La Junta tribune., 1898-01-29
WASHINGTON oossrs..
lssns of Ins>rsss Absss People ~ u
CnuftnL

4 G0Q410L
1 Chicago, Jan. IA special to the
Record from Washington. snys:
At fhe Presidents reception Thurs
day night i've members OF the dipio-
matte corps made their bow 10 official
society--Mr. WI. the Chinese minister.
who came In May; Mr. Egulguren. the
Peruvian. and Mr.. I'ax, the Bolivian
ministers, who came In July; Mr.. Won
Holleyben. the German ambassador.
who came In November, and Mr. Cam
bon. the ambassador from France.
who came n few days ago.
Representative Howard Of Alabama.
n Popuiisf, is afYording the courts nm
opportunity OF determining whether a
\ member Of Congress can he compelled
| TO pay his debts by judicial process.
Under section q of the constitution Of
the United States senators and repre-
senta;ives are privileged from arrest"
for all crimes and ofYenses except
treason. felony and breach Of The
| peace. during their attendance nt the
session OF their respective houses and
| going TO and returning from the same"
But there IN no provision relieving
| them from the responsibility Of refund
Ing borrowed money. paying their
boarding house bills or protecting
them agains, judgments and processes
| OF the civil courts. In the ease of MIR.
Howard Judgment was obtained In
Alabama. an attachment was issued
and certain property was seized. His
attorneys moved to Vuash the attach
ment on the grounds that he is exempt
from suit as a member OF Congress act
! unliy attending session when the
summons was served upon him. The
matter has been carried TO the Court
OF Appeals.
An urgent appeal has been made TO
Congress to pass a hill introduced by
Representative Hubbard Of Missouri.
providing the death penalty or impris-
onment in the peniientiary at hard Ia
bor for n term OF not less than ten
years for wrecking and robbing or Mt
tempting To wreck and rob railway
trains. II has been shown .ha, during
the last eight years there have been 20S
train robberies In the United States, In
which seventy eight perxons were
Killed and slxiy-seven injured In 1890
there were iweive hold-ups, in 1891, six
feen: in 1892. sixteen: In 1898. thirty
three: In 1904, thirty four; In 1895.
forty-nine; In 1896. twenty-eight: In
lSsD1, thirty. During the last year there
was only one hold-up in the republic
of Mexico and that was unsuccessful.
which Is accounted for by the deter
mined policy Of President Diaz. who
sent message 10 Congress saying that
pfrates on land should receive the
same punishment as pirates nj sea. and
announcing that he had given instruc-
lions TO have all tr'lin-wreckers shot on
Sigh, without taking the trouble to
bring them Into court. That summary
action put an end to tr:iin-robbing In
Mexico.
Speaker Reed has not been Mt the
White House since Congress met In
December. He has been there only
once since Mckinley was inaugurated
and that was Inst spring 10 Talk over
the policy TO be pursued during the
special session. Publicly he has Of
fered no criticism upon the conduct or
policy OF the administration. but Occa-
sionally he shoots an arrow tipped
with satire In the direction OF the ex-
ecutive mansion.
Members Of the House Of Represeu-
fatives are receiving many protests
ngains, the enactment Of the law which
passed the Senate the other day impos-
Ing an educational test upon immI-
grants. but almost without exception
they come from foreign-born citizens
who are recent Immigrants themselves.
and the greater number are from the
natives OF countries where the average
OF iliiteracy ls the highest. The agents
OF the steamship companies declare
that they are not opposing the bill.
81. Louis miller has offered the Sec
retary OF state carload Of dour for
the starving Cubans; 1t has been crate
fully accepted and will be shipped by
the first steamer after II reaches New
York. Other contributions Of the same
kind will be appreciated
There will be no surprise In WASH
ington II the next serious incident OF
HIrsn v.asr
Advices which come through DIPLOMAT
ic channels represen; the situation there
to be very grave. The Spanish govern
ment has been Obliged TO resort to the
same precautions that Blanco has en-
ployed In Havana last week to restrain
manifestations OF popular dissatisfac-
ton. The time IL recognized as pecu-
iinriy fit for revolt against the estab-
lished order. The only question seems
to be whether Don Carlos Is fully pre-
pared to take advantage OF the condi-
tons. A revolution In Spain would
mean mn uprising In Cuba against
Blanco The presence OF American
warships In the harbor Of Havana In
the interest Of law and order, by some
not altogether unexpected turn. may
become welcome to those who would
nj this immediate time resent their
coming.
The people Of the United States do
not drink 70 much whisky az they did
years ago. The annual average con-
sumption per capita In 1850 was $50
gallons and Notwithstanding the enor-
nous increase In the use OF whisky In
manufactures the average has been re-
duced TO % Of gallon. During the
four years after the war. from 1864 to
1868, when the whisky tax was e a
gallon. the consumption dropped to less
than one-third Of n gallon per capita,
but with the exception OF those years
the use OF the beverage. until the aver
age last year reached low-water mark.
This decrease II attributed to nm i'm
proyemen: In the hnbits Of the people