Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-07-23
WILL SIT IN AUGUST.
The Adjournment Of Congress is Once
More Postponed.
Lawmakers Will Wrestle With Public Duties
While Dog Star RACES.


Wednesday, Aug Is, will be the date Of
adjournment, and this talk comes from so
many of the old heads on both sides that
it may be taken as sort Of semiofiiciai
announcement AS to the question about
those who were SO anxious to get home
and see about their districts, western
member laughingly replied ''Well, it's
just like 1t was with my wife when we
first went to housekeeping If was de-
laycd half an hour after the regular meal
time, why, knew that the dinner was
spoiled and that my wife was as mad as
she was going to be anyhow, and so it
didn't make any difference how much
longer / staid away When the lst of
July passed, with no tariff bill and a GER
tainty that sugar was to be heavily taxed,
my constituents were as full of mad as
they could be and not bust, and so it
makes no difference now how long stay
here"
A Lively Month.
August will indeed be very lively
month. July % the troops of this district,
including the Columbia national guard,
will go into camp on the flat near Mar
shall Hall and remain till Aug. 6, and If
the appropriation therefor gets through
in time there will be a general brigade
cncampment. After this will come great
variety of public functions Of an interest
ing character and then the grand encamp-
ment Of the Knights Of Pythias, which, If
one may judge from the Preparations
made and tho letters received, will be by
far the grandcst thing Of the kind ever
held in the United States. It is fact of
some interest that very many Pythian
commands in Indiana Illinois and farther
west have sent special notices that their
members arc also very largely members of
tho militia and that if tho labor troubles
arc serious late in August their acceptance
of the Washington call must be considered
as withdrawn.
1t being takcn by consent apparently
that the session is to round out the year
since this congress first met, there is quite
revival iii old business that had been laid
aside and renewed activity in some of tho
committee rooms Messrs Geary, Mcguire,
Mallory and others specially interested in
it once moro hope to get the Nicaragua
canal bill to tho front, and the committee
on Pacific railroads swear by all that is
good and great that they will do some
thing yet-this session if tho house does not
positively forbid it, In the general rush
of routine business and concentration os
interest on the tariff conference the various
Investigations were quite overlooked, ard,
except for Senator Allen, it is possible
that the inquiry into the sugar bribery
charges would be ignored.
Those Armor Plates.
The house naval committee suspended
its investigation for week because of the
naval appropriation bill coming back from
to senate with important amendments but
it is now resumed, and Chairman Cum
mings talks rs if they had hardly got fair
ly into 1t. There have been sudden and
curious changes, and tho case has SO fur
shown three very distinct phases. First
all the testimony seemed to bear very hard
on the Carnegie company, as it was adj
mittcd that all kinds Of tricks had been
prncticcd on the government inspectors,
and some very sensational results were
promised. A new set of witnesses turned
the tide strongly against the inspectors.
it. was admitted that they had been i'm
posed upon in various ways, but claimed
that IL was done merely to save trouble,
which their ignorant oiliciousnoss would
havo caused, and that the plates were ov-
cry whit as good rs was agreed upon, and
most of them hcttcr. The real appeal, said
tho company, was 10 the ballistic test, and
that brought on the third stage. IT WAS
shown that the plates had the tensile
strength and other qualities contracted
for. and yet projcctiles were fired right
through them. Tho consolation now Is
that, while we probably got ms good plates
ms we contracted for, yet we did SO much
better in the proiectle limo that we shall
now have % invent tougher plates
The Conference Fight.
Old senators say that they do not re-
member any conference which resulted SO
nearly as the public expected and the
journalists predicted Everybody said that
the fightwould be on coal, iron and sugar,
especially sugar, and SO it seems to be
coming out, Senator Kyle, who is proha
bly, rs impartial an observer as senator
could be ut such time, and who has been
kept we'll informed of every days proceed
iugs says: II am satisfied that an agree
ment could be reached in an hour IL the
senate conferecs--that is, the Democrats
were suro that their party i'll tho senate
would sustain them, and | am very certain
that on final vote there is only one Dem
ocrat in the senate who would take the
responsibility of voting against party
measure of that Importance. That Is not
what the Democratic conferecs are afraid
Of They know that they can pass the bill
flnally-thcy must pass 1t, In fact-but IT
partial agreement is reported and then
disagreement on the six important items
long struggle may follow and keep us
here till October
Comparison Tables.
The Carlisle tables, as they are called,
have excited unusual interest and arc
studied with far more zeal than public
documents generally are, and it seems as
il they have reconciled many Democrats
of the house to the senate bin, whether
that was their object or not. They present
the rates of duty under tho law of 1883,
the Mills bill, the Mckinley act, the Will
son bill as il left the house and the senate
bill in parallel columns, with specific duties
reduced to adj valorem per cents, and thus
show at n glance what the reduction Will
be IL the senate bill is accepted Ooca-
konally there is an increase. Thus the
Mckinley rate on alcoholic compounds is
1853 per cent, while in the senate bill 1t Is
1SS per cent, and so of several articles OF
that nature in the first schedule-chem-
icals, oils and paints-and yet there Is
great average reduction. In the schedule
of earthenware and glassware the reduc-
ton is figured by experts at 90 per cent,