National Republican., 1888-05-25
TIE HOUSE.

TIE llOt' SE.
Mr. Phelps, of New Jersey, asked uuOui.
nous consent to take up and pass the SEN
ate bill appropriating $4,000 for the cree
ton Of public building at Paterson.
Mr.. Phelps made strong plea for the
hill, which, lie said he had been cndeavoring
TO Tass for six years. His predecessor had
labored for two years TO secure its passage,
hut had died with hope deferred. He (NIr.
bl,lls) had then put on his mantle, and
worked for the measure lie had secured
favorable report in the forty-seventh Con-
gress, and waited; In the fOrty-eighth Con.
gress, aud waited; in the forty-ninth Con-
gress, and waited, and in the iiftieth Con-
gress and now, after six years of suffering
on his uwn part, ami two years of vicarious
suffering on the part of his predecessor, he
had his first opportunity to ask the House
to pass the bill.
At the suggestion of Mr.. McNIillin, of
Tennessee, the appropriation was reduced
to $4,000, and, as so amended. the bill was
passed.
On.motion Of Mr. Lee, Of Virginia, bill
was passed making Inauguration day hoi-
day in the District of Columbia.
Mr.. Spinola, of New York, made an in
cffectua effort to secure the passage of a
joint resolution appropriating So, 900 for
the celebration of the twenty-iifth auniver-
sary Of the battle Of Gettysburg by the sur
vivors OF the Army of the Potomac and the
Army Of Northern Virginia, the objection
in this instance coming from Mr.. Kerr, Of
Iowa.
The House then went into committee of
the whole (Mr. Turner, of Georgia, in the
chair ON the postoillce appropriation bill.
Mr.. Perkins, of Kansas, IN speaking to
Nhn1 al nf, nNfn tl..a.,
plant Of the people Of the west against the
inefficient mail service which, he asserted,
was now being given to that section. lie
read from letter which he had received
from, an eX-postal clerk in the seventh di-
vision testifying to the inefiiciency of the
service between Sedalia, Mo-, aud Denison,
Tex. The complaint, he said, was not
partisan one. The people, without dis
tinction of party, were asking for better
read extracts from newspapers of various
politics protesting against the administra-
ton Of the POstoflice Department.
From the Savannah NeWS he qpoted an
extract to'the effect that it had to confess
the fact that the mail service of the Repub-
lican administration In that part of the
country had been much better than that
which the Democratic administration had
given them. He also quoted from the Abb
lene (Kans) Gazette, a Democratic paper,
appealing to the Postmaster General and
the President for relief from the inefficient
mail service Kansas was receiving, and re-
ferring to the Kansas representatives as
"Stoughton bottles" for not insisting upon
the constituencies being given good service.
lie attributed portion OF the evil TO the
fact that inefficient men were appointed, and
he instanced the case OF n postmaster who
sent nothing to the railway station for n
week, and when asked for his reason, stated
that his mail bag was not full, and he
was waiting until 1t was. Another
postmaster IN Nlissonri sent to Wash
ington for postage stamps and they
We're sent to him in II great sheet. lie
had never seen them IN that form before,
and he thought the sheet was a circus poster.
He pasted It on the wall, and, calling his
wife, said TO her: "See what the darned fool
in Washington sent me when writ him for
stamps. He sent circus poster, and the
darnGd circus riders all look alike"
Laughter
Mr.. Dockery, of Missouri. What is the
name Of the pOstmasterI
Mr.. Perkins. don't want to give away
political secrets. ] saw the story IN the
newspapers, and, Of course, newspapers
mover tell anything that is not true [Laugh-
ter.
Mr.. TOOle, of Montana, and Mr.. NOor-
hees, of Washington, voiced the wishes of
the people of the territories for more eff
cient mail service than they were now re-
ceiving.
Mr.. Cannon, of Illinois, attributed the in
efficiency of the service in the west, not to
lack of sufficient appropriations, but to
the fact that competent men had been dis
charged and incompetent persons put in
their places. He cOntended that the posi-
tiOns Of railway postoillcc employees should
be made permanent.
Mr.. BlOunt asserted that the present ad-
ministration had done more toward the ad-
vancement of civil service reform than any
other in the history of the country. 1t had
gone forward with an iron will, even though
sometimes Offense was given to its friends.
A desultory discussion ON the question of
subsidies for free ships was brought about
by Mr.. Dingley, of Maine, with a criticism
as to the compensation which was allowed
to American steamships for carrying foreign
mails. Mr.. Dingley commented on the fact
that during last year the government had
paid $l20, 600 to the North German Lloyd
line, while the American line running be-
tween New York and Brazil received only
$4,000 for mail transportation. Unless the
government speedily encouraged American
steamship lines, within five years they
would he driven from the ocean and their
places would he taken by foreign lines sup
ported by liberal government bOunties.
Mr. BlOunt announced his opposition to
subsidies.
Messrs, Dingley. Dockery, and Dunn then
engaged in sharp little debate on the
question Of subsidies and free ships.
Mr.. Adams, of Illinois, testified To the
existence of considerable dissatisfaction
among the business men Of Chicago with
the mail service in that city.
Mr.. Symes, of Colorado criticised the
Postolllce Department for inadequate man.
agCment of the star service. He declared
that the House had been deceived about the
matter. He wanted the responsibility
placed where it belonged, and he was salts
fed that II should rest upon the back Of the
pcayune second assistant postmaster gen
eral, lie made to members Qncludlng him
self Mr.. Symes) statement after statement
as excuses for not extending the star route
service, which We're, to say the least, equivo'
cal and erroneous. 1t had been demon
strated that this 5-ccnt picayune economy
which went so far as to veto bill for the re-
lief Of little postmaster from a liability of
800 he had paid out In clerk hire, when the
House and its committee had pronounced
the claim to be merlton0us.
Mr.. Rayner, of Maryland, asked how the
present second assistant postmaster general
compared with his predecessor.
Mr.. Symes replied that an ingenious Grim
inal lawyer always tried to divert attention
from statement of fact by asking ques-
tions about something entirely foreign to
thesublect.
Mr.. Peters, of Kansas, also attacked the
department on thesCOre Ofineilicient western
mail service. In answer to statements made
ON the other side showing what had been
done to better the Kansas service, he said
that tha fast mail Wpull never have hapn