The Saint Paul globe., 1899-02-14
FARCE In THE HOUSE
WITNESSED WHEN THE PUBLIC
BUILDING BILLS WE'RE UP
FOR ACTION
TREATED AS A, HUGE JOKE
the Heartier the Laughter With
Which 1t Was Greeted-The War
Board Report Falls FIat-Indian
Appropriation Bill--McCleury's
Measure to Reimburse Soldiers.

H.
The house took a little recreation dur
ing the past week, and indulged its
fancy for local appropriations. The
scene, while the committee of the
| whole house on the state of the Union
was considering amendments to the
public building bills, would hardly
commend itself to the thoughtful. Ap-
| parently, the more unjustifiabIe the
appropriation, the higher the Joke.
Roars of laughter would interrupt a
member as he laboriously explained
that the crossroads settlement, for
which he asked $4,000, had a popula-
tion of several thousands, eff you took
in the surrounding country Then
muffled shouts of vote" "vote" would
arise from all parts of the house-like
naughty school boys trying to disguise
their disorder-the semblance Of a vote
would be taken, the chairman would
announce that the amendment was
adopted. and the next case of false
pretenses would be up for considera-
| ton.
This well-timed joviality, which for
two sessions had been so repressed
under the stern eye of Mr.. Dingley,
continued until some eighty separate
| bills, representing about $40 600 900. had
been favorably passed upon. Then the
committee arose and made it's recon-
| mendations to the house, thinking that
sufficient time remained of that allot-
! ted under the rule, to pass the items
under the previous question. But,
| alas, the disappointed had to be reck-
oned with. In the greedy haste some
| seventeen separate bills had been ig-
nored. The authors Of these, joining
with the friends of economy, under
the lead Of Mr.. Dockery, fllibustered
the precious minutes; and, when the
time set apart for the committee had
expired, but one appropriation, $75,-
900 public building at Newport News,
Va, had passed. 1t is not probable
that any part of the few remaining
days will be given over to the commit
tee on public buildings All of which
reminds one of the dog in the old fable
that lost his bone by growing at his
reflection in the brook.
GEN. EAGAN's CASE.
AS was predicted in these dispatches,
the president waited until the public
attention seemed. concentrated else
where, and then commuted Gen. Ea-
| gan's sentence. However, the expec-
tation was not well-founded In this
case; for not even the exciting news
from the Philippines has been strong
| enough to check popular disapprovaI
of such partiality. Eagan, in his we'll
paid leisure, can now conjure up new
combinations of grotesque revilements
against his superior officer He loses
no chance of promotion, for he already
holds the highest rank in the commits
sary service.
All, but his friends plaintively sug-
| gest, he loses his allowances for a
| horse. This should be looked to; a
cavalcade should be provided by spe-
| cial act in order that he may be ex-
peditious in his idleness.
| Meanwhile ono of tho l11ap1r hao11tiac
of the present staff organization Of the
army becomes patent. Eagan's posi-
| ton as commissary general cannot be
filled. The head of a bureau in the
war department holds his place until
| he is retired by law Herein lies the
only possible mitigation for Alger's
maladministration. Is it any wonder
that the bureaucrats, with such ten
ure, are as imperious to experience
as the Bourbons?
WAR BOARD REPORT.
The war commission has given out
the findings with which 1t saw fit to
supplemnt its foregone conclusions.
| Every one knew who would be praised
and who would be censured; and no.
body cared. The report fell as unno-
| t1ced as dead leaf, and the commits
| sioners will collect their wages and
| depart, unwept, unhonored and un-
| sung.
| INDIAN APPROPRIATION.
| The senate has had the Indian ap-
preparation bill under consideration.
Mr.. Davis advocated the appropriation
| Of the following sums for the erection
| of school buildings upon the Indian
| reservations in Minnesota: At Cass
| Lake, $4,000; at the Narrows, Red
! n of na1r DAi,
| 900; at Twin Lakes, $4,000. He crit
icised the building of large school
houses for q, widely scattered people,
asserting that not one-tenth of the in
| strumentalities of education to which
the children were entitled ever reach
| ed them. In that connection he filed
a letter from ]. A. Gilf1lian which,
among other potent arguments, stated
that there were $3.50 Indian children
on the White Earth agency, for only
466 of whom was there school accom-
| modation. Thus, -four out Of every
five of those unfortunate children have
to stay out Of school. starve, freeze
and suffer every misery and grow up
vagabonds, because no schools are pro-
vided for them on their reservations"
1t is probable that four new schools
will be established on the Leech lake
reservation at the cost of 600. Mr..
Davis also urged that annuities be re-
bands of Sioux Indians. asserting that
| to his own knowledge they had been
| treated with great injustice and cruel
! ty by the general government; but the
amendment was declared out of order
| as new legislation.
! The delegation of Sioux Indians is
still in the city, looking after certain
| payments which have not been made
to them and sundry treaty obligations
which have not been kept. 1t is sug
| gested that these chiefs might be sent
to the Philippines to explain the mani
| fold blessings of Anglo-Saxon rule to
| Agunaldo and his deIuded horde. With
other good tidings of great JOY they
might bear the following: That a
| favorable report has been made on the
house bill authorizing the expectation
| OF spirits in tin cans with wooden COW
ers, a measure asked for by those en-
gagged in shipping liquor to the Orient,
| and that there is a fair prospect that
| the same will be passed.
PENSIONS. RESTORED.
| Among the bills recently passed by
| the senate was one restoring pensions
to soldiers who had forfeited them by
| enlistment in the Spanish war In the