Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-14
A Lively Discussion in the House.
SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS
The Senate.

PROPOSED HOSPITAL AND HOME FOR INEBRIATEs
Mr. Edmunds. in introducing bill to estab-
lish a hospital and home for inebriates in the
District of Columbia. said that the bill had
been most carefully prepared by committee
appointed at a meeting of citizens of the
District interested in that work, of which COM
mittee Judge Walter Cox was chairman. He
felt safe in saving that the idea was very
earnestly favored by at least nine-tenths of the
people of the District. He hoped that the Dis
trict committee would give the bill very early
attention.
mittee, said that the committee had reported
a similar bill at the last session and he assured
the Senator from Vermont that the matter
would receive early and careful consideration.
Mr.. Edmunds said that he did not mean to
imply by his remarks any want of interest on
the part OF the committee. What he had said
was intended more for the Senate than for the
committee.
Among other bills reported from committees
and placed on the calendar were the following:
For public buildings at Allegheny. Pa. $780,
600, and at Beaver Falls, Pa. S50.0O0.
Mr.. George offered resolution instructing
the committee on finance to inquire into the
propriety of reducing the penal bonds re-
qulred OF manufacturers OF cigars in all
cases, or at least where the ..manufacture is
carried on by the manual labor of the
manufacturer. He read letter from some
cigar makers in Berks county Pa, asking him
to urge that change of law, as it bore very hard
on them and helped to crowd them out of the
business, all for the benefit Of the large manu-
facturers. The resolution and letter were re-
ferred to the finance committee.
FLORIDA CLAIMS.
The resolutions heretofore offered by Mr.
Call in relation to the claims of Florida under
the swamp land grant and in relation to the
alleged unlawful selections of land in Florida
yuar falyn nd Mr. Ho1 p.A baG CO,
ate upon them.
House of Representatives.
Mr.. Mckinley {Ohio), from the committee on
ways and means, reported back the bill to SIM
plify the laws in relation to the collection Of
the revenue. 1t was ordered printed and re-
committed and Mr.. Mckinley stated that he
hoped to call it up during the present week.
Mr.. Bingham (Pa.) introduced the following
bills, which were appropriately referred
To provide for ocean mail service between the
United States and foreign ports.
To classify and fix the salaries Of persons in
the railway mail service.
Providing for the appointment of an assistant
general superintendent and chief clerk of the
railway mail service.
Providing postage stamp redemption card
For marking the lines of battle and the posi-
ton of the troops Of the Army of Northern vir-
ginia at Gettysburg, Pa.
OKLAHOMA VERSUS sILcorT.
Mr.. Perkins of Kansas moved that the House
60 into committee of the whole for the consid-
GRAFTON of the bill to provide for town site en-
tries of lands in Oklahoma.
This was antagonized by Mr.. Adams Of Illi-
nois, who wished the House to consider the
Silcott matter and the motion was defeated 65
to 81.
Mr.. Bland Of Missouri demanded teilers de-
claring that a matter involving the interests of
100, 900 people should be considered prior to
one which involved only the individual inter-
ests of members.
THE sILcorr REPORT TAKEN Up.
The friends of the Oklahoma bill were again
defeated-96 to 10S-and Mr.. Adams called up
the Silcott report, accompanied by a bill appro-
priating $4,000 to reimburse members for
losses incurred through the Silcott defalcation.
~ FAVOR OF THE BILL.
Mr.. Adams argued in favor of the bill, hold
ing that the sergeant-at-arms was public Off
Ger, charged, first by custom and afterward by
sanction of law, with the duty of disbursing
the salaries of members He referred to the
defalcatiOI which occurred in the Twenty-sec-
ond Congress- and called attention to the fact
that the House at that time voted to reimburse
the members out Of the contingent fund.
THE REAL QUESTION
presenting itself now was not a question of
technical right nor technical wrong. 1t was a
question whether members were In some way to
blame for signing their receipts, whether the
government had lost money by reason of their
fault, and whether they should forfeit
their money on account of that fault. The new
members had signed the receipts before they
had any legislative power to change the law.
The certificates were presented to them and
they were requested to sign them in
order to get their salaries. If any
member had protested against signing
the certificate he must go without
his salary. The new member was in no wise to
blame and he could not see how an old MEM
Der could vote against an appropriation to pay
the new members what theXwere entitled to-
If an old member felt himself to blame his
only course was to vote for the appropriation
and afterward determine between himself and
his conscience whether he would receive the
money himself.
STATUS OF THE sERGEANT-AT-ARMs.
Mr.. Butterworth inquired whether any men,
Der believed that the sergeant-at-arms was his
personal agent.
Mr.. Adams thought that there was no such
member. No one believed that he had made
the sergeant-at-arms his personal agent, though
some might believe that by technical rule Of
law the sergeant-at-arms was constituted the
agent OF the members.
NR. HEMpHnLs BILL.
mV ueupniu TO- y. advocated tne aQ0pu0n
of his bill permitting members to bring suit in
the court Of claims for the recovery of their
salaries, and opposed the bill Of the majority
because he could find no statute declaring the
sergeant-at-arms to be disbursing officer.
QUOTING MR.. GARFIELD.
He quoted from speech made by Mr. Gar
field in the Forty-sixth Congress, in which that
gentleman said: snow, the sergeant-at-arms
Of this House is not disbursing officer of
the United States. He is only our agent and
If he should be robbed OF or should make away
with the money in his possession we, as members
would have no recourse whatever, for the treas
urer of the United States holds our receipts
The only way in the world that We could have
any recourse at all would be by getting
Congress to appropriate enough money to paw
US over again what we already had put into the
hands Of our agent, and what our agent had
either lost or stolen"
Mr.. Boutelle of Maine said that Mr., Garfield
had been arguing that the system was ineffi-
Gent, and that in case Of q defalcation there
would be no remedy. undar the general
law, but the House would be Obliged
In equity and justice to resort to some special
act, such - it was now resorting to.
The strikers omployed in the leather factories