The Elbert County tribune., 1900-01-25
WASHINGTON NEWS.
~ Congress Is Doing Notes From the
white House aud the Departments.

which are based chiefly upon the
ground that he has been and still Is In
ferested In legislation now pending in
the Senate.
Representative Shnfroth said to-day
that there apeparcd some misunder-
standing as TO the provisions OF the
arid land bill which he has introduced.
OF the passage OF which he Is so conf
dent. II does not provide for the ces.
sion Of all the arid lands but loan OF
1.OO0,OO0 acres to ench staie.
The secretary OF war has returned to
the military committee OF the House.
with a favorable Endorsement. bill
recently Introduced by Mr.. Moody OF
Massachusetts, providing that the ofii-
GERS OF the army who have served In
two wars with credit may be retired
with the rank next higher than that
which they now hold.
The House OH Thursday passed the
Senate bill TO extend the powers OF the
director OF the census, after striking
out the committee amendment to
authorize the director to contract for
extra printing with private contractors.
The whole fight was upon that amend
ment. The Influence of the public
printer and the labor organizations OF
the country were employed against 1t,
and after lively debate OF several
hours 1t was overwhelmingly defeated.
The publication OF the reports OF the
twelfth census, therefore, will be made
by the public printer as In the past.
The special committee OF the House Of
Representatives TO Investigate the case
of Brigham ii. Roberts of Utah to-day
reached a final conclusion. On the po-
lygnmous status of Mr.. Roberts, the
committee was unanimous, and agreed
upon formal statement OF the facts.
On the question Of procedure to he
adopted the committee was divided.
The majority. consisting of all the
members except Littlefield of Maine
and DcArmond Of Missouri, favored
exclusion at the outset. Messrs- Lit
tlefield and DeArmond VIII make a
minority report favorable to the seat
Ing of Mr.. Roberts on his prima facie
rights and then expelling him.
1t has been decided by The PostofIicc
Department to permit the star route
system In a measure to supplement the
system of rural free delivery. Second
Assistant Postmaster General Shnllen-
berger has found that IL is feasible 10
permit carriers on star routes TO de-
post mall In proper receptacles placed
along their line of travel. This plan
viii be started in South Carolina be-
ginning July LIST, and will be extended
to other parts of the country MS rapidly
ns possible. This innovation makes
necessary change In the postal regu-
lation which forbids mnil contractors
and their drivers access to the mail
matter or to any mail locks or keys.
Attorney w. B. Harrison, who is
here representing the Denver Chamber
OF Commerce, was heard before the In
terstnte Commerce Commission Fri
day. He appeared in the case OF Kin
del against the railroads for violation
of the long and short haul -clause IN
Denver freight charges. Mr.. Harrison
made an excellent presentation of the
arguments for the recognition OF Den
vcr's claim to fair treatment in trans
portation. He was attentively listened
to by the commissioners. Mr. Harrl-
son says that he is confident that the
commissioners will give Denver the re-
lief sought.
There Is no disposition on the part of
the Navy Department TO make any
change In the program for new naval
construction on account of the intro
duction of the German bill looking TO
the addition OF forty-eight armored
ships to the German navy. Attention
Is called to the fact that there are now
| already authorized twenty-one shlps
for the navy In addition to the fleet
afi0nt. This number is ms large as 1t
Is believed Congress will authorize at
this time. and rs the German increase
Is to be divided among eighteen years,
while ours is continuous to each Con-
gress, 1t Is felt TINT the United Suites
navy Is In no danger of losing the posi-
tion II now commands.
The ways and means subcommittee
tn IN fnnttltt1. 70 Ian la-
gal meaning of the United States" as
applicable to newly acquired islands or
dependencies in session are discuss
ing the general subject. The members
feel that the question is n pivotal one, on
which will depend the adoption of tar
| III systems for the islands. The only
decision directly bearing ON the point
is by Chief Justice Marshall, holding
that the term United States means
the entire territory over which this
government exercises control. The
| members of the committee. including
Mr. Newlnnds who started the inquiry,
are inclined to view the foregoing opn-
ion as a dIctum incidental to the case
and not establishing fixed principle
of law.
The treasury officials say that favor
| itlsm has not been shown in making de-
| posits of public money with national
banks for such deposits have never
been refused when bonds accompanied
| II as security. They further say that
no complaint or criticism of the pres
| ent system of dcposlting public funds
has ever been received from n bank
or n banker or any other financial or
commercial association of any sort, be-
cause they are familiar with the meth
ods of the Treasury Department and
| Al.
and criticisms have appeared in the
newspapers or have been made by pol
iticians for political effect. There are
now $50 banks designated as deposit
| tories of public moneys, and on Satur-
day last the amount intrusted to them
was $96.i11.00O. OF these nineteen are
| In Illinois, thirteen in Indiana, eight In
| Michigan, eight in Wisconsin. twelve
In Iowa, seven in Kansas, six In Ne
braska and twenty-three in Ohio
The Grand Opera House, the largest
auditorium in Washington, was packed
to the doors Sunday night with an en-
thusiastic audience that expressed Its
sympathy with the Beers in their fight
with Great Britain. The speakers in
cluded members of both branches OF
Congress. and on the stage were other
| public men who came merely to add
their moral support. The keynote OF
the speeches was that the Beers were
fighting for their independence as our
forefnthers had done in 1776 The
gathering assembled under the auspices
| of the United Irish societies, and a
number OF leading Germans of the city
| Joined in the movement The decora-
] tions were American flags, with a fair
| sprinkling OF the green of Erin. Among
those who occupied seats on the stage
were Senators Mason of Illinois, Allen