Evening star., 1900-04-25
ON THE POST OFFICE BILL.
Gen. Bingham Urges Careful Con.id-
Grafton Of Proposed decentralization.

Gen. Bingham Urges Careful Con.id-
Grafton Of Proposed RecIas>Iaration.
In the House yesterday afternoon the
postal appropriation bill was read for
amendment under the five-minute rule. An
amendment was adopted authorizing tho
employment of temporary clerks at first
class offices at - cents an hour.
Mr.. briggs of New York submitted re-
marks in favor OF increasing the pay OF
letter carriers
Mr.. Cummings Of New York said that the
bill to increase the pay of letter carriers
would pass the House IL II could reach a
vote and for that reason the committee on
rules had always hung II up where the
House could not reach ii.
Mr.. Corliss of Michigan offered as Al
amendment the bill 10 grade substitute
letter carriers. and against 1t Mr.. Loud
raised a point of order
Mr.. Fitzgerald of Massachusetts, declared
mat II the members OF the House who pre-
tended to be friends of the letter CARRIERS
were not hypocrites they would overrule
the chair and adopt the amendment.
Mr.. Bromwell of Ohio denied that the post
office committee had any intention of smoth-
ering the classification bills. On the con-
trary, he said the committee proposed to
consider them
Mr.. Mann of Illinois thought the CorIiss
amendment should pass.
Mr.. Cummings denied that this was a
hypocritical House. He said the House had
at any time for the past eight years, but
had been prevented by the committee on
rules.
Mr.. Talbert of South Carolina protested
on behalf of the taxpayers against the at
tempt on every occasion to increase some
off1ce-holder's salary. The people OF the
United States. he said. were divided into
two classes, the ''skinners'' and the Skin
ned As one Of the skinned he protest.
ed. The people who paid the taxes were en-
titled to some consideration.
Mr.. Bingham of Pennsylva MIA pointed out
that reclassification bills for post office cru
ployes carried total of Si2.oo.opo, fnciud-
ing S2i6,6o for substitute letter carriers,
S,31o.OOo for letter carriers. S5.J0op0 for
| fcurth-class postmasters and s1.4o00oO for
railway mail clerks. He thought Congress
should consider the subject carefully before
| entering upon either one of these schemes
of recIassfcatiou.
The Corliss amendment was ruled out OF
| order
| An amendment was adopted providing for
extra compensation for letter carriers when
\ they work IN excess of forty-eight hours a
| week, work on legal holidays to be counted
as eight hours.
| When the item for rural free delivery
G1. .75O,0 900, an increase of $. 10000 over the
current law,) was reached Mr.. Maddox Of
| Georgia and Mr.. Clark of Missouri COM
| planned that in the experiments in free de-
| livery certain states had been Disseminated
| against.
! Mr.. Sperry Of Connecticut advocated :he
extension of the rural free delivery system.
Mr. McRae of Arkansas mover to strike
| out the word experimental before The
words rural free delivery" He said that
as soon as the service ceased to be ex-
| perimental political appointments would
cease.
Mr. Loud said if the word was stricken
out the employees would come within the
| classified service.
| The amendment was voted down.
Without completing the bill the House. at
| 505 pm, adjourned.