The morning times., 1896-05-14
INCREASED TWO MILLIONS
River and Harbor Bill Passed by
the Senate.
NINE VOTES AGAINST IT
In the Course of an Eloquent Speech
Mr.. Frye Declared That Water
ways Were the Freight Routes of
the People and the Only Solution of
Cheaper Rates L--

The river and harbor bill was passed
in the Senate yesterday, leaving only
three OF the annual appropriation bills To
be acted upon. These are the District
of Columbia BILL the Fortification bill,
and the Deficiency bill, but before either
OF them is taken up the Delaware Sen
atorial election case will have To be dis
posed of; and To that case today and Fri
day have been assigned.
The amendment which had been Offered
to the river and harbor bill by MIR. Cor
man, limiting expenditures under the bill
to ten millions year, was after long
discussion, laid on the table by a vote or
40 to %. lf.l
An amendment in the same sense, linn
itlng the expenditures under contracts to
20 per cent, was Offered by Mr.. Bate, and
met a like fate, with Il vote OF 81 To is;
and then, after "A somewhat bitter en-
counter OF words between Mr.. Allen and
the chairman OF the Committee on Com
merce, Mr.. Frye, the closing speech In
advocacy OF the bill and IN response to
criticisms OF it was made by Mr.. Frye,
who stated some facts in Illustration Of
the immense growth of the railroad and
river and lake commerce OF the United
States.
HAS CHEAPENED FREIGHT.
The railroad freights, he said, had been
Cuo uo"u WlUllIu IDe ldSb twenty years
from 3 1-2 cents ton u nile To about
IA OF cent ton a mile; and yet the
people wanted cheaper freights. That re-
qulreinent could only be met by improving
water facilities; and for that reason the
intelligent people OF the United States were
everywhere asking for river aud harbor
improvements.
There never had been a time, he said,
in his experience when there was such a
universal fnr ri 1rhn
improvements as this very year. There
was hardly great harbor in the country,
hitherto regarded as ample for all require
ments OF commerce. that had not AeeD
persistent in its dema nds for wider and
deeper channels to accommodate the great
freight ships of the world.
The water in the great lakes was two
or three feet lower than usual, and the
ships were twice as large as formerly.
These demands had come to Congress and
had been Irresistible. Z was in response
to them that the river and harbor bill
had been reported by the two committees
Of the two Houses.
MARVELLOUS COMMERCIAL GROWTH.
The commerce OF the United States had
grown in the last quartet OF a century so
that II had been the marvel OF the whole
world and without a parallel in all his
tory. He had heard il estimated that from
domestic commerce was transported every
| year over 175,Uu0 miles of AL rail- and
| by 100000 of tonnage or documented
| and undOcume nted vessels u commerce
| three tunes greater than the combined
CONNIE rec OF France, Ge rmany, Italy,
! Spain and England.
The vote on the passage of the bill was.
| Yeas, 81; nays, 9-the Senators who voted
| in the negative being Allen, Rep, Ne
! braska; Bate, Dem, Tennessee, Brown, Rep.
| Utah; Chiffon, Dem, Texas, Harris, Dem,
Tennessee; Hill, Dem, NeW York; Kyle
| Pop, South Dakota; Smith, DEM, New
| Jersey, and Villas, Dem, Wisconsin.
The bill, as it passed the. House, appro-
priated $1o,594,71a, and ap' 2rlzed CON
| tracts for thirty-tw o pro ject Evolving an
aggregate liability OF SOL III ,210. AS
1t was reported to the Senate, the amount
| appropriated was SIP 26I4560. That sum
| was increased by various items put on in
| the Senate, including the provision for the
deep sea harbor in Southern California.
HOUSE BILLS PASSED.
The unobjected House bills on the Calen-
J dar were taken up, and the following,
among others, were Fassed:
Fixing at o cents the ma aximum price foi
uncertified printed copies OF specifications
and drawings OF patents
| Permitting the Secretary of the. Navy 70
accept certified checks in lieu of the bond
now required of contractors for naval sup
plies IN
Making it unla wftul to shoot or throw
stones or other missiles into any Iocomo
| tive or car in The Indian Territory.
Making one years residence in a terri
tory a prerequisite 10 obtaining a divorce
there, with amendments.
/ For Iife-sav wing station at Port Huron
Mich.
Senate bill for a commission on the
practical biIity of establishing, near Wash
ington, ground map OF the United States
And number of House bills donating
cannon balls, to one of which an amend
ment was added, turning over all useless
| cannon balls to the G. A. r.
AT p. m. the Senate adjourned until
today.