Gilpin observer., 1899-01-19
CONGRESSIONAL NOTES
AND WASHINGTON GOSSIP.

the president of the commission and
General Claus will act as judge advO-
cate.
A state funeral, almost majestic in
its impressiveness, was given the late
Representative Nelson Dingley at noon
on the 10th in the House of Represen-
tatives, where he has so long been
such a commanding figure. The Presi-
dent, his cabinet, distinguished men,
berS of the diplomatic corps, members
Of the Supreme Court, Senate and
House, and distinguished men in mill
tary and civil life We're ranged about
his bier on the floor of the hall. while
the galleries, to which admission could
be obtained only by card, were occu-
pied by the families of those who sat
upon the floor and prominent persons
invited to be present.
The Court of Claims has Just render
ed n decision which probably means
the payment by the government of sew
eral millions of dollars to the Choctaw
and Chickasaw Indians. Involved in
the case is the question of title to over
100000 acres of land in the Indian
Territory. The decision is to the eff
feet that the lands in the Wichita res
ervation are held in trust by the gov
ernment for the benefit of the Choc-
taws and the Chickasaws. This sus-
tains the claim of the Indians. But
while the decision applied only formal
ly to Wichita reservation it stands as
the precedent for much larger bodies
of land.
The senate committee on foreign re-
lations on Wednesday authorized Sen
ator Davis to report the peace treaty
favorably without amendment The
committee was in session for only an
hour, and the greater part of this
time was consumed in waiting for a
quorum, the senators meantime dis
cussing informally the provisions of
the treaty. There was no suggestion
of any amendment in committee. Sen.
ator Davis was instructed to press the
treaty upon the attention of the Sen
ate with view to securing as early
action as possible. The committee al
so authorized Senator Davis to report
favorably upon the proposition to re-
move the injunction of secrecy.
The President has sent these nom
nations to the Senate: State, Joseph
II. Choate of New York to be ambas-
sador extraordinary and plenipoteD-
tiary to Great Britain. Treasury.
Charles II. Brickenstein of Colorado,
to be surveyor of customs at Denver,
Colorado. Postmaster, Colorado, Jo-
seph X. Miller, Trinidad. Joseph
Hodges Choate was born in 1882 in
Massachusetts, and is the son of DR..
George Choate. He was graduated in
1854 from Harvard law school and
was admitted in 1855 to the bar. He
formed Il partnership with William II.
Barnes, but in 1859 became member
of the firm of Evarts, Southmaid &
Choate. For the last ten years Mr..
Choate has been generally acknowl-
edged to be the leading lawyer of the
New York bar.
The outlook for the Nicaragua canal
is not favorable The days are pass
ing very rapidly. Tuesday afternoon,
January 18th, has been set for vote
in the senate, and Mr.. Morgan is press
ing his bill with great vigor. He does
not object to amendments. He has re-
peatedly expressed his willingness to
accept any modification that may be
desired, provided final action can be
taken; but that is exactly what the OPP
ponentS of the bill are trying to pre-
vent, and they are dillydallying along,
seiZing every possible excuse for de-
lay, with the hope of postponing ac-
tion, which is the only way they can
defeat the measure. 1t is declared that
If a vote could be taken in either house
almost any bill that provides for the
construction of canal would pass.
but the difficulty is to secure action,
and with no means of stopping debate
on the Senate side and the opposition
of the speaker on the House side the
prospect of legislation seems hopeless.
The war investigation commission on
Friday took prompt action on the SEN
sational testimony submitted to it yes
terday by Commissary General Eagan
and sent the statement Incorporating
his testimony back to him, with the
privilege of resubmitting 1t If he
chooses to revise its language. Further
than this, the commission determined
it could not and should not proceed.
The commission regrets that General
Eagan proceeded as far is he did, and
1t is explained to-day that the vitu-
perative nature of the testimony was
n complete surprise to the commission.
and that but for the rapidity with
which General Eagan read his long
statement and the absorbing vehe-
mence of its delivery he would have
been checked at the time. One mem
ber of the commission said to-day he
was about to move that the witness
be called to order, but decided not to,
believing from the heated way in
which Eagan spoke that such peremp-
tory action might preclpitate some con
troversy.
During the calendar year 1898 the
United States exported S62l ,26O,53
more of merchandise of all sorts than 1t
imported, or n gain in excess of eN-
ports over 1897 of 2Gi,1lG,710. These
enormous figures represent the balance
in our favor shown by the official fig
ures issued by the Bureau of Statistics
for the year 1898. The bureaus state
ment shows that our exports for 1898
were 81, ,254 ,925.1G0. and our imports
30 a...