Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-04
THE GOVERNMENTS FIX.
The Failure of Appropriations to Pay
Necessary Help.
Scrubbers at the Capitol to Work On
Faithfully n Certain Appropria-
ton Was Insisted Upon.

After the House adjourned sine die the
chairman of the committee on appropria-
tions was met in the lobby by the door
keeper of the House with the inquiry how
they were going to have this litter of the
days session swept up and the desks clear
ed off and the floors scrubbed. The reason
of this inquiry was that all of the session
employees of the House were cut off with the
expiration of this session. When the
Speakers gavel fell at o'clock their pay
stopped short, and there was no longer I'M
der the employ of the government any per-
son who was on the session roll of the
House. The laborers who in the morning
early appear with brooms and sponges and
scrubbing brushes and buckets of dirty va
ter and brown soap to clean up the many
colored tiles and to put things generally
in order which the House has left IN dis
order from the day before, are on the ses-
sion roll, and paid by the day, and these
suffered from the failure of the resolution
providing for the continuation of session
employees during this month. The floor of
the House was covered with scraps of pa
per, torn bills, old newspapers, pamphlets
and documents, and the carpet had not
been cleaned of its regular daily baptism of
tobacco spit. The doorkeeper of the House
had before him the terrible prospect of per-
should reconvene. The solution of the diff
ficulty was that the chairman of the COM
mittee on appropriations pledged himself
to see that those employees were paid for
the actual labor performed in scrubbing,
cleaning and keeping that part of the build
ing in order during the recess, and the en-
ployes will have to work on faith until
Congress reconvenes.
The controversy over the Senate clerks,
for whom it is sought to secure pay for a
months service alleged to have been rem
dered in 1880. arose in connection with the
urgent deficiency bill and caused the failure
of that measure. The fact that the urgent
deficiency bill failed TO become a law will
cause very wide inconvenience 10 the
government. Janitors and custoiiaus and
elevator men in public buildings all over
the country will either have 10 20 umem-
ployed and their work undone Cor the next
month, or they will be compelled 10 work
on faith that the government will pay them
hereafter. This is probably the hrst time
that an important appropriation bin has
failed on account of petty fight over the
matter of clerk hire, but there WAS a psin-
ciple involved in this fight as far as the
House was concerned, and the bill was per-
mitted to fail rather than yield u what
some of the members of the Ho Use termed
little less than a deliberate robbery of the
| treasury. amounting to about S22ooO. Mr.
Cockrell directly, and the Senate under his
leadership, are held by Representative re-
sponsible for this. and it is possible that the
mix IN the cocoanut may be disclosed in
the list of clerks to Senators who would lie
the beneficiaries of the appropriation which
Mr.. Cockrell insisted should go INTO the bill
IL II were permitted to pass.
The whole list includes about sixty clerks
and many of them are close relatives Of the
Senators whom they serve. Ii will probably
not be fair to assume that all of those who
would be benefited by this appropriation
are in favor of it
The service alleged to have been render
ed was during the Fffty-1rst Congress.
There was then no authority of law Tor
the employment of the clerks during that
month, and the House, with Mr. Cannon
republican, chairman Of the committee on
appropriations, refused to authorize their
employment. 1t was impossible to get au-
thority for IL even by a Joint resolution
and they were employed or rather their
employment was authorized by simple
resolution Of the Senate which could carry
no appropriation for their pay. At the sec
ond session of the Fifty-first Congress the
appropria ton was refused.
The hight over this question was what
caused the failure of the appropriation bill
but it is estimated that assistance which
was potent in bringing about this result
came from some who were not loath TO
embarrass Secretary Carlisle by leaving
MIN without provisions for the necessary
daily expenses of the government which
were carried in the bill One thing works
upon another in mysterious ways in Con-
gress. The member of the House who was
the instrument by which time was con-
sumed TO prevent any possibility of YIELD
ing on the part of the House in this mat
ter, and also to prevent the adoption of the
resolution for the general payment of the
employees of this session for the month of
November. was Hutchinson, a new member
from Texas. who plumes himself greatly
on his success, especially in defeating the
resolution single-handed and alone nv this
stroke of craftsmanship within the first
Few months of his term of Congress he has
saved the government probably $50 600
enough to pay his salary for a good mopy
years, but it is said he has made another
and very much greater saving TO the
government, of which he is entirely nm
aware. He is said to be the champion of
a Florida claim involving about 81 Goa OO0
winch he has been, and probably still is
very hopeful of getting through this Con.
gress BY this little stroke Of statesman
snip; however. ne probably sufficiently ex-
cited the spirit of revenge TO end any nros
pect he ever had OF getting this Claim
tnrough,and therefore he has builded wiser
from government standpoinu than he
alcuiatad -