Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-19
NICARAGUA CANAL BILL
Prepared by the House Conn.,
merce Subcommittee.
SAME AS THElv' .AH0N BILL
Principal and InterGI Be Guaranteed by the
U7 States
GOLD REsfT 9 AT A sTANOsTILL
Writ of Error to the Supreme Court
Granted in the Cases of Captain Wi
borg and Mates Petersen and
Johansen ofthe Horsa.

Washington, March 18-The sub-com-
mittee of the house commerce committee.
which has been engaged for several
weeks in the preparation of a Nicaragua
canal bill, finished it's labors today and
will report to the full committee on Fri
day next. The bill agreed upon is SUBJ
stantially the Mahon bill with certain
amendments. 1t provides for reorgani-
zation of the Maritime Canal company.
1t permits the company to issue bonds to-
the amount of $100,000,000, of which ST.
100000 shall be held by the company to
reimburse 1t for the moneys actually ex-
pended IN Nicaragua and for their fran
chise. The United States guarantees the
principal and interest of the bonds
winch latter shall be sold as needed to
complete the waterway The United
states is protected in its liabilities by an
issue of 800, 900 of stock, which Is to
be the sole property Of the government
and which is to be deposited in the Unit
ed states treasury at Washington. Ten
or the fifteen directors shall represent the
government, the remaining five repre-
senting the company and the republics of
Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The bill re-
quires the company to call in and cancel
all It's outstanding obligations except the
bonds issued to the two republics, which
aggregate $4,000000 and $4,000, 900 each,
anu Wiilcll the new Dill. they will
be permitted to retain. All the bonds will
bear interest at per cent per annum the
net earnings of the canal to be placed I'M
the sinking fund for their extinguish-
ment nom time to time. Additional Sc
curity is given to the government by a
first mortgage on the canal The work
Will be constructed under the supervision
or the war department.. The bill reserves
the right to the government to purchase.
at It's pleasure, the $1,000, 900 OF bonds held
by that corporation.
A hearing will be given by the commit
tee to Ex-senator Warner Miller of NeNd
York on Friday next
The treasury gold reserve at the close
OF business stood at 127,51S094 The
Withdrawals for the day were 1861 100.
r. Shortly before noon today Justice
Shiras granted writ of error to the SUI
pfeme court of the United States in the
cases of Captain Wiborg and Mates Peter
sen and Johansen Of the flibuster Horsa.
who were sentenced at Philadelphia The
writ commands that the men shall be ad-
mitted to bail before Judge Butler of the
trial court. Bail has already been ar
ranged for the men,it Is understood here
1t is thought the decision In this case
will settle the question, what is and what
IS not violation of the neutrality laws.
A motion will probably be made on the
part of the government to advance the
case to speedy hearing.
Mr. Cleveland's Birthday.
President Cleveland is SO years old to-
DAY. There was no particular celebra-
tion of the event at the White House and
Mr.. Cleveland passed the day as usual
at his desk. Some of his personal friends,
including Senator Villas and Rev. Byron
Sunderland, his pastor, remembered the
occasion and called during the morning
to pay their respects.
Arrived Safely in Cuba.
General Quesada of the Cuban revolu-
ont fnH1
egram saying that Gen. Enrique Collazo
had arrived safely in Cuba fortified with
an equipment of 1000 rifles and / 1000, 900
cartridges. No further details are con-
tained in the dispatch.
To Test the Racing Law
The owners of the outlaw track at ST.
Asaph, near Alexandria, Va, opened
their track today with a view to test the
recently enacted Maupin law. Bets are
being made openly and accepted by the
bookmakers, who expect to test the valid
ity of the law. There is large crowd in
attendance.