Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-02-15
PENSION ACTION.
The House Passes Many
Special Pension Bills.
Only Those Of Merit Acted Upon--Pear|
Harbor Legislation Postponed.
Has Injustice Been Done the Sioux lndians7
Secretary Hays Shrewd Messenge'.


Washington. Feb. 14.-(SpeciaD.-
George w Raw Of New York. chairman Of
tho committee on invalid pensions. saws
that the special pension legislation for this
session has becn yery well cleared I'M. and
that yery little will remain 10 he done
when CONGRESS- a,Iiourns He sneaks Of
legislation that the nension COMMITTEES in
dorses and not Of tho MANY bills that, are
introduced at e,cb session Of congress In
the house there. have heen nresentefi sorne-
thing lilo a oOo or : nOO nr;vate nons;or
hills which baya 70 ,oce;va cons;deraA;on
from M Poi, co,nmit+ao Tha Iarga
mainr;tv of +haso hills .,a ;rtro11,,ccrl nj
each session as the members Of the house
take the bills which fail to pass In one
congress and reintroduce them at the be-
ginning of the next. Many of these bills
provide pensions for people who have long
since died. and there is not the least prob
ability of many of them ever passing.
Senator Gallinger, chairman of the COM
mittee on pensions in the senate. has sew
eral times asked senator's not to introduce
bills unless there is really some merit in
them, as it makes the work Of the pension
w..
mittee has made no such appeal to the
members, but simply takes up what are
known to be meritorious bills and puts
them through. Mr.. Ray has been quite
successful in the house, as there has scarce-
ly been any objection to the bills which
his committee has reported, and at the
Friday night sessions, when a single Oh
lection would stop any bill. it has been OH
served that objections are rarely made.
Pearl Harbor.
probab,v notb;ng wi,, be don. .t mi.
soss;o,, ~ conoross oho,,t paor, harh,- -,
,he Ha,ya;;.n 1s,.nds witch ,ras co,,o', - -
Tho Irr;tod ctatos so,,,o ,,ao,s .e,o ~. =
,,ar., .,at;on A. soo,, - Uo,ro;; ,.,os
annoxo,, ,,st s,,,,,,,,o,. ,,.~-aI rf,;oo-. 80.
.,,.ho,,;,od 20 ,,,.I.. soIon.;o,, - .o,,..;,,
we'll located svharfs and land in Honol,,l,,
-. g.. ~. - - ~ rI,
tion has been confirmed. and possiblv ont
of this will grow a naval station in the
Hawaiian Islands if it appears desirable.
MANY men who have q knowledge of con-
ditions at Pearl harbor insist that il is a
yery excellent place for n station. but I'M
less it is near enough TO Honolulu to be
quickly reached it will not likely be made
a permanent station for the reason that
experience has demonstrated that naval
stations should be near large cities. where
skilled and other labor can he obtained on
short notice 1t has been found that the
location of several drydocks far distant
from large cities has resulted in great
Inconvenience as laboring men have to be
TRANSPORTED to and from such places when
ever ships are repaired. 1t is also known
that considerable expense would be neces-
sary before Pearl harbor could be made
available. and as all our naval vessels will
now go direct to Honolulu and have alb
solute rights there the demand for the
Pearl harbor station is not what it was
before annexation.
Echo OF the Sioux War.
some ipterest;,r history was ding mn
and nrasented 70 the senate fhe other ,,av
whom The indian annromiation hill, was
under consideration II related to the
great Sioux war of 1869, when the savage
Sioux, under the leadership Of Little
Grow, swept over at least half of the