Evening star., 1897-02-08
Many Local Measures Acted On by
the House.
MARKET HOUSE RESOLUTION PASSEL
Also the Act to Regulate Frater-
nal Beneficiary Societies.
ACTION IN OTHER CASES

This was District day in the House. the
last one of the Fifty-fourth Congress
From this time until the end of the Con-
-gress the only District business likely 10
be considered in the House will be bills of
privileged nature. in the shape of CON
ference reports or bills for whose consid-
Grafton unanimous consent can be obtained
The House District committee draws its
l8bors to a close with a record for District
legislation considered and accomplished
which far exceeds that of any previous
Congress. To the efforts of Chairman Bah
cock and his colleagues of the committee
ana their business-like conduct of affairs
Is due the attainment of this record The
committee has brought forward bills which.
while able to bear the closest scrutiny.
have not. as a rule, provoked discussion.
and in this way the committees time In
the House has not been frittered AWAY I'm
taik Chairman Babcock who is pre-a;n-
ihenuy man of business, has brought
business methods into the handling of his
blils, and the result has been The nass,ya
o. more bills through the Housa H., -,
fcre. "Tieto-
In the Next Congress-.
III the declared plans of Major Mckinley
are carried out, the F.fty-fifth Congress
VIII assemble five weeks from TODAY and
'e REPRESENTATION OF the District COM
hiittee VIII then be in order. IL is conf
oeht'y assumed that Mr.. Babcock will be
reappointed chairman. While the noss,ton
mas at times been exceedingly oneroas "a
MI hancock, the circumstances are s,,cb
that ne Will not likely be permitted 10 ra,irs
rom the position he has filled with sach
signal success. Therefore calculat:ons for
aiiotner Dusy season of District business i'm
the House can DC made with t-hairnns,,
babcock as the basis
vacancies on the committee will have ,o
r. "hSa, eccasioned by the retirement from
Ine nouse of Messrs. Hulick of oh a
f1uHng or West Virginia, Milnes of Mtcbi
Gan, ellington of Maryland Rusk OF
MMaryiand, Meredith of Virginia, Abbott os
ieXas and Cobb of Missouri:
Wien Chairman Babcock obtained ,h.,
noor & today he called up first House hin
oIos' 10 regulate fraternal beneficiary So
c-eties In the District
The FratcrnaI Societies rim
MI. -aiines of Michigan explained the
Dill briefly. He said similar laws pxis,.d
IN other states, and they operated to good
advantage
Mr.. Baker of New Hampshire surpesta5
lew minor amendments to the hill which
We're adopted. He then found fault Yith
the section which provided. And no in
)urction against any such association shau
be granted by any court except on appli-
81
at the request of the assessor" N was
thereupon amended to read An iniunc-
uon against any such association may ba
granted On application by the attorney for
the District at the request of the asses
sor''
The report on the bill says: This bin is
Tor the proper regulation in the District
OF columbia of so-called fraternal benc-
nt larry societies, orders or associations
There Is no question but that these as
sociatiors where properly managed have
se eneiited their members and the communi-
ties where established, and they should he
accorded in legislation proper protection
such as is proposed by this BILL which
at the same time prevents fraudulent So
c:eties from obtaining a foothold and car
rying on business in the District of Co
Imbia. In order to avoid the abuses
that have crept into the system in certain
localities, and to some extent in the Dis
tact IL is found necessary TO call for reg
u,ar reports to methods of doing bus-
ness. and in other ways TO adopt whole
some regulation of the societies which are
mutual in character and wherein the gov
ernment is under the control of the men,
bership'
The bill is very lengthy. going into the
minutest details for the regulations of the
societies, and its reading occupied consid-
eratle time
The bill to regulate beneficial societies
theE passed
Other Bills Passed.
Chairman Babcock then called up House
hill 9o16. to punish the impersonation Of
health inspectors and other officials of the
District. The bill was passed without de-
bate.
The next bill called up was House bill
9S21, providing that the Commissioners of
the District of Columbia be authorized and
directed to collect a fee of - cents, TO be
paid TO the collector of taxes, for each
transcript from the records Of births,
deaths and marriages in the health depart
;nent of said District: Provided, That no one
transcr ript shall be made so to apply 10
more than one birth, death marriage;
and provided further, That no fee shall be
charged for transcripts furnished the vari-
Gus departments of the United States gov
ernment for official purposes. This act
shall take effect thirty days after its pas
sage.
Mr. Baker of New Hampshire suggested
that 80 cents was too great fee to charge.
He thought % cents enough TO pay for this
service 1t did not take long TO make these
transcripts and a great many were issued
The bill was passed without amendment.
Chairman Babcock then called up House
bill 10122. providing that section OF the
act entitled IAN act to prohibit the inter
ment of bodies I'm Graceland cemetery, I'm
the District of Columbia" passed August
3, 1894, be amended as follows:
The said board of officers are hereby
thorized and empowered to convey the said
property by mortgage or deed of trust TO
secure a loan, which they are hereby au-
thorized to make at such time and at such
rate of interest as may be practicable. not
exceeding PEI centum per annum, which
money so raised shall be used by them for
the purposes of carrying out the provisions
of the said act, and for which they shall be
accountable as for other moneys coming
into their hands as such officers under the
said act"
The bill was passed without debate.
The Potomac Park Bill.
The next bill considered was House bill
977O, introduced by Mr.. Mccormick of New
York. providing that the entire area known
as the Potomac fats. In the District of CO.
lumbia, and now being reclaimed. together
with the tidal reservoirs. be made and de-
clared public park, under the name OF the
Potomac Park, and 10 be forever held and
used as q park for the recreation and pleas
ure of the people.
Mr.. Dockery raised a point of order
against the measure, that II must be con-
sidered In committee OF the whole because
1t disposed of public property. Mr. Bab-
cock thereupon withdrew the bill.
The Market House Resolution,
He then called mp Senate resolution las.
which provides that the provisions of the
ordinance Of the city OF Washington an
proved May "a, 1857. requiring the clerks