Evening star., 1896-06-11
THE BILL PASSED
Agreement Reached as to Appropri-
ations for the District.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT CLAUSE
Charities to Continue as Now for
Another Year.
MR.. CIRCUIT ON THE TUNN Ell

Shortly after 4 o'clock yesterday after
noon Mr.. Teller presented to the senate
the hnal conference report on the Distrlct
appropriation bill, announcing a. complete
agreement between the two houses This
was precisely along the line indicated in
last evenings Star. The electric light
trouble was compromised so as to give
both companies the right to use conduits
inside the city notwithstanding the recent
Ge ecision of the Supreme Court of the Dis
trict. The following paragraph was insert
ed to take the place of the original Senate
amendment 90, and the Pitney amendment
adopted by the House the other evening.
Provided, That the Commissioners of
the District of Columbia may, under such
reasonable restrictions as they may pre-
scribe. authorize any existing electric light
company having overhead wires to main
tain and use for a period of eight months.
and no longer, it's existing poles and over
head wires west of Rock creek. in places
outside of the existing fire limits of the
city OF Washington and of the District of
Columbia: and any such overhead WIRE
system may be extended west of Rock
creek and outside of said fire limits, 10
continue only for the said period of eight
N onths, and at the end of said period all
right or authority hereby conferred shall
cease. And the said Commissioners may
also authorize any such existing electric
light company to construct and use under
such regulations the Commissioners
may fix. conduits for the reception of ex-
listing overhead wires within the territory
formerly known as Georgetown, and to
extend the same by an aggregate of not
more than one and a quarter miles of con-
duit in the same territory. And the United
States Electric Lighting Company may ex-
tend its underground condults and wires
east of Rock creek, and within the said
fire limits, to Mount Pleasant and Wash
ington and Columbia Heights, under such
regulations as the Commissioners of the
District of Columbia may prescribe
The House agreed to permit the Senate
to strike out, by amendment No. 100, that
paragraph inserted in the bill by the House
requiring d reduction in the price of cleo
tricity for light power purposes to 20
per cent of the prices January j, 1896.
The Charities Amendment.
The House agreed to all the Senate
amendments as to charities down to and
including No. 191, which struck out the
blanket provision inserted by the House
appropriating S94. 1GO for the general charity
fund and substituting therefor substan-
TALLY the old schedule of specific appro
priations. In the amendment No. 1876. ap-
rropriating S30.OOO for the Columbia Hos
pital for Women, the House agreed to all
OF the Senate amendments except the pro-
vision that no part of the money appro-
priated for charities shall be paid for the
purpose of maintaining aiding any
church OF religious denomination, that dec
iaration having been embodied in another
paragraph of the bill. This provision was
in the form of the following paragraph,
inserted separately before the Senate
amendment providing for a joint select
committee:
And 1t is hereby declared to be the policy
of the government of the United States 10
make no appropriation of money prop
erty for the purpose of founding, main
tanning, or aiding by payment for services,
expenses, or otherwise, any church or re-
ligious denomination or any institution or
society which is under sectarian or eccles-
iastical control. And it is hereby enacted
that from and after the Both day of June,
1897. no money appropriated for charitable
purposes in the District of Columbia shall
be paid to any church or religious denom-
indtion or TO any institution or society
which is under sectarian or ecclesiastical
control
The House accepted the Senate provision
for joint committee to investigate the
question of local charities with some minor
amendments. including within the scope of
the commissicn's inquiry certain matters
suggested by the addition of the declara-
tion of policy just quoted. The last few
lines of the amendment were stricken out.
and in their stead the following paragraph
was inserted: Said committee Is author
lied to sit during the recess and the neces-
sary expenses of the committee. including
clerical and stenographic work. shall be
paid out of the contingent fund of the
ly. on the certificate Of the chairman of the
committee"
Mr. Vests Objection.
Before vote was taken in the Senate
on agreeing to this report, Mr.. Vest an
nounced his opposition to the charities pro-
vision as agreed upon in conference. He
objected to as being absolutely inhuman
that provision which stated that under no
circumstances after June 80. 1897. shall
there be any provision for any hospital or to
any asylum institution under the control
or connected with the church. He spol.e
feelingly of the possibilities arising from
such a provision, citing the contingency of
a church becoming unable to maintain an
orphan asylum or a hospital, and he drew
the picture of the charges of such institu-
tions being turned into the streets.
The debate was drifting off into discus
sion of the financial question, when Mr.
Teller brought 1t back and made a brief
statement In regard to the charities scneti-
ule, after which the report was concurred
In
In the House of Representatives the in
PRODUCTION of the report gave rise to
lergthy partisan debate In which speeches
We're made by Representatives Grout. Lin
ton. Cannon. Sayers. Dockery and Dingley.
With the exception of Massrs. Grout and
Linton all of these speakers withheld their
remarks for revision. Mr.. Grout made
brief explanation of the cor ference report
and said that the bill as finally passed
was much larger than the bill for the last
two years. being indeed the largest Dis
tr1ct Dill ever passed by the two houses
yet Mr. Grout thought that the conferees
had succeeded in keeping the bill within
reasonable limits. AS it went over to the
Senate from the House it carried S,41S.-
Eb39, to which the Senate added 81 $685.
!fe3. of this amount of increase put on
by the Senate that body yielded In con-
ference Sl.3SO.o6G.4 and the House Welded
SiS6. l22OJ, leaving aggregate of appro-
priations in the bill of s5.4O5. .0S2 49,
The Aqueduct Tunnel.
Mr.. Grout made an EXPLANATION as fol-
lows concerning the striking out of the
provision for the completion of the aaue-
Duct tunnel:
Now, one word about ar Item which
was stricken from the bill and which has
been subject of much criticism In an
other place as well as In the rublic prints
or the city. / refer to the proposal to re-
sumo work on what Is known as the Ly-
decker tunnel. upon which there has here
tofore been expended as gentlemen mat
generally know Though some may mott.
fetween two and three million dollars. to
Dring water from the reservoir above
Georgetown to the new reservoir up by the
Soldiers Home, which is still empty car
rying the water through an underground
conduit. in some places 40 feet beneath
the surface.
well, 1t was abandoned five or six wears
after the expenditure of this largo srp, hf