Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-03-11
BILLS THAT FAILED.
WORK FOR THE EXTRA SESSION
OF CONGRESS.
Chicago and Illinois Affected by the
Delay In Usuai NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Civil Bill Was MISUNDERSTANDING
ere and Harbors Left Out.
For Inn mediate Attention.
oh e,rroonnnAonAAs

CHo anu AAuA oos~ @<<as 0ess
For I'm mediate Attention.
Washington correspondence:
When the sundry civil bill was pocketed
by President Cleveland most of the i'm
portant Government appropriations in ILL
nois for the next fiscal year fell 10 the
ground, and If Congress, should fail to
pass n new bill before the LIST of July some
people now in the employ of the Govern
ment will have to go out of business or
take their compensation on tick.
This big appropriation bill Is the catch
all for things not regularly included under
the departments, and ii provides the
money for an infinite variety of things
which have no apparent relation to each
other. President Mckinley himself. would
be personally affected, for one of the
items vetoed by his predecessor is that
which provides for heating and lighting
the executive mansion and its grounds,
and il is to be presumed the family of the
new President will not care TO go to bed
in the dark after the LIST of July. Col. Bill
Morrison of the Interstate Commerce
Commission would find himself without
salary, and the Government would be I'M
able to print any more greenbacks II
new law were not enacted.
The appropriation in which Chicago is
most interest is that of $4,000 for the
Improvement of the river. More impor-
tant than the amount of the money itself
is the paragraph which was inserted in
the Senate. and only accepted by the
House after hard fight. constituting the
item in the river and harbor bill so that
the money to be expended on the Chicago
river can be paid for other work than
dredging rs is now held TO be the law.
All of the river and harbor items fail,
and among the number are 81, 900, 900 for
the Hennepin canal. $673,333 for the i'm
provement of the Mississippi from the
mouth of the Ohio to the mouth of the
Missouri. and SS26G66 from the Missouri
to st. Paul. in both of which Illinois is
deeply interested. Rock Island would
suffer severely because items of $12,o00
for the bridge and $4,000 for the arsenal
are involved. 81.
The Chicago public building is not af-
fected, because, under the original appro-
priation contracts may be entered into,
and there is money enough to keep up
the construction until the regular session.
Unless new law is enacted there will
be no money to pay the keepers of the
lighthouses or the life-saving stations at
Chicago and Evanston or elsewhere on the
lakes. The appropriation of 5000, 600 for
the completion of the two new revenue
cutters has also gone by the board. There
is now no provision for paying the rental
of the Government offices in the Rand
McNally building after July /, although
the annual rental is S19,345. Wash Hes
inc wonl1 find fhipOc for 10
the postofice if Congress did not step in
to help him, because the appropriation for
fuel, lights and water for public buildings
concerns the temporary structure on the
lake front, and il has failed with the
other items. The Federal Court in Chi
cago will be without money after July /.
and the marshal, district attorney. COM
missioners, clerks and their subordinates
will become the creditors of the Govern
ment unless Uncle Joe Cannon starts the
ball rolling once more and pushes through
another appropriation bill sufficiently free
from jobs to secure the approval of the
President.
The new soldiers home at Danville. for
which 100000 was appropriated in the
House and the amount cut down to $780,
OOO in the Senate, also went by the board.
Ohe VI tire items which Iu1Ieu
to be enacted into law was the appropria-
ton OF SloO.OOO for making the prelimi-
nary surveys looking toward the creation
OF deep waterway from Chicago and
Duluth to the Atlantic seaboard, as recon-
mended by the commission of which En-
glneer Cooley was the expert member.
The work of improving the channels of the
great lakes from Chicago to Buffalo is
now In progress. and to continue this the
sum OF SlOOO.OOO was provided by the
bill which failed to become law.
Such of these items as are deserving
WILL OF course, be included in the new ap-
preparation bill. and there is not much
ground TO fear that the Government en-
ployes will not get their money.
There is, however. a much more prcys-
ing urgency in regard to the appropria-
tons carried by the deficiency bill. This
measure was hung up in conference. Presi-
Gent Cleveland did not veto this measure.
but undoubtedly would have done so if il
aad been presented to him. 1t carries
among other things n lump appropriation.
S1.2O0,O00. which is a deficiency in the
amount previously provided for collecting
the customs revenues. If immediate &C.
ton is not taken every employee of the
custom house in Chicago will find his sal
airy withheld after April l until July 1,
for the treasury has no money TO pay ordi-
nary customs expenses after that time.
There is no doubt that speedy action will
be taken to re-enact all the appropriation
bills which failed to become laws. For
instance, the agricultural bill. which Pres
ident Cleveland pocketed because of its
seed appropriations, which he has always
refused to approve of, carries with it the
salary of the secretary of the department.
and. of course. llama jim" Wilson of
Iowa would hardly care to keep up his
end in Washington social life without his
expected stipend of $4,000 per annum.
President Mckinley is particularly anx-
ious that the passage of the belated ap-
preparation bills shall not interfere with
the tariff measure which he hopes TO have
enacted into law at an early date.
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