Birmingham state herald., 1896-06-04
NUMBER 175

day. Congress ought to curb or check if
 possible, the exercise of the veto power
 MT. Smith, democrat, of New Jersey,
 differed with Messrs. Vest and Sherman
 on the subject of presidential vetoes and | reminded them that similar bills had | been vetoed by Presidents Jackson, Tyr | Ter, Polk and Pierce, and that in 1876 | President Grant sent a protest to conl | gress against river and harbor bilI | which did not appropriate one-fifth of the | amount appropriated in the pending bill.'' l.. MT. Villas sounded note of caution.' | Where, he asked, was the money coming | from? He knew that it had been said in
 the house and senate, recklessly, that l there was money in the treasury, but | that money he said, was borrowed for l the purpose only of maintaining the
 credit of the United States. As to Mr.' | Sherman'S suggestion that the matter | was within the discretion of the execu- | tive officers, MT. Villas asked if the sec- l retary of the treasury could exercise the | discretion of discharging appropriations | made in the river and harbor bill and of
 leaving undischarged those made in the | legislative appropriation bill
 l In conclusion he said: We are going
 on too recklessly, and it is for that reason
 that l cannot bring myself to support
 this measure, which will impose such | great additional burdens on the people of | this country at a time when period of
 distress has left them less capable than | at other times to sustain them"
 |
 gued in favor of the passage of the bill. | 1t was of the most vital consequence, he | said to the people of the Mississippi val | ley. While there were some items in 1t
 for which he would not vote, he would | not, on that account, strike down the
 interests of so many of the agricultural | people of the country.
 l Mr. Bate, democrat, of Tennessee, | spoke in support of the veto and in oppo- | s.tion to the passage of the river and har- l Dor bill. He asserted that the issuance
 of bonds was behind the bill, or else. a | tariff law that would overtop even the | Mckinley act.
 Mir Hill, democrat, of New York, up- held the veto power against the criticisms | upon 1t, and reminded the democratic side of the chamber that President Jack- | son had inaugurated the vetoing of river | and harbor bills, having in 1882 returned | to congress one with his objections. | The last veto of river and harbor bill, l MT. Hill said. was by Pres.dent Arthur in 1882. That bill appropriated over SIS, S,000,- | 900, and MT Arthur's principal objections | to 1t were that 1t contained appropria1 l tions for purposes that were not for the | common defense or general welfare or | that 1t did not promote commerce among l the states. That veto was overruled in l the house of representa- tves by vote of | ,122 to 59, and in the senate by vote of | fl to 16. The veto now under considera- l ton, Mr. Hill said, was based on the l grounds of expediency, laying stress on | the enormous amount to be expended now | and in the near future. After a painstak- l ing consideration of the whole measure | more careful and extensive than most sen- l ators could have given to 1.-the pres- 1 ident had refused to approve the bill; and he (Mr. HilD thought that the presidents | action should be sustained, rather than | overruled. As one who had voted against | the bill on it's original passage, the mes- | sage had confirmed his convictions of its | undesirability as whole at the present. | tIx. xCtf ftttttn xA did not give the president more power to veto particular items in appropriation | bills. Such a power had existed for fmany years in New York and other | states, and there was no disposition to | abandon it. He introduced a joint reso- | lution proposing an amendment to the | constitution giving the president the pow | CT to veto items fn an appropriation bill. It was read and lad on the table. MT Butler, populist of North Carolina, | thought that MT. Hills proposed amend
 ment was quite consistent with that sen- | ators action and vote yesterday against | the bond bill. MT. Butler had also pro- posed a constitutional amendment in re- | gard to the veto power, giving majority | in each house the power to pass bill | over the presidents veto.
 l At the close of MT. Buffers remarks the | vote was taken, as follows:
 | Yeas-Aldrich Allison, Racon, Berry, | Brice Burrows, Bus.er, Cannon, Carter I Elkins, Faulkner, Gallinger, Gear, | George, Gibson, German, Hale, Hans | brough, Hawley, Jones of Arkansas, | Jones of Nevada, Lindsay, Lodge, Me- Bride, Mills, Mitchell of Oregon, Mitch ell of Wisconsin, Morgan, Nelson, Pasco, | Peffer, Perkins, Pettigrew, Platt, Pritch-
 ard, Pugh, Quay, sherman, Shoup,
 Squire, Stewart, Teller, Tillman, Turpie. Vest, Walthall, Warren, Wetmore. l White, Wilson, Wolcott-56.
 | Dat 1 --5.
 l There was group of more than twen- | ty members of the house standing in the | space back of the republican seats while | the vote was in progress. They showed
 a very lively interest in the matter and | withdrew as soon as the vote was an- l nounced.
 1 The House.
 l The somewhat noted contested election | case of Murray ys. Elliott, from the | Charleston, s. C.. district, was the prin- | cipal matter of business before the house | today. Elliott's election from that dis 1 trict has been contested three times--in | the Fiftieth, Fifty-frst and Fifty-fourth | congresses The contestant in this case | was elected to the Fifty-third congress. | The majority report of the committee in | charge of the case recommended the | seating of the contestant and was adyo- | cated by Mir. Overstreet, republican. of | Indiana. The minority found that Elliott l l view was urged upon the house by Mir. | Jones, democrat, of Virginia. Without | disposng of the case the house at 5:55 | o'clock adjourned. vote will be taken l the first thing tomorrow.
 l Quite a contest preceded the considera- | tion of the election case over the appro- | priation in the general deficiency bill to | pay the amounts to victims of the Fora | theater disaster recommended by the | congressional commission which investf- | gated the claims This was added in the | senate and MT. Savers, democrat, of | Texas. moved to strike out the names of | several beneficlaries, the deaths of whose | principals were asserted not to be due | to the disaster, or who had not been in- | jured In it. according to the report of theI | war department officials, which also in- | vestigated the matter. The motion was l warmly supported by MT. Savers and l MT. Cannon. republican. of Illinois, the | latter a member of the commission mak- | ing the awards. By vote of 123 to 96 the | house agreed to the motion, and these