The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-06-03
EXCITEMENT IN THE HOUSE.

EACITEHENT T IN TIT " HOUSE, Congressman Dockery Rushes Down the
 Aisle Shaking His Finger at MT. Hooker
 Washington, June 2.-There was con- siderable excitement in the house this afternoon when Chairman Hooker of the rivers and harbors committee de- manded the previous question on the passage of the river and harbor bill over the presidents veto. MT. Cookery sprang to his feet and said that MT. Hooker had promised him yesterday that debate should be allowed.
 T demand the regular order," said Mir Hooker.
 MT. Cookery rushed down the aisle shaking his finger at MT Hooker.
 Tt is unjust, unmanly and unfair" shouted MT. Cookery, Ito stifle debate in this way"
 A chorus of groans and misses greeted Mr. Dockery's utterances, and in spite of his indignant protests the previous question was ordered by vote of IFS to 60.
 Under the rules the vote on the pas SeiSS Ol lil0 Dlil IluSt pe tuhtll py yedo and nays the speaker announced.
 ''Is there no rule by which we can have debate?" asked MT. Cookery. Not if the house orders the con- trary," said Speaker Reed.
 The bill was then passed over the veto by vote of 220 to 60.
 In the report which was submitted with the bill the objections of the presi- dent were reviewed in detail. All but twenty-seven of the AT projects in the bill, the large number being alluded to by the president, the report says, were contained in previous river and harbor bills, It is also claimed that most of the projects were contained in the bill of 1S90 upon which the late General Casey submitted a report saying that but eight were of limited local benefit It is also stated that the bill was prepared after careful examination of the reports of engineers. The president alluded to ''improvidently planned projects" but the committee assert that provision has been made for pros ecuting works where there seemed a doubt concerning them, by modified projects, all to be done under the direc- ton os the engineers. It is also claimed that the president is indefinite | In his language in not specifying the | objectionable features of the bill. Replying to the assertion of the presi- | dent that there are appropriations for | works which private parties have act ually agreed to do, the committee says | that the information upon which the president bases his statement is wholly | untrue.
 | As to the cash appropriation of
 $14,000,00O, the committee says that this | is to be spread over two years and not
 expended in one fiscal year. It is also
 asserted that the president places the
 amount under the contract system | s2 ,OOO, 900 higher than the bill, and that | instead of $20,0O0,00 being expended
 during the year ending June 30, 1S9S as
 asserted by the president, the commit I tee says that in case all contracts
 authorized were immediately entered
 into not more than $16,612,S73 could be
 expended in any one year. The report
 also says that the president is in error i in saying that there will be another
 appropriation for smaller schemes mot l covered in the contracts"
 Answering the charge of extrava- gance, the committee says that for the I last six years the average expenditures l have been s167,O00 and the estimates l from the present bill and the appropri-
 ations for 1896 and 1900 that the average expenditure for the next six years will l be $13,000, 900. The committee quotes
 from the report of Secretary Lamont l endorsing the contract system in mak- l ing river and harbor improvements and | recommending "the extension of that l policy to embrace other worthy i'm 1 proyements."
 Attention is called to the fact that | if the bill should fail, work upon hun i dreds of projects in course of comple- 1 tion would be suspended at a great
 loss. The report concludes that after a l careful reexamination of the bill, the committee sees no reason why the house should recede from it's action.