Morning journal and courier., 1886-03-03

| l tional bill was resumed. After some discus I sion of the bill Mir. Logan submitted | amendments the substance of measures here l tofore introduced by him, one apDropriatiug 1 $12O, GOO, 900 for educational purposes. MT. Dolph and MT. Hoar also submitted amend ! ments and the Senate adjourned.
 HoUsE.-Mr. Belmont, from the Commit 1 tee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the diplo- matic and consular appropriation bill with 1 an accompanying report. The amount ap- | propriated is $1, ,2s0, ,415- The committee in crease the appropriation for contingent penses of the diplomatic service $40, 900, which is to include the purchase of furniture l for United States legations. An increase | of $20,00 is made in the contingent l expenses of United States consulates, and the discontinuance of the appropria- l tion of S10,0 900 for an agent in the Congo country is recommended. In other respects l the appropriations of last year are substan- l tially unchanged. In closing his report Mr. | Belmont says: "Your committee is fully
 conscious that there are inequalities in the existing consular service which need 1 immediate correction. The commercial l necessities of the country have out grown the imperfect system of classification of consulates established by the act of 1874 and since maintained. In very many in- stances the duties performed and the salaries received are not in just proportion. Some of the most important consular positions un- der existing laws and regulations are placed in charge of unsalariea consuls or commercial agents who collect and are au- thorized to retain fees, the full amount of which they are at liberty to report or not
 at will. The compensation, duties and ten
 ure of office of these officials never come be- fore Congress in any annual appropriation
 bill. It is not just to the service, nor is it
 to the interest of the country, that the con
 sulates of the United States should remain
 l. s-f. c.
 ceived from our consular officers abroad dur
 ing the last fiscal year amounted to within
 $7S,0O0 of the cost of the entire
 service. With more equitable system of
 classiications and more rigid acesuntabil
 ity for fees received the service could perhaps
 be made fully self-supporting, even with an
 increase of salary to officers whose pay is now
 inadequate to their duties and responsibili-
 ties, and to other officers in lieu of extra of
 fcial fees now received by them. This
 however, is a matter of minor importance,
 considering the important functions our con-
 suls are called upon to perform for
 the advancement and protection of American
 interests abroad and in view of the increased
 efficiency that would result from such 8 charge. But the rules of the House properly exclude important legislative propositions of this kind from consideration in an appropria- ton bill. Your committee therefore reports the bill herewith presented, with purpose of submitting at an early day for the consid- eration of Congress bill for the reorganiza- tion and readjustlnent of the consular service of the United States.
 The Speaker laid before the House com munication from the Secretary of the Treus- l ury in reply to the Bland resolution calling for information concerning the circulation of 1 the standard dollars and the policy of the l department in regard to the payment of sill | yer. The communication was referred to l the Committee of Coinage, Weights and l Measures. l
 MT. Townshend, of Illinois, tried to have 1 the morning hour dispensed with to | have the pension bill considered, but MT. 1 Reed objected.
 Mr. Wise, of Virginia, in behalf of the | Committee Manufactures, called up the | bill authorizing the President to appoint l committee of seven experts to execute tests l and experiments on iron, steel and other ma l terials used for the construction of bridges, l buildings and other mechanical methods and l deduce useful information therefrom. l
 MT. Campbell of Pennsylvania, the author l of the bill, spoke in favor of the bill.
 Mir. Hewitt also favored the bill and said l that but little was known of the different | kinds of steel and no action of private par | ties would be as satisfactory as the results of | a commission of this kind Scientific men i had been interested in this matter and saw | no other way of securing the desired result. l He believed the country would reap a thou l sandfold benefit from the expenditure of the | S250, 900 expended by the bill. He further said he knew of nothing more valuable or complete than the result of similar investi gation at Watervliet arsenal.
 MT. Hiscock said there was claim pend | ing now for $2o0, 900 for the use of the test | ing machine at the Wateroliet arsenal which l should be paid.
 Mir. Hewitt agreed with him and said he considered the machine one of the highest 1 achievements of American genius.
 MT. Anderson, of Kansas, thought the country had spent two much money now in such propositions. He would rather give $12 a month to soldiers widow than S25, ,000 | for this purpose.
 Pending further discussion the morning l hour expired and the pension bill was taken up in Committee of the Whole. (Mr. Ham mond in the chair.)
 MT. Cannon, of Illinois, gave his views OH general pension legislation and warmly fla vored the passage of measure to pension soldiers who were now disabled. He would l also so amend the laws as to pension parents who would now be dependent on their son had he not been killed in the war, though | they had not been dependent upon him when as a young lad he entered the service of his country.
 MT. Wilson, of West Virginia, regretted that on Thursday last the House had been presented with the spectacle of a politician in search of some political issues. There was no longer any successful conjuring with the issues raised by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Henderson,. If he did not mis- take the recent action of the Ameri can people and the general temper of the American people the sectional issue, wher- ever or by whomsoever raised, would lead no man, or no party to- political victory in this country. He vigorously defended Commis- siener Black from the criticisms of the gen tleman from Iowa and declared that the country had regarded his appointment by the President as eminently wise and pat riotic one. He regretted to hear the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Bou- telle) criticising the southern people because they had in one or two points raised modest to their dead Such an utterance hardly comported with the brave and manly character of the gentleman from Maine. It was true the southern people had erected humble monuments to sons, brothers and they had done it in spirit of disloyalty to this country. The mourners around these monuments could appeal to the searcher of all hearts to testify that they cherish no thought, wish or aspiration that did not throb for the great ness and glory of country He had served in the Confederate army private, 1 but he felt the kindling of no feeling that did not urge him to the position he occupied to-day of doing his duty. He saw in the war the stately stepping of that providence which used the wrath of men to work out it's beneficial purposes. It had had come down as a painful heritage from the fathers of the republic.
 MT. Watson, of Indiana, controverted the assertion that the commissioner of pensions in his letters to Mr. Randall had intended to mslead the House.