The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-06-04
XILXth CONGRESS- FIRST SESSION.
SENATE.
WASHINGTON. June 8.


quired whether the committee could give
some assurance that might go to the public
that measures would be taken which would
protect our citizens i'll their rights.
Mr.. Edmunds said that the committee on
foreign relations had no power to protect
American commerce or American citizens.
That duty belonged to the Executive De-
partment of the government. In the alb
sence of definite information, we must pre-
sumo that the Executive Department of the
protect the citizens of the United States
whose vessels have been seized or unkindly
dealt with by the Dominion of Canada. VI
course it may have happened that some OF
these vessels, it may possibly have happened
that all of them have been guilty of a viola.
Canada. AS they. have been. seized by the
public authorities of Canada, of course there
must be public pretension on the part of
those officers that such was the case. Mr.
Edmunds hoped it would turn out that the
vessels were innocent of any violation of
the Dominion laws, or of the public laws,
and that they had been engaged in doing
what was allowed by the intercourse OF ma
tions, by the laws OF their own country, and
of the country to which they had gone; and
that the seizures would therefore, be DIS
missed without even the semblance OF a
probable cause. But that depended, of
course, upon the judicial inquiry in the first
instance. He did not mean to say tpat we
would be bound to acquieSce in the result OF
the Canadian judicial inquiry, if we thought
those results unjust and improper. If any of
the vessels should be condemned, and the
United States were of the opinion that the
condemnation was unjust, we should not be
bound by any principle of public justice to
acquiesce in it. If we had any spirit left, as
he thought we had, and any strength left as
he thought we had, though for some reason
we had not been very successful in getting
navy or in arming our sea coast, yet in some
way the rights of citizens of the United
States would be vindicated if they had been
violated. Continuing, Mr.. Edmunds said
that the President, if he had signed the re-
cent act of Congress on this subject, now
had the power to retaliate for any injustice
done our vessels in Canada or elsewhere. LII
that act had become law, and if our British
brethren were straining a point in order to
''free fish, or anything else, it was now
within the power of the President to take
such measures as would tend to correct the
abuse. So far as the committee on foreign
relations was concerned, however, the sub
ject was too immature to enable him ed
munds) to make any public declaration as to
how the matter was, or what ought to be
done about it.
Mr.. Dawes remarked that it could not have
escaped the observation of the committee
that the armed cruisers of the Canadian gov
ernment were about the waters on the bOr
ders of the ''three mile" limit in search of
American vessels, in order that they might,
under some pretence or other, seize them.
The entire absence of any armed vessel of
the United States in those waters to protect
our fishermen in the exercise. OF lawful com
merce, led him Dawes to inquire whether
that absence was from any lack of proper
power in the premises.
In reply, Mr.. Edmunds said thatno legisla-
ton was necessary, unless it might be by an
appropriation of money, and hardly that, to
ono 1a t1,n ant nff hn Sfatac
who is commander-in-ehief of our army and
navy, to send out any vessel of the United
States, if we happeued to have one that
could swim. He (Mr Edmunds) believed
that we had one that could swim, one that
had been trying for several months to swim,
and had succeeded every time in swimming,
but had not yet, he believed, succeeded in
getting into the service of the United States.
Mr.. Hale stated the circumstances that
gave rise to the dispatch received from East
been issued by the Canadian authorities af-
fecting the herring fisheries of the Canadian
people themselves and their business in her
rings with the people of Maine
The bill providing for the taxation of flands
granted to railroads was then taking up.
After some debate the bill was passed.
Mr.. Van Wyck then called up the House
bill on the same subject, and on his motion
g. nhlic Lands was dls, H.
then moved the Senate bill as an amend
ment in the nature of substitute to the
House bill, the motion was agreed to and the
House bill was amended accordingly.
In a 'disagreeing vote" of the two Houses
thus brought about, the Senate, on motion OF
Van Wyck, ordered a committee of confer
ence.
Mr.. Plumb submitted the conference re-
port on the postoffice appropriation bill,
which, he said, he did not expect to call up
before next week.
fra
ations, reported the consular and diplomatic
appropriation bill with amendments.
Mr.. Evarts called up the bill to indemnify
the Chinese for losses incurred by the riots at
Rock Springs, Wyoming. Mr.. Evarts char
acterized the acts complained of as disgrace
and disgraceful to any government that
would not punish the guilty parties and re-
pair the damages done.
After similar remarks from Mr.. Call the
matter went over until tomorrow.
Mr.. Edmunds had the clerk read letter
from the secretary of the interior in reply to
one inquiring as to the total number of PEN
sion appeals now before the secretary and
when the appeal in the case of Adrian t.
Woodward, late surgeon in the 4th Vermont
Secretary Lamar replied that 400 cases were
ahead of Woodward, and it would not be
reached in its order for about three months
vet. There are now over 5000 cases pending
on appeal before that department. After
the reading of the letter, Mr.. Edmunds sub
mitted the proposed amendment to the legis-
lative executive and judicial appropriation
bill, which, on his suggestion, was referred
to the committee on pensions. The amend
ment is as follows: ITO enable the secretary
of the interior to speedily dispose OF appeals
from the commissioner of pensions to him in
pension cases, the President of the United
States is hereby authorized by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint
not exceeding seven special assistants to the
secretary of the interior for the consldera-
tion of such cases. at compensation not eX-
ceeding ten dollars a day for period not ex-
ceeding twelve months.
At 4.45 o'clock the Senate went into eXecu-
tive session, and when, at O'Clock, the doors
were reopened, the. Senate adjourned.
HOUSE.
The House of Representatives, after the
transaction of some routine business, went
into committee of the whole on the oleo-
margarine bill. After discussing it the COM
mittee arose.
After stormy struggle over point of
parliamentary ruling the House proceeded to
vote upon the amendments to the bill. The
amendments were rejected requiring hotels
and restaurants in the District of Columbia
to placard the use of oleomargarine, fixing
the tax at three cents per pound, and ex-
cluding from the definition OF "butter' the
pr0uucI uldue lTOll ulllk oI CICdlu Wll6u ftl III
fcially colored. The verbiage of the second
amendment defining ''oleomargarine" was
changed so that the latter clause of it shall
read: 'And mixtures and compounds of
tallow, beef fat, suet, lard, lard oil, vegetable
oil, annato and other coloring matter, in
testinal fat and oil made in imitation or
semblance of butter, or when so made cal
culated or intended to be sold as butter, or
for butter"
MI. Hatch then offered an amendment
fixing the rate of the tax at five cents per
yeas to 122 nays.
AT this point the proceedings were inter-
rupted to enable N. L. Wallace to take the
oath of office as Representative from the
second district of Louisiana to fill the va
cancy caused by the death of Michael Hahn.
The bill was then passed by vote of III
yeas to 101 nays. All the New England
Representatives voted with the majority.
The announcement of the result was re-
ceived with applause.
The House then, at 4.35 O'Clock, took re-
cess till 7 o'clock, the evening session to be
devoted to debate ON the Oklahoma bill.
Evening Session.
There were not over a dozen members
present when the House met this evening
for general debate ON the Oklahoma bill. The
discussion was devoid of interest, and at
1870 o'clock the House adjourned
A Conductor Hurt.
SOUTH BRAINTREE, Mass, June 3.-Con-
ductor A. W. Chandler, of the BridgeWater
Branch, was seriously injured to-day by a
sleeper striking him upon the head. His
coddition is considered critical.