The times., 1899-02-08
At TIE Rate OF ONE
MILLION AN HOUR
The House Spends Money Rap
idly for Public Buildings.
First Legislation of the Kind Had
in Several Years.
Haste Urged in Passing the Bills. of
Which There Are scvcnty-eight
for Thirty eight States.

Every few minutes during yesterdays
session Of the House was interrupted
with cries of vote, vote" where
upon a chorus OF yeas would appropriate
a goodly sum for some favored town, and
in round numbers about s5.00O0 600 was in
this way voted from the United States
Treasury for public buildings and grounds
in less than five hours.
Since the Fifty-third Congress there has
been little or no money appropriated for
public buildings and grounds. Formerly
Il had been an easy task TO get an appro-
priation of from S50,OO0 to 100000 for
the erection of postofiices and other pub
lie buildings, but Il sudden check was put
10 this class of legislation, and yesterday
was hailed with immense glee by those
members of Congress whose constituents
have been bowling for United States funds
with which to erect beautiful structures
for the transaction of Government busl-
ness.
During the last month the Committee
On Public Buildings and Grounds has been
hard at work on its schedule, scaling down
a claim here and adding there, until the
final total aggregated SlOg23.900, TO be
distributed over thirty-eight States. 1t
was decided not 10 present an omnibus
bill carrying the entire appropriation, and
instead each of the seventy-eight towns
needing public buildings and grounds was
given the distinction of an individual bill
with special report from the committee
on their respective merits.
Pursuant TO Il special order covering two
days, the House resolved itself into 4
Committee Of the Whole. and Mr. Mercer,
Chairman of the Committee on Public
Buildings and Grounds, appeared with all
sorts of documentary vindication of the
sums il was proposed to appropriate. When
il was made known to the House that
each claim was TO be presented in sep
arate bill. MIR. Bailey enQuired how the
committe had determined upon the order
of precedence; which bills were to be con-
sidered first.
Mr.. Mercer replied that the committee
had arranged this to the best interests of
the country at large.
Mr.. Bailey was quite prepared to be-
lieve this, and also that the committee
had taken good care of itself in the mat
ter. He insisted that each State be given
a hearing before any State had been heard
twice.
The committee admitted that it had tax
en- care Of itself. Its membership includ-
ed ten Republicans and five Democrats,
and the first nine bills on the schedule
were Republican and the next six Dem
ocratic," as stated by Mr.. Mercer T,lis
statement occasioned considerable merri-
ment, which did not subside when E; was
learned that the second bill on the list
was Mr.. Mercer's own. making an appro-
priation Of si3, 600 for the erection Of a
public building At Blair Neb. Mr.. Mer-
Ger is chairman OF the committee and Blair
boasts of no less than 1000 inhabitants
Mr.. Dofkery wanted TO know what in
the world town with such a limited pop
ulatiOn would do with a building TO cost
$4,000, and Mr.. Cox also entered q pro-
test Mr.. Mercer resorted to strategy
and finally succeeded in having the Blair
bill laid over with favorable recommends
ton. with the promise that ne would pres
entity ask unanimous consent to withdraw
II and substitute another Later in tho
day. when the chairman fulfilled his prom.
ise and asked unanimous consent TO With
draw the bill a member Of the committee
objected, and thus Blair was assured Of its
$40, ,000.
Little or no attention was paid to tbi.
or anything else likely TO delay considera.
tion of the big stack Of bills. so anxiou.
were the members TO get at their pet an.
pIopriation measures. Greedy voices urged
haste and, approximately. one million dol.
lars an hour were voted from the treasury
The largest single appropriation was fo
the new Cleveland pOstoffce for which
1900, 900 was voted without protest Tbi
was Senator Hanna's bill. The only bill
that met with serious opposition was tn.
one appropriating sI.200.OO0 for a publi
building at indianapolis. and this was lai,
over for further consideration.
Great good nature prevailed in tn
House Each bill that passed meant re
newed popularity for somebody in som
district, and even those who offered oh
ment about il. and more frequently tha
not declined 10 vote against the bill the
had opposed. Not more than a dozen divi
sion votes were demanded during The en-
tire session.
When the days work had been conclud
ed the members of the Committee on Pub
lie Buildings and Grounds gathered in the
room to discuss their success. All agree
that II had been a fine days business, an
hoped for a continuance of ii. The com
mittee VIII complete its business today.
Among the bills that passed yesterda
were the following: Altoona, Pa, Sl25
600; Elizabeth City, y. G, $50 600; Oak
land, Cal. s250OOO: Elmira. y. Y, $1S5
000: Hot Springs Ark, $50, 600: Fitchbur;
Mass, s100. coo; New iberia, La, s50,00i
Bluefeld, W. Va. $50. 900 Joliet, III
100000; Brunswick, Ga, $50 OOo; Topeka
Kan, $4,000; Beaumont, Tex, SO. .00i
Dubuque Iowa, 100000: Omaha. Neh
limit of cost increased to s., 800 00i
Wilkesbarre, Pa. sl15. 600: Jackson. Miss
$4,000; EIgin, H.. $4,000 Minneapoli
MINI. s55 200; Butte City, Mon. 5000 0Ot
Creston, Iowa, $4,000; Hastings, Neh
Sl3 600: Norfolk Neb. So. 600; New Yor
City. site for new custom house, $3.50, 90
and for the building 81 OOO, ,00O, with lin
OF cost fixed at $4,000, ,Go0; Brooklyn, )
y, $4,000; Kansas City, Kan, s75 00'
Baltimore, 100000; Clinton. Iowa. si0O, 90