for the District of Col
umbia. Washington has no Legislative
body Of its own like other cities Of
equal proportion. 1t depends upon
Congress for everything for the an.
nual appropriations, for the salaries of
its special servants, or the levy of an
assessment, down to an imposition of
police court penalty.
Congress finds this arrangement
burdensome at times, but so long as it
retains its present absolute control, the
District will cIamor for attention
Congress is about to appropriate five
hundred dollars to gid the Goddess OF
Liberty on the dome of the Capitol,
and to provide for another new park.
This is thought to be well enough, but
the city is full of pretty parks, while
it lacks respectable Post Office build
ing. 1t is more practicsl than Chas.
Lamb, who was willing to live without
the necessities of life if he could have
the luxuries. just at present Wash
ington would forego a giIded goddess
and new park for Post Office.
The fall election promises to make
many changes in the House Of Repre-
sentatives. There are few members
who can come back to Congress as
long as they wish to, and who avail
themselves Of the privilege, but there
will be a general shaking up among
the majority. Many have declined re-
some have failed to he re-
nominated already, many more will
yet fail and many more will be beaten
The Presidents order that subordinate
Government officials shall not take
part in political conventions, will, it
is said. seriously affect the chances of
several members, whose official friends
have already been chosen for delegates
to conventions.
Within the last two weeks almost
every Member of Congress has re-
ceived from one to twenty letters ask
ing for blanks, etc. that the writers
may make application for pensions
under the Mexican Pension Law
The truth is, the Mexican Pension bill
has not yet become law, and proba-
bly, will not this session. The Senate
and House have diflereI about the hill
and it cannot reach the President I'M
til they agree Speaking Of pensions
reminus me that there are now m re
men on the Government pension roll
than were ever at one time in the
Confederate army Pensions are cur
ious things. There are upon the pen.
sion lists over three thousand survivors
of the war of 1912 and over eighteen
Thousand widows of the 1912 soldiers.
During that war the army averaged
about thirty-five thousand all told, of
ticers and enlisted men, and the whole
number of killed and wounded only
amounted TO five thousand six nun
dred and fourteen. Yet on the first
of july six million dollars appropria
ted for pensions to survivors, widows,
minor c.illlren, and dependent rela
tives ON this 1872 roll became avail.
able. Oh Revolutionary pensioners
there are ton few widows and minor
children who linger still, but the Rev
olutionary pension roll has nearly
ceased to exist. All pension lists show
in The course of fifty years small be-
ginning, rapidly increasing and slowly
decreasing until within century it is
wiped out. If no war occurs in the
next half century, the wealth of the
United States, relieved Of this enor-
nous drain on its Treasury, and of
payment upon the National debt, will
be somethin. fabulous.
For the sake of the people in the
back districts, it is too bad that the
bill to establish agricultural expert
ment stations was killed in the Senate
almost without chance for discussion,
| may say. This measure was second
only to the olemargarine bill in at
tracing the public fancy. Every
Congressman with rural consLitu-
ency has introduced at least one Of
these bills during the session.
When Baby was sick we gave her castorla,