The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-04-06
DEWEYS SURRENDER.
Continued from First Page.

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of a House bill with Senate amend
ments. True the amendments are so
sweeping in character and extent as
to leave the bill with small semblance
of its original self
The programme of the Ways and
! Means Committee. as stated by one
of its members, is to hold the bill in
committee for few days. perhaps
the rest of this week, and then to re-
port it back and ask the House to
concur in all the Senate amendments.
If this should be done that would be
the end of the matter so far as Con-
gress is concerned. Another part of
the programme is to have the Com
mittee on Rules bring in a special or
der allowing two or three days debate
on the bill and then to come to di-
rect vote on the proposition to concur
in the Senate amendments. The de-
bate and the vote will come next week
for the remainder of the time this
week is taken up by the Hawaii bill.
to be voted on today and other special
orders.
The Committee on Insular Affairs
is to be ignored altogether in the
committee consideration of the civil
government features of the bill,
although these fall directly under
it's jurisdiction, and would go
to it but for the peculiar parlia-
mentary status they occupy. The
Insular Affairs Committee have
given much attention to the question
of a civil government for Porto Rico,
having heard citizens of the island
and others conversant with it's affairs
i'll regard to that problem. A careful
ly drawn bill was introduced and re-
ferred to that committee which was
industriously engaged in perfecting
it when the action of the Senate re-
moved the matter from its considera-
ton and by lacking it ON the tariff
bill transferred jurisdiction to the
Ways and Means Committee. Whether
all the Republican members of that
committee will accept their snubbing
in meek spirit remains to be seen.
Two of them, PAYNE, of New York,
and Tawney, of Minnesota, are mem
bers also of the Ways and Means
Committee and of course will register
no objection to the course affairs and
the bill have taken.
A grave objection has been found
to those provisions of the civil gov
ernment end of the bill as it comes
from the Senate which provide for an
Executive Council as one branch of
the Porto Rican Legislature and
makes it consist of eleven members
all appointed by the President and
only five of whom are required to be
Porto Ricans. The remaining six. a
majority, be it noted, may be citizens
of the United States. Again the exec
utive officers of the island, except the
Governor, constitute six of the Exec
utive Council. All of them may be
Americans and not Porto Ricans.
Finally all franchises for railroads,
telegraphs and telephones are to be
granted by the Executive Council,
composed as described, subject to the
approval of the President, which
means of the Secretary of War. pre-
sumably. unless the control of insular
affairs should be taken out of his
hands and turned over to some other
cabinet officer. 1t is remarked that
this control over franchises puts
vast power for good or evil in the
hands of the Executive Council and
the Secretary of War and would afford
a fine opportunity for an incumbent
of that Office who was disposed to
profit by it, and it is recalled with
shiver of apprehension that there have
been Secretaries of War who have not
been averse to so profiting.
f. W. BRADY.