The Meeker herald., 1900-04-07


tary committee of the House, has pre-
pared bill to create out of the militia
of the several states q reserve volun-
teer army for use In time of war to sup
plement the regular service. The bill
cOntemplateS general broadening OF
the basis Of the national guard, its
equipment with the service rifle and its
complete organization In time of war
into regiments. brigades, divisions and
corps, with the three battalion forma-
tons as In the regular service, and Is
designed to obviate the necessity of a
large standing army upon the expira-
ton Of the present law, July l, 1901,
increasing the standing army to 65,O0O
and authorizing the present volunteer
army of $4,000. The bill makes all
citizens between the ages of eighteen
and forty-five liable to military service
In the volunteer army. 1t approprlates
81, 900, 600 annually for the maintenance
and equipment OF the national guard Of
the several states and requires the Sec
retnry Of war to keep in each state
supply of ordnance stores sufficient for
ninety days use In the event of war.
Governor Steunenberg of Idaho called
Mt the War Department Saturday, and
presented In person to Secretary Root
the petition to which he referred while
under examination before the House
committee ON military affairs, in favor
of the retention of the federal troops
in the disturbed mining districts. The
governor had refused to produce the
petition before the committee until he
Ind first submitted 1t to the secretary
| Of war, to whom 1t was addressed. The
| Petition bears about $500 signatures,
ahd recites that ull OF the slgners are
| ~ Iu1,r nd 80 In ut
ShOshone and the Occur d'Alene min
iig district. They petition that the Sec
ftary OF war allow the small force of
FEDERAL troops to remain in the quarters
provided for and occupied by them ut
The town Of Osborn, Shoshone county,
Tor as long time as Governor Steunen-
berg may think their presence neces-
}sary for the preservation of peace and
Iorder. The citizens also express their
approval of all the acts that have been
done by the governor and the officials
Of their state to preserve peace and or
der and to bring criminals to Justice.
Whether Great Britain made m
apology to the United States for the
opening of Consul Macrum's mail by
It's censor depends upon the meaning
Of that word. From our standpoint 1t
was apology; from the British stand
point, 1t was an explanation. When the
charge was first made by Macrum and
fac SMILES of the envelopes were pub
lished, It was noticed that the censor
who opened them had been careful to
write his initials upon the sticker 30
that he could be easily traced. Lord
Pauncefote voluntarily offered to make
an Investigation, and n few days later
came to the Department of State with
the explanation that the censor had
violated his instructions accidentally,
owing to an enormous amount of mail
matter which passed through his
hands. He expressed regret at the cir
cumstance and explained the orders
under which the censors were operat-
ing. Representative Berry, a member
of the committee to Investigate the Ma
crum charges, called ut the Depart
| ment of State for information yester-
day, and was given this information In
confidence by Secretary Hay. He i'm
fmediately delivered 1t to a New York
newspaper. The committee on 'oreign
affairs will commerce the investigation
of Macrum's trOublo tomorrow
Senator Foraker has introduced the
amendments to the Puerto Ric1n gov
ernmental bill which were read to the
Republican senatorial caucus Monday,
/
1t. The amendments were incorporated
In new print of the bill, and he bill
as thus amended introduced as n new
measure. The first important change
is made In section Q, in which the In
habitnnts are described us "citkens OF
| Puerto Rico, and as such ent tied to
| the protection of the United States,"
| whereas in the old bill they were iles-
| ignated as Citizens of the United
States" The following provision is
substituted for section 8 in regard to
articles Imported Into Puerto Rico from
ports outside of the United States:
THAT on and after the passage OF this
act the same tariff customs and duties
shall he levied. collected and paid upon
all articles imported into Puerto Rico
from ports other than those OF the
United States. which are required by
law to be collected upon articles i'm
ported into the United States from for
eign countries" The new provision In
regard to commerce between the Unit
4 ed States and Puerto Rico places n tax
of fifteen per cent. If the Dingley rates
upon imports into the United States.
This tax to be discontinued after two
years. Imports into Puerto Rico to be
| free of duty.
In a speech Saturday on the fortifi-
cations appropriation bill, Representa-
tive Bell called attention In strong
terms to the growing extravaganza of
the administration of public business.
lie said among other things: "In the
contingent expenses of Congress you
can lop off hundreds of thousands of
| dollars in expenditures by which mon
ey Is filched from the people. The
present bill is coast defense bill and
the great expenditures il calls for have
to be made, but In supporting the bill. l
do not want my friends to say that l
am responsible for these great expendi-
lures. was not one of the belllgerent
fellows in the days Of excitement here.
never wanted any particular war,
and / have always objected to the idea
| of 81 conducting What Nau cnll The .nc-