, 1900-03-15
WASHINGTON NEWS.
"hht congress Is Doing.-Notes From the
white House and the Departments.

@''hNA vi Nht n
dead. He served in Congress for
twenty+six years.
Inc secretary of war has lately ruled
that no more appointments would be
made in tho regular army from civil
Ire. Hereafter all vacancies will be
filled by promotion.
"A stock company has been formed to
establish a telephone system at White
OAKS. The company further plans to
hght the town and the principal mines
with electricity.
Inc House committee on public lands
mas reported favorably the bill extend
ing the provisions of the soldiers
homestead act to soldiers of the Span.
ish war and Philippine insurrection.
The Publications of the Samoan arbi-
tration treaty were exchanged at the
state department on the 9TH by Secre-
tary Hay for the United States, Lord
pauncefote for Great Britain and DR..
Won Holleben for Germany.
The members of the committee of
ways and means still insist that the
Puerto Rican tariff bill is one of the
best pieces of legislation ever proposed
yet at he same time they deny its au-
thorshlp and claim that the president
was to blame for its passage.
Senator Davis of Minnesota has of
Tered an amendment TO the Puerto
Rican bill in the Senate. Its effect
is to have the tariff laws of the United
states applied to Puerto Rico upon
foreign imports. but allows absolute
Tree trade between the United States
n Puerto Rico.
The President has committed to i'm
prisonment for life the sentence of
death imposed by court-martial in the
case of Private George Murphy, Com
pany G, Twenty-fourth infantry, con
Yicted of the murder of another sol
der of the same company in the Phil
ippines.
The president has received a beau
tiful copy in Wedgewood ware of the
bust of Houdin's Washington, the gift
of Merton Russell Cotes. x-mayOr of
Bournemouth. England. The bust
bears this inscription: This bust of
the great Washington. founder of the
United States of America, is presented
TO the nation through President Me-
Kinley. Feb. 81, 1900, by Merton Rus
sell Cotes.'
Formal discussion of the Puerto
ltican tariff and civil government bill
began in the Senate Thursday, and con
tinued uninterruptedly for four and
a half hours. The principal speakers
Were Mr.. Foraker of Ohio, in charge of
the measure. and Mr.. Pettus, Demo
crat, of Alabama, but at various times
during the debate lively c%olloquys Oc-
Cured in which other nat We're
participants.
The remains of sixty-six soldiers who
died in Cuba were buried at Arlington
cemetery Wednesday with military
honors. The bodies of about 500 SOL
diers who died in Cuba now rest in this
historic spot. The officers at Fort
Myer had charge of the services, which
were very simple. A Protestant and a
Catholic clcrgymen e the burial ser
vice, taps We're sounded and a volley
fired oven the graves.
The Senate committee on Indian af-
fairs has adopted in part Senator
Teller's amendments to the Indian ap-
preparation bill and Incorporated in the
bill $4,000 for dormitories at the
Grand Junction Indian school; S12,O00
for boys dormitories, 5000 for indus
trial shops. $1,000 for laundry and S5,-
UOO for light plant at the Fort Lewis
school. The committee also adopted
Senator Warren's amendment appro-
- "'hA- WV Avn 'N
river bridge on the Shoshone Indian
reservation, Wyoming.
Acting Secretary Meiklejohn has
sent to the House of Representatives
a statement of expenditures by the
War Department covering the mill
tary operations in the Philippines, in
Guiding outstanding liabilities, from
May l, 1898, to November l, 1899. The
total is given at S4S,92S ,060, the prin-
cipal item being: Quartermaster's
department, SO, I15. 9O1, of which ST.
136,S6i is for army transportation;
subsistence department, ~SS,o3O,OOO;
medical department, S1,206,1 1877; pay
department., S1O,S33, 1874; ordnance de-
partment, 81, $50. 239.
1t is proposed to amend the Hay
Pauncefote treaty so that 1t shall
conform to the Monroe doctrine and
justify the United States in controlling
and defending the Nicaragua canal by
any methods it may deem necessary
and making this government solely
responsible for its naturalization. This
will be acceptable to the president and
Secretary Hay. The right to fortify
will be included. although 1t is the
unanimous opinion among military eN-
perts that battleships are much better
than forts for the protection of the
canal.
Secretary of State Hay has declared
that there was absolutely no founda-
ton for the report that either Mica
ragua or Costa Rica had made any
protest against the proposed neutarli-
cation of the projected Nicaraguan
canal, nor had there been the slightest
evidence of dissatisfaction on their
part with that section of the Hay
Pauncefote treaty which deals with
the subject of fortitications, official
and otherwise, which had reached the
State Department from the parties in
terested. testified to their unqualified
approval of every line of the conven-
ton.
As the authorship OF the Puerto
Rican tariff bill has been ascribed 20
Secretary Root by "A member Of the
ways and means committee, 1t may be
proper to state that the secretary him
self drew up the bill, but only as an
alternative measure, upon representa-
tons by some of the Republican mem
bers OF the committee to the effect
that il was the only possible legisla-