New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-08-04
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Washington, July 80, 1888!

portion of the week, one would say thai
members are not anxious to do any.
thing important, and are in no hurry tt
adjourn. They spent one whole day il
tilibustering roll calls, through an eff
fort to give precedence to the bill i'm.
posing tax of two cents a pound or
oleomargarine. The bill slipped back
to the bottom of the calendar at the
! end of the struggle, but it had prevent.
ed action On more important measures
The bill to prevent anybody making
or inventing anything that will dimin.
ish the price of butter, or the GREASY
bill'' as it is called, got up before the
House next day again by some strata
gem, and was hustled through as it
came from the Senate. It will now 20
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 Colum-
bia. Washington has no legislative
body of it's own like other cities of
equal proportion. 1t depends upon
Congress for everything; for the annu-
al appropriation, for the salaries of its
special servants, or the levy of an as
sessment, down to an imposition of a
police court penalty.
Congress finds this arrangement bur-
densome at times, but SO long as it re-
tains its present absolute control, the
District will Glamour for attention. Con-
gress is about to appropriate five
thousand 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 i,
lacks a respectable Post Office build.
ing. 1t is more practical than Charles
Lamb, who was willing to live without
the necessities of life if he could have
the luxuries. Just at present Washing
ton would forego a gilded goddess and
a 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 lone
as they wish to, and who avail them.
selves Of the privileges, but there will be
q general shaking up among the ma
jority. Many have declined renomina.
ton, some have failed to be- renominat.
ed already, many more will yet fail and
many more will be beaten. The Presi-
dents order that subordinate Govern.
ment 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 received
from one to twenty letters asking for
blanks, ETC., that the writer's may make
application for pensions under the
Mexican pension law. The truth is.
the Mexican pension bill has not vet
become law, and probably will not
this session. The Senate and House
have differed about the bill, and it can.
not reach the President until thew
agree. Speaking of pensions reminds
me that there are now more men on the
Government pension roll than were
ever at one time in the Confederate ar
my. Pensions are curious things.
There are upon the pension lists over
three thousand survivors of the war of
1872 and over eighteen thousand wi.
dows OF the 1912 soldiers. During that
war the army averaged about thirty-five
thousand all told, officers and enlisted
men, and the whole number of killed
and wounded only amounted to five
Thousand six hundred and fourteen.
Yet on the first of July six million dol
lars appropriated for pensions to sur
vivors, widows, minor children, and de-
pendent relatives on this 1912 roll be.
came available. Of revolutionary pen
sioners there are few widows and minor
children who linger still, but the revo-
lutlonary penson roll has nearly ceased
to exist. All pension lists show in the
course of fifty years small beginning.
rapidly increasing and slowly decreas.
ing until within century it is wiped
out. II no war occurs in the next hall
century, the wealth of the United
States, relieved of this enormous drain
on its Treasury, and of payment upon
the National debt will he something ia.
bilious.
For the sake Of the people in the back
districts, it is too bad that the bill Il
establish agricultural experiment sta.
tons was killed in the Senate almost
without a chance for discussion, I NAV
say. This measure was second only tc
the oleomargarine bill in attracting the
bucolic fancy. Every Congressman
with q rural constituency has introduc.
ed at least one Of these bill during the
session.