The morning call., 1893-07-21
PICKING HIS MEN.
Crisp Is Busy Selecting
Chairmen.
WILSON TO LEAD THE HOUSE
Springer and Holman Will Be Rele-
gated to Back Seats at the
Coming Session.
Special to THE MORNING CALL

WASHINGTON, July 20.-Speaker Crisp
has written that he will not be here before
August 1. He is engaged in making up his
comm ttee lists now and it Is believed
everything will be cut and dried by the
time he arrives in Washington. The city
will not begin to fill up with Congressman
until within tho seventh day OF meeting,
as most of the members understand that
the committees will have been made up, so
that there will be no great hurry to get
there in order to whisper a word in the
Speakers ear.
1t has been decided to hold caucus on
August and most of the Democratic
members will be on hand by that date.
Among the California members In the
last Congress Geary had the choicest COM
mittee assignments and he now covets a
place on the Ways and Means Committee,
which he wiAl not get. He will be FORUM
ate If he holds on to the Foreign Affairs
and Interstate and Foreign Commerce
committees. Representative Mcguire has
expressed no choice of committee assign
ment as far as known among his friends
here. Mr.. Hilborn Is anxious TO serve on
the Naval Affairs.
In the new committee-list the prevail:
ing impression is that the old chairmen
who have been reelected to the House
will be renamed. with perhaps two ex-
ceptions, these being Springer OF the
Ways and Means and Holman of the
Appropriations. At the same time the
Speaker has committed himself to nobody
on this point, and every forecast put forth
has been simple euesswork. The prevail
ing impression concerning Springer seems
TO be due to the fact that he did not fulfil
all the expecta tions cherished concerning
him when he was made leader Of the
last House. As the requirements OF the
coming session will be yet moro severe, it
is presumed that he would be still more
marked failure than he was last year.
Besides. Mr.. Cleveland is seeking to
avenge himself for Springer's desertion of
him as a candidate for denomination in
1892 by demanding change of chairman
for the Ways and Means. Hence it may
seem best to the Speaker to put Wilson of
West Virginia at the head of the Ways
and Means Committee because he has
more directness of method than Springer.
and Sayers of Texas at the head OF the
Appropriations Committee for reasons
that are well known to everybody.
Sixty Chinese. fguratively speaking, are
starving to death on board steamer al
Portland. Or. with plenty to eat at their
disposal. This paradoxicai state of affairs
has been brought about in this way: The
Haytian Republic recently arrived at Port
land with large number of Chinese on
board. Sixty of these could not produce
evidence that they were entitled to reside
in the United States and were forbidden to
land.
At the same time the Haytian Republic
was lbeled for smuggling opium and Chi
nese. with the result that the owners aban.
doned the vessel, leaving the sixty unfor-
tunate Chinese on board.
Believing the owners had done this to
make the Government care for the Chi
nese. thus saving themselves the expense
OF supporting and deporting the latter, the
treasury refused to interfere in the mat
ter. and the Celestials left on board are
uncared for, foodless and in q forbidden
land.
A protest from the Chinese Minister
against allowing his fellow-countrymen
to starve has caused the administration to
take action. and after consultation be-
tween the officials Of the State and Treas
ury departments and Department of JUS
tce it has been officially decided that this
Government has no right to interfere that
either the owners of the Haytian Republic
must take caro- of the contraband passen-
gers (and this they will not do) or the Chi
nese must starve to death in the midst of
plenty pending the disposition of libel in
the courts.
This is an official decision. but it has
also been determined that the Chinese
shall be fed three unofficial meals day.
While the United States Government is
feeding the Chinese it shuts its eyes to the
fact. and in order to be thoroughly con-
sistent the Government maintains sixty
men who must 60 without food until the
court settles the matter Of libel.
Major John ]. Rodgers, Inspector of ar
tillery. Department of California, will pro-
ceed to Fort Candy. WASH. on official
business during the artillery practice sea-
son of Batteries A and C. Fifth Artillery,
and on the completion thereof he will re-
join his proper station.
d. C. Wylie Of San Francisco arrived to-