The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-14
TEMPORARY CENSUS BUREAU
REPREsENTATIVE HOPKINS To RE-
PORT A BILL NEXT WEEK.
Railway Presidents Trying to stop
Rate SIashing-RepOrt of Inter-
state-COmmerce Commission.
Special to the indianapolis Journal.

] cOnHned 10 one point, the acquisition OF the
Philippines. The opponents of this part of
the treaty will seek to amend it by de-
Ginning to assume any responsibility for that
rich and extensive archipelago. Failing to
carry their point number Of them will vote
to ratify. A New York paper this morning,
that is bitterly opposed to expansion, pub
lished story that thirty-eight senators had
pledged themselves to vote against ratifca-
ton. That number of negative votes would,
of course, defeat it, But there will not be
that number. The list contained the names
Of several senators that, it is known, will
vote for ratification after the attempt to
amend has failed. Among these is Senator
Hoar himself, the chief opponent of expan-
sion among the Republicans Senators Allen
and Faulkner are two more, and there are
others. A close friend of Senator Foraker
assures your correspondent that the senator
made his statement in his recent speech in
the Senate in regard to expansion and the
future of the Philippines at the express re-
quest of the President and that Senator
Hanna knew of it. The story is that the
President made his request at the dinner
he recently gave to the peace commissioners.
Representative Hopkins, of Illinois, who
has the census bill in charge, says he will
fers from the Senate bill in that it provides
for a temporary census bureau, while the
Senate measure provides for a permanent
census bureau. The House bill will not place
the clerks and employees of the census
bureau under the operation of the Civil
| service Commission. The advocates of the
| merit system will endeavOr to amend the bill
so as to make the census bureau subject
to the civil-service law, but in view of the
vote on the amendment to strike out the
appropriation for the support of the Civil
| service Commission last Monday the success
/ of this amendment is problematical The
more Jealous advocates of civil-serVice re-
| form suggest that the President will veto
any bill which leaves the census bureau open
to the methods of the spokesman, but it is
hardly believed that he would go that far
in the case of a bill which constituted only
a temporary census bureau, although he
! probably would veto bill providing for a
| permanent census bureau which left it to
| the mercy of the spokesman. There is scarce
| ly a doubt but a census bill will become
law at this session.
President Hill, of the Great Northern,
! President Thomson, of the Pennsylvania,
| President Cowel, of the Baltimore & Ohio,
| and other railroad magnates are here try
| ing to arrange some plan whereby rate cut
ting can be prevented They have conferred
with members of the nterstate-commerce
| Commission and received assurance from
| them of such assistance as they can prop
! ery render. Rate cutting has grown to
alarming proportions since the decision of
| the Supreme Court that the Transmissouri
| Freight Association was in violation of the
antitrust law, and that all similar agree
ments between the roads to fix rates were
| Illegal and consequently without binding
! force The futility of gentlemen agree
ments" between the roads has long been
| established. The impossibility of securing
! legislation to permit pooling at this session
of Congress is recognized. Therefore the
| gentlemen named are endeavoring to come
to some understanding among themselves
in regard to rates, and to do so with the
| knowledge, if not the formal approval OF
the Interstate-commerce Commission
| Whether or not they can accomplish their
| object only the future can determine. The
| matter was preciptated by the letter adj
| dressed to the lnterState-commerce Com
! mission by Receivers Cowen and Murray
| a short time ago. The gentlemen interested
| in this movement appreciate the OblOquy
| into which the word pooling" has fallen,
and one of their tasks is to lind some other
word or phrase for this thing that will be
free from objection:
Col Richard j. Bright, sergeant-at-arms
OF the Senate, will have an opponent for
that place in the person of j. S. Clarkson,
! of Iowa, long the Republican national COM
mitteeman from the Hawkeye State and
first assistant postmaster general under
President Harrison. After March next the
Senate will have a Republican majority. II
is customary to change the principal officers
|
! plexion of that body changes. When the
| Senate first became Democratic after the
war Mr.. Bright was elected sergeant-at-
| arms. When 1t became Republican he gave
way to Colonel Canady, of North Carolina,
! who was championed by John Sherman.
| When the Senate became Democratic again
| in 1893 Mr.. Bright was reelected. Now that
| it is to be Republican again he may fall a
victim once more to the fortunes of war.
Senator Fairbanks in the Senate and Rep
| resentative Faris in the House to-day in
| troduced bills to restore Horace P. McIn-
| tosh, of Greencastle, now a lieutenant on
! the retired list of the navy, to the active
list, or to grant him the full retired pay of
! his rank. Lieutenant Mcintosh entered the
| Naval Academy from Indiana in 1867, gradu-
| ated in 1871, was promoted in 1874 and in
| 1875 and became lieutenant in 1882, being
| physically examined and passed in each of
| these years. In 1878 he was dicoVered by
the meulcaI examiners TO be signify color
blind. In 1882 he passed a rigid test for
! this deficiency. In 1892 largely through a
| faulty chart, war ship he was plotting off
Yokohama, Japan, went aground He was
sent before a medical board and declared TO
be color blind, the board deciding 1t was
congenital and not incident to the service.
On this report be was retired on $500 year,
about half the retired pay of his rank. At
the outbreak of the Spanish war he was or
dered to active duty and served TO the end
in the Navy Department here, having
charge of the details of officers. Because
lie was ordered to duty he lost the employ
ment he had as professor of mathematics,
and finds his liability to be ordered TO duty
at any time an obstacle to securing new
employment
Senator Fairbanks also introduced a bill
to pension Mary Longley Hendricks of Leb-
anon, widow of John H. Hendricks, late
commissary sergeant, Company d, Fifty
fifth Indiana, at $i2 a month
Senator Fairbanks had long conference
with the President to-day about the British
American complications. which the high
joint commission is trying to settle. 1t is
impossible as yet to tell when the commits
sioners will get through The problems IN
der consideration are so vast and so COM
pick that satisfactory results can only be
attained at the cost of infinite labor and
point ana the bearing upon collateral in
terests. Weeks and even months may be
consumed before treaty can be reported.
Senator Fairbanks has accepted an invi-
tation to dinner given by the famous