The Meeker herald., 1900-03-17
WASHINGTON NEWS.
What Con xress 10 DoinE.-Notos From the
white House and tho Depa rtmonts.

vania, the father OF the House, Is
dead. He served in Congress for
twenty-six years.
The secretary Of war has lately ruled
that no more appointments would be
made in the regular army from civil
life. Hereafter all vacancies will be
filled by promotion.
A stock company has been formed to
establish telephone system Mt White
Oaks. The company further plans to
light the town and the principal mines
with electricity.
The House committee on public lands
has reported favorably the bill extend
ing the provisions Of the soldiers
homestead act to soldiers Of the Span.
ish war and Philippine insurrection.
The notifications of the Samoan arbi-
tration treaty were exchanged at the
State Department OH 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
Puerto Rican tariff bill is one Of the
best pieces of legislation ever proposed
yet at the same time they deny its au-
thorship and claim that the president
was to blame for its passage.
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 @, Twenty fourth infantry, con-
victed Of the murder of another sol
der of the same company In the Phil
ippines.
ut is singular fact" said member
Of the senate recently, that of all the
hundreds
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 know The friends of Great
Britain are not appealing for sym
pathy."
The president has received a beau
tiful copy in Wedgewood ware of the
bust of Houdin's Washington, the gift
of Merton Russell COtes, cX-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 Nc
kinley. Feb. % 1909, 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 senators were
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 .
Catholic clergymen read the burial ser
| vice, taps were sounded and q voliey
fred over the graves.
The Senate committee on Indian At
fairs has adopted in part Senator
| Teller's amendments to the Indian ap-
preparation bill and Incorporated in the
bill $4,000 for dOrInitOries at the
Grand Junction Indian school; $l2,OOO
| for boys dormitories, $1,000 for indus
trial shops, 5000 for laundry and 3d.
600 for light plant at the Fort Lewis
| school The committee also adopted
| Senator Wnrren's amendment appro-
| priating $3.50 for repairing the Wind
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, 1893, to November !, 1888. The
T. I ,N,tt,
cipal items being: Qunrtermasters
department. $o5,Il5.9O1, of which ST.
136,S84 is for army transportation:
subsistence department., $S,9JOOOo;
medical department, $1,2O6,137 pay
department, $1O,S33 1874; ordnance de-
partment, $1,S60,239.
It 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 for,ify
will be included, although it 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 foundn-
tion for the report that either Nica
ragua or Costa Rica had made any
protest against the proposed ncutarli-
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 Notifications. 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.