Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-02-17
WASHIN GTON LETTER.
Wdsbi1aQtOn. Feb. 10.


ESPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MoNTroR.]
Washington. Feb. 10.
Though not formally presented to
the House the majority and minority
reports of the committee on rules
have been in the hands of the Jour
nal Clerk since Friday and have been
ordered printed in preparation for the
big debate. The majority report in
great detail explaining the differences
! between the new code and the one
formerly in use, but the statement of
differences is unaccompanied with ar
gument, except in the case of the
rule as to ascertaining a quorum and
that providing that ''no dilatory mo-
ton shall be entertained by the Speak
err These and the rule that one
! hundred members shall constitute a
quorum in committee of the whole:
are the only radical changes. Against
these, the minority report, signed by
J Messrs Randall and Carlisle is MAIN
ly directed. The minority report in
dicates that the debate ON these points
will be protracted.
The Senate committee on public
buildings, or otherwise, plans for the
erection of several public buildings
and the purchase of sites and for an
addition to the White House. The
debate on the question has awakened
general interest and the public ap
pears as much in favor of the idea as
do the Senators. Only niggardly
| legislation has prevented the erection
of several of the proposed buildings
long ago. By this delay the govern
ment has lost several million dollars,
for now that the necessity can no
longer be fought off for any length
of time, land in the business portion
of the city has increased from the
prices Of five years ago in a startling
manner. Land now sells in the open
market for three to ten times what it
brought then. What it will bring in
few years more can be family i'm
aglned. And Uncle Sam needing
land, sits with his hands in his pock-
cts full of gold and let's opportunity
drift by.
Senator Morrill, told the Senate in
his speech the other day that Uncle
Sam is paying over 100000 per an
mum in this city in renting buildings,
often awkward and architectually un-
suited to public business, sometimes
badly lighted and ventilated, and
generally making no pretension to
being fire-proof. Many of these rents,
| by tricks that are dark, are double
what any other tenants would pay. In
these insufficient structures are stored
thousands of government records that
could only be partially reproduced
and that at immense cost. The only
person who derives any benefit is the
happy landlord.
The newer government buildings
are fire-poof, but few of the older
ones make no claim to being so. Sen
ator Morrill, pronounced the govern
ment printing office a mere shell,
death trap. The government owns
some of the finest printing machinery
iu the world, with tons of excellent
material, and possesses the electro
types of works that cost thousands to
produce, and all this property is con-
tanned in a crazy shell of building,
thin walled, built piecemeal as ur-
gent necessity called for additions,
racked out of shape by machinery,
and with floors sagging from the
weight of material.
Those interesting barracks are
hardly less Objectionable from a san
itary standpoint, if one considers hu-
man life Of any value. Ventilation
is wretched and the heating appara-
tus, upon the construction of which
local engineers are placing so much
stress since the awful Tracy tragedy
of last week, is of the most antiquat-
ed description. There would be no
supply of water to the upper floors in
case of fire. The building is full Of
dark passages and corners where
men work as in a mine and with hard
ly elbow room.
and that seriously, in seasons of a
great rush of work as in December,