The record-union., 1897-12-11
Debate in the House Yesterday Gov
cred a Wide Range.
Pensions, Civil Service and Receipts and
Expenditures Discussed.
Dingley Makes a Statement, Ex-
pressing the Opinion That the
Receipts Of the Government
Will Exceed the Expenditures
Before the Close Of the Pres
ent Fiscal Year.

Will Exceed the Expenditures
Before the Close of the Pres
| ent Fiscal Year.
to-day passed the pension appropriation
bill without amendment, and adjourned
till Monday. The amendments offered
by Democrats to correct alleged exist
ing abuse We're all ruled out, on the
point Of order that they were new leg
| islation. AS passed the bill carries
$141 ,263,SS0.
The debate to-day covered a wide
range. 1t touched not only the ques-
tions of our pension policy, but that of
| civil service reform and the receipts
and expenditures of the treasury under
| the Dingley law. On the latter ques-
ton Mr.. Dingley made an important
! statement, in which he expressed the
| opinion that the receipts would equal
| the expenditures before the close Of the
present fiscal year, and predicted a sur
plus Of S1O,OOO,O0O next year.
| The civil service law was savagely
attacked by several members, notably
Brown R) Of Ohio and Linney R) of
| North Carolina, and was warmly de-
/ Tended by Johnson (R.) of Indiana. Just
before the close Of the session Hit,
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Com
mittee, attempted to secure unanimous
consent for the passage of the bill to
/ prohibit pelagic sealing by American
citizens, but objection was made. 1t
| WILL under agreement, however, be con-
sidered Monday.
| AT the opening Of the session it was
agreed that when the House adjourned
/ to-day it be to meet on Monday.
| On motion of Foss (R.) of Illinois,
! Saturday, December 18th, was set
! apart for paying tributes to the MEM
ory of the late Representative F. D.
| Cooke of Illinois.
The House then resumed the consid-
Grafton Of the pension appropriation bill,
which was debated yesterday.
Brown (R) of Ohio attacked the civil
! service law, because it protected some
/ Of the pension examining boards ap-
pointed under the last administration.
| He styled it IAN abomina tion," and
was Justify applauded by many of his
| collea CUES He said the soldiers of
! his district regarded this law as mimi
! cal to their interests, and he favored
| IT'S repeal or radical modification. He
| declared that the President was mis-
! taken when he affirmed that the civil
service law had the approval of the
| people. The Republicans and the press
of his district had denounced it. The
| last Republican State convention of
! Ohio had declared against the law and
on the platform, he stood. If disloy-
| atty to the law was di/loyalty to the
Republican party then he was disloyal.
| (Great applause in the galleries).
| AT the conclusion of Browns re-
| marks, the House, by unanimous con-
| sent, agreed to close the general de-
| bate at $40
| Bromwell (R) of Ohio said he con-
CURED with his colleague. Brown, but he
| insisted that true civil service reform
was a cardinal principal of Republi-
canism. 1t is believed, he said. that
Grover Cleveland had done more to dis
credit the true spirit of civil reform than
all the others combined, and he thought
! Mr.. Mckinley could be relied upon to
bring it back into its proper channel.
| Maxwell P.) of Nebraska submitted
some remarks in favor of liberal pen
sion, and was followed by Grosvenor R. }
| of Ohio, who said that while his col
| leagues from Ohio seemed to differ on
/ the civil service question, he thought
/ they were practically of one mind So
4 far as he was concerned he had enlisted
| for the war against the law
In discussing the pension matter Gros-
venor said if he could he would abolish
the Pension Examining Board and much
of the expense Of administration in the
pension office, and substitute a general
service pension system carefully safe
guarded.
In reply to Morton's criticism yester-
! day, Grosvenor reviewed the records of
the two parties on the pension legisla-
ton of Congress, showing that in the
aggregate l,O34 Republican votes were
cast in Congress for general pension ex-
animation and but two against it, while
422 Democrats have been in favor of
such legislation and SIG in opposition.
Sullivan CD of Mississippi, in support
of an argument against the payment of
pensions to those who were wealthy and
/ did not need them, quoted at length from
/ an article recently written by General
] III. " Boynton, whose tetimony against
abuses in the present system, he said.
was entitled to respectful consideration
by the other side
Johnson CR) of Indiana, in defense of
civil service reform, which he said was
being attacked on this floor by members
| from the Presidents own State. reiter-
ated his statement of the other day that
civil service reform was an essential
principle of Republicanism. He re-
| ferred to the declarations of State Re-
publican conventions, and read from
platforms adopted at Republican con-
ventions for twenty years in support of
his contention. Hayes, Garfield. Har-
rison and Mckinley all stood for the
| law, and the Presidents last utterance
| in its favor had received the over
whelming approval of the Republican
press of the country.
johnson declared that the enemies Of
| the law We're not attacking it openly.
They hoped, as friends of true civil re-
/ FORM" to tear it down piecemeal, and do
covertly what they feared to attempt
directly.
Carmack Gaines and Sims. Demo-
Gratis of Tennessee. spoke briefly in favor
/ of retrenchment in pension expenditures.
These remarks drew an important
statement from Dingley regarding the
prospective revenues and the expeniit.
ures for the ensuing year. Preliminary
TO the statement, Dingley gave a new
| Interpretation of the estimated increase
in pension expenditures. contending