The silver star., 1900-03-16
WASHINGTON NEWS.
WAat Congress b Doine.-Notss r.c,. a..
"n'ss House and the Departmsnes.


Representative Harmer Of pcnnsv,.
vania, the father of the House. :" is
dead. He served in Congress for
twenty-six years.
Inc secretary of war has lately ruled
that no more appointments would he
made IN the regular army from civil
NE. Hereafter all vacancies will he
hlled by promotion.
STOCK company has been formed to
estaDiish telephone system Mt White
U1s. Uahs. Inc company further plans to
ngnt the town and the principal mines
with electricity.
~, me House committee on public lands
mas reported favornbly the bill extend
ing the provisions OF the soldiers
homestead act to soldiers of the Span.
Ism war and Philippine insurrection.
The ratificatiOns OF the Samoan arbi-
tration treaty were exchanged at the
STATE department on the 7th 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
Fuerto Rican tariff bill is one of the
best pieces Of Legislation ever proposed
YET at the same time they deny its nu-
thorship and claim that the president
was to blame for its passage.
The President has commuted to i'm
prisonment for life the sentence of
death Imposed by court-martial In the
case OF Private George Murphy, Com
pany y, Twenty-fOurth infantry, con-
vlcted OF the murder of another SOL
dier OF the same company In the Phil
ippines.
1T is singular fact" said member
OF the senate recently, that of all the
hundreds of letters am receiving
about the South African war not one
has ever expressed the slightest SYM
pathy with England. Everybody fa-
vors the Beers. My experience Is
chared by every member of congress
so far as l know. The friends of Great
Britain are not appealing for SYM
pathy."
The president has received n beau
tiful copy in Wedgewood ware of the
bust of HOudin's Washington, the gift
of Merton Russell COtes, ex-mayor of
BournemOuth. England. The bust
bears this inscriptions: "This bust of
the great Washington. founder Of the
United States of America, is presented
to the nation through President Nc
Kinley, Feb. %. 1900, by Merton Rus
sell Cotes."
Formal discussion of the Puerto
Rican tariff and civil government bill
began In the Senate Thursday, and con-
tinued uninterruptedly for four and
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 collOquys oc-
Cured In which other senator's were
participants.
The remains of sixty-slx soldiers who
died in Cuba We're 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 q
Catholic clergymen read the burial ser
vice, taps We're sounded and O v0lley
fired over the graves.
The Senate committee on Indian AZ
fairs has adopted In part Senator
Teller's amendments to the Indian ap-
preparation bill and Incorporated in the
bill $2O,OOO for dormitories at the
Grand Junction Indian school; $4,000
for boys dormitories. 5000 for indus
trial shops, $1,000 for laundry and $5.-
600 for light plant nt the Fort Lewis
school. The committee nlsO adopted
Senator Warren's amendment appro-
priating $3.50 for repairing the Wind
river bridge on the ShOshOne Indian
reservation. Wyoming.
Acting Secretary Melklejohn 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 1, 1903, to November /, 1890. The
total is given mt $4S,02S.O6O. the prin-
cipal items being: Quartermaster's 5
department, So, 7l5,0O1, Of which $l1.-
186,S6A IL for army transportation;
subsistence department. xSOoO.OOO;
medical department, $1.2O6. 1877; pay
department, $1O.S;,3, 1874; ordnance de-
partment, $1.sGO, $50
It is proposed to amend the Hay
PauncefOte treaty so thnt II shall
conform to the Monroe doctrine and
Justify the United States In controlling
and defending the Nicaragua canal by
any methods 1t may deem necessary
and making this government solely
IebpOublOle lOT Itb ''s'
will be acceptable to the president and
Secretary Hay. The right to foriIfy
will be included, although II IL the
unanimous opinion among military cx-
perts that battleshlps are much better
than forts for the protection OF the
canal.
Secretary OF State Hay Inns declared
that there was absolutely no founda-
tion for the report that either Nica-
ragua or Costa Rica had made any
protest against the proposed nciitarii-
xation OF the projected Nicarngunn
canal, nor had there been the slightest
evidence Of dissatisfaction Oh their
part with that section OF the Hay
Pauncefote treaty which deals with
the subject of fortincntIons. 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-
tion.
Az the authorship Of the Puerto
Rican tariff bill has been ascrlbed TO
Secretary Root by member Of the
ways and means committee, II may "