Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1890-02-06
WASHINGTON LETTER.
lFrom our Regular Corr sponirni.
WASHINGTON. Jan. -, 1890.

WASHINGTON. Jan. -, 1890.
The wheel, oi lcgSlation are having "a bad
time ni II these daNs. Progress under gen
eral parliamentary law il slow. The ma
chinery runs along smoothly enougl, so
long ~ no Democrat resists its workings.
hut the least obstruction stops il and then
there il a parrot aud monkey time before
IL gets started again. Of c.ur.e. this il fun
for the Democrats. but i- annoying to the
Republicans aud worse than Annoying to-
the speaker. II il simply making his life ~
burden.
There have been two ~kirmishes this week.
In the first instance Mr.. Bland started the
trnulilc on derisinn denying the right to
demand trllrr-. IIe appealed. and the day y
was only saved Icy the somewhat doubtful
victor. uf iayins the app, al ..n the abie.
Mr. Cannon saved the day 10y that motion.
Mr.. Holman started the second row. lie
took AN appeal on the ground that bill
reported from the judiciary committee ap
propriatins money ior penitrntiary must
first he considered ia committee of the
wh.lr. The hnti-r refused To ovrrrule the
speaker. Then the machinery moved
again.
The new rules are locked for with anxiety,
and there l. strong desire on both sides
To- have some adequate system of pro
crdure.
By a strict party vote the house commit
tee on elections on Wednesday concluded
in ~
the Democratic accredited representative
from West Virginia. and declaring smith
the Republican contestant. entitled to the
membership. az the seventeen contested
election eases ia the house this is the first
one reached. and, as is generally the case
the verdict ], purely party matter on
both sides. Whatever merit there may be
il the case, each party votes for its own
man. This fact was 80 generally recognized
that the committee on the final hearing oi
the ease. after short review ri the matter
decided that it would be useless To disseci
be consumed in the process. aud the mem.
beers were well enough acquainted with the
facts and legal point, involved anyway.
There will, of course, be two reports pre-
sent.d To the house. a ma iority and II mi
nority report. jackson thus will hold his
seat but a short time in comparison with
most members who take their seats and
are afterward unsuccessful in contests.
There have been eases in recent years when
members held their seats into the second
session, and were then only un-eatsd at
the very close. This, however, never oc-
does not belong to the dominant power
Right amusing, these hearings Of contests.
Every ic~ weeks the postmaster general
givcs personal hrarn. tn some delegation
from nearby town ia the interest of
particular candidate for postmaster
The railroad fare and the time consumed
are both light, aud the making upof II dele
CATION IL as easy as organizing n countr,
surprise party. IT il when two of these
delegations lock horns that the real tn. OF
war bc-i'is. For two mortal hours this
week Mr.. Wananahcr listened to the ora
tors representing four different candidates
for Eastpn. Md, who were all present. The
r'hllH-f'fhiG tth-diihh- SAT rdnseti
ahud; the walls Of the room and made
havoc of the water cooler and eyed the
postmaster general as the oratory flowed.
secretary Noble has IA disagreeabe Id bit
of searching iur aud finding crn"kroIne-s in
the mana s,aient uf public funds. just now
l.r has Fallen upon the receivers eli public
moneys Ia the far west, and there are al
rady u dozen heads la the basket and u
score more to follow. The special agents
have been making an investigation uf the
book ui the receivers, with the result of
indias numerous shortages running from
.ne to fifty Thousand dollars in amount.
The removals are perrmpt1ry.
The supreme court j. giving IA hearing this
week Ia which the stats oi North Carolina
i, sued 10y "a citizen of that state to compel
the pa yment uf certain special tax bonds
issued la l>G3. Impairment oi contract is
-rt forth. The case Involves the question
ui the right uf a citizen t. sue his state. and
l. sent up from the United state. circuit
court ou a certificate oi division Of fopinion.
The state plants Itself firmly ON the propo-
sitipu that 1t cannot Ice -u-d without it,
consent. n. -uIt involves several million
dollars, and WAS postponed until this time
to secur. 81 Iull btuch, a. the court i nearly
,qu..ay divided ga tue issue raised.