The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-02-10
GOULD'S GOLD NOT SEEN.
THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH BRIBE
TALK NOT DISSEMINATED.

Representatives Bingham aud Ketch-
am Fail to Make Personal Expla-
nation in the House on the Ground
That the Rumor is Beneath Their
Notice-Chairman Evans Talks.
WASHINGTON, FeD o. Representatives
Bingham and Ketcham did not rise in the
House to a personal explanation to-day in
answer to the iusinuation published about
their course on the postal telegraph blll
yesterday. They said to-day privately that
they considered the insinuations beneath
their notice.
Chairman Bingham said he had given
the friends of the bin every proper chance
to get consideration for it in the committee.
1t had been defeated on a fair vote, and he
thought that was the end of the matter.
He himself had been busy getting the $77,-
600 900 appropriation bill through and had
not said anything to any member Of his
committee about the postal telegraph bill
except what was said In the general meeting
of the general committee.
WHERE THE RESPONSIBILITY RESTS.
He did not see why the onus of carrying
| the bill through should all be laid on the
postoffice committee of the House. The
| Senate postoffice committee had reported
postal telegraph bill lest session, but that
was the end Of it.
| to bring the bill before the Senate, and he
| had the authority of Chairman Sawyer for
| the statement that nothing would be done
with 1t, and yet the blame did not seem to
| fall upon the Senate, but upon the House
committee. For himself, be had scted oon-
| sistently against the bill ON principle, vot-
| ing, however, once to adjourn, 80 as to pre-
vent it from being tabled, voting. however,
| to table it on Friday, when the issue was o
| be decided. As for the muoh-talked-of jay
| Gould influence, he had not felt it or seen
| anything of it. The postal telegraph bill
was disposed of just as other bills had been.
| There was nothing unusual or sensational
| about it.
GAME OF sEE-sAw.
| Mr.. Evans of Tennessee, chairman Of the
| subcommittee having the bill in charge,
| said that the proposition to report the bill
had majority Of just one in the committee
| provided all the members were present.
| But the members had not all boen present
at any one meeting, and so the matter had
| been put of from time to time, first by one
side and then the other, In the hope on the
| part of the one which happened to
| be in the minority that next time it
might be in the majority. Finally the bill
was tabled by its opponents in the commit
tee on Friday, they insisting that some ac-
| tion should be taken. Mr.. Evans said the
tee, although he tried to get it discussed in
order to get at the argument against it. II
was always being put off.
| THE ONLY OPPOSITION.
He had seen no other opposition to il
than that of the Western Union. He hac
seen no reason to believe that the Western
Union had used money, but thought it,
| representatives had worked up opposi-
tion with clever arguments addressed
to personal and party prejudices
He did not know how Jay Gould stood per.
sonally. but he had been told that Mr.
| Gould differed with DR.. Norvin Green, anC
no longer opposed the bill. If it had be
| come law, he said, the Western Union
could have bid for the contract under
another name. In the new bill
he had introduced the only
change, provided that the Western
Union could bid for the contract under its
own name. He was not sanguine of getting
it through this session, but said that next
session the same postal telegraph bill, OF
| perhaps one Of much more radical char.
acter, would pass in obedience to the de-
| mand of the farmers alliance, knights OF
Labor. and other labor organizations. Per.
| haps that would account for Jay Gould's
reported change of mind.
WEAKNESS OF wANAMAKER's BILL.
The NEWS correspondent is informed
| that the chief weakness of Postmaster
| General Wanamakers bill was that
| it had little or no support from
| any one else in the administration,
and none from the managers in the Senate
| and House. The President viewed the whole
| subject coldly, and every other member
| of the administration was either Indifferent
or opposed to Mr.. Wsnamaker's scheme. So
were Speaker Reed, Vice President Morton.
and most of the leaders in congress. Repre-
sentative Mckinley was handicapped by
the fact that his brother in Boston wanted
| the bill passed in order that he might put
| in bid for his printing telegraph COM
| pany. Representative Caudler of Masss-
| chusetts was the only prominent man, ex.
| oept Representative Evans, who heartily
| supported the Postmaster General