Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-25
CAPITAL CHAT.
A Quarter OF q Million Dollars ApprO-
priated to Import TrampS from
Panama.
Senatorial Thinkers are Condemned by Lawyers
for Their Unworthy NutilatiOn OF
the Mills Eli.
pecial correspondence Of the Gazette.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18.-The LAWYERS
of Texas will be glad to know that the
president has approved the bill which
provides that the several United States
district courts shall each be furnished
with q con- tiete set of the decisions OF
the United States supreme court. The
appropriation for this purpose for the en-
tire country aggregates only S2S 200.
Col. Lanham introduced the original bill
and pressed it to a successful issue.
~
Last Friday evening the strongest
effort of the session was made tn pass the
bill giving Mrs Sheridan pen
sion of $500 year. Cor. Kilgore,
who has peTsistently fought this
bill from the time OF its Introduction was
again successful IN his tactics of obstruc-
ton, seconded by Mr. Washington OF
Tennessee. Col Kilgore is opposed to
the granting of any pension in this case,
especially as Gen. Sheridan left his
widow in comfortable circumstances, but
he vigorously resents the appropriation
for her benefit of q larger sum than was
voted Mrs Hancock, whose husband did
at least as great service in the catSe Of
the Union as did Sheridan. The only
chance that the bill now has is to get
through during the last six days of the
session, when any member who obtains
recognition may move suspension
of the rules; then it viii require two
thirds vote.
Infamous is rather q severe express
sion to apply to any measure. that has
passed both the honorable bodies that
A. -
none too harsh 20 employ regarding bill
that passed the senate and house during
the past week. 1t was nothing less than
the appropriation of quarter of million
of dollars to be expended in sending out
vessels to the Isthmus of Panama for the
alleged charitable purpose Of bringing
back American citizens how on the 18TH
mus out of employment by reason Of
the interruption of work on the Lesseps
canal. The speeius argument was
used that so large a body
of idle laborers would disturb
the uuietude of the country in which they
were lately at work. The scheme, for it
is in that category, shows to what
corrupt use the money of the
people can be applied. IL the
president could on constitutional
grounds veto bill to donate seed to the
time Of unprecedented hardship surely
he could with strict consistency block
such measure as this-a measure that
appropriates so great a sum of public
money to be wasted in bringing to this
country hundreds if not thousands of
traTups and paupers who never lived
here, but will periure themselves IN
claiming American citizenship. Among
the Texas delegation Judge Abbott and
Coils. Kilgore, Culberson and Lanham
fought the bill vigorously, the
member from Van Zandt calling in play
every shrewd weapon Of the obstruction
list, but to no purpose. Enough Demo-
Gratis can always be found TO stretch the
constitutional limitations, when 1t comes
to squandering the wealth of the nation.
~
The best lawyers here agree that the
action of the senate in striking out all
after the enacting clause IN the Mills
tariff bill, and substituting therefor an
entirely new bill Of their own, framed on
a distinct and widely different principle
from the Mills bill, was clear case Of
usurpation of authority and di-
rectly in conflict with the eonsti-
tuition. The ways and means committee
in their resolution announcing this view of
the senate IS action, is correct both in
law and fact, and conforms to all prec-
edents of both houses of congress. Had
the finance committee of the senate con-
fined itself TO amending the subject
matter of the bill sent them by the house,
it would have acted withinsits constitu-
tional authority. as that instrument
expressly declares that bills for raising
revenues must originate in the house,
the senate having only the authority 70
rxAE u
The report of the ways and means COM
mittee touching on this matter is a
mastery exposition and leaves no doubt
OF the illegality of the proposed tinkering
OF Republican senators with the question
of the tariff.