Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1890-03-29

WASHINGTON LETTER.


The members of the majority Of the
WAYS and means committee are lead
ing a hard life since the premature
publication of their report to the House
of the tariff bill Every industry that
is unfavorably affected has its lobbying
friends either in Washington or en-
route to protest. The committee room
is besieged by emphatic pleaders, who
that if this or the other thing
isn't undone the Republican party will
be. The biggest howl comes from the
New England shore men who threaten
to present an enormous petition against
taking hides from the free list. The
hide men are quite as loud in their APP
peals that they must be protected
against foreign competition. AS be-
tween the divided interests of the men
on the western farm who will be re-
lieved of an extra tax on ready made
shoes while he trudges to market with
a calls hide that will have to come
into competition with the pauper hides
of Europe, and the clashing interests
of the hide men and the shoe manu-
facturer, there seems to be a chance for
fine Congressional deliberation.
The pension appropriation bill, in
volving the expenditure of $98,500,000
passed the House on Friday. There
was no attempt at opposition further
than few remarks about the crying
need of reform in the Pension Bureau
and a few words from Mr.. Allen,
mildly protesting against the growth
of the pension system. But there were
more political stump speeches than the
House has heard for many day. The
entire gamut of pension legislation was
sounded. General Grosvenor, who
can be always trusted for extremely
partisan speeches, led off for the Re
publicans, while General Spinola took
upon himself the task of showing that
the Democratic party was the only and
original, simon-pure, all wool friend of
the soldier. Then the debate degener-
ated into free fight, in which the
combatants were badly disfgured.
General Spinola lost his temper, and
wound up by reading letter from
Kansas to the effect that prohibition
and the Republican administration were
failures in that State. What bearing
the missive had upon the pension bill
he did not say and question is still I'M
solved.
The House committee on alcoholic
liquor traffic will favorably report
bill providing for the appointment Of
five commissioners by the President,
who shall hold office no longer than
two years. The bill is rather hazy as
to the exact duties of this commissioner,
aside from inquiry into the general
character of intemperance. In a gen
eral way it is asked to ascertain first,
whether or not intemperance is an evil
in this country, and, second, how it can
be best restrained. The inquiry on the
first point belongs properly to the
census bureau, if anywhere. The second
inquiry may be of some benefit.
Senators Stanford and Sherman
jostled each other in the debate on
public buildings Saturday. Senator
Sherman objected to giving San Diego
100000 for a public building, while
Dayton, Ohio, only asked for 100000.
Senator Stanford admitted that the
towns we're about the same size, but
added that the building in San Diego
would contain, besides the post office,
the custom houses, internal revenue
office and land office. The Ohio Sena-
tor was not exactly satisfied but the
bill went through all the same.
After occupying large part of the
time of the Senate ever since Deem
Der, the Blair educational bill has been
finally buried by a vote that makes its
resurrection during the present session
impossible. The Blair bill has been a
gigantic monument to buncombe for
the last eight years. Apart from Sena-
tor Blair, who is fond parent to every
child of his legislative fancy, the bill
has had very few real friends among
the Republican leaders. Its doubtful
constitutionality and its unwieldly and
visionary provisions long since con-
demned it. Still so long as there was
Democratic House and Democratic
President, the Senate cheerfully and
readily passed it. Now that the entire
administration is Republican the Re
publican Senate discovers a change of
heart, the bill is abandoned and after
his eight consecutive days speech,
Senator Blair finds himself alone and
with the empty bag to hold. The rest
of the boys ran away and left him.
The windy bill that was good enough
measure with which to try to charm
the neutral voters of the poor districts
of the South was not good enough to
be made law, when the time came
that the united action of the Republi-
can party could have made it such.
Probably no one will ever take the
trouble to ascertain what the Blair bill
has cost the government. The months
of more or less eloquent harangues, the
waste of thousands and thousands of
pages of printing, the needless delay of
really important legislation to make
way for the consideration of bill that
no one but an insane man could have
dreamed would pass, the thousand and
one expenses every days session incurs,
may never be known. 1t is the history
q IL l