Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-29
DISCUSSED BY THE SENATE
CRITICISM OF THE WORK OF THE
INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION.
Claimed That 1t is Partisan-PrOyf.
sion Made for II sn the sun.
dry Civil Bill.

| Inc industrial commission was the SUBJ
ject of very animated debate in the Sem
| ate yesterday afternoon while the sundry
civil appropriation bill was under consider
| atfon The subject came up when the ap-
preparation was reached extending the life
| of the commission until December II, 1901
Mr.. Jones Charges Pnrtisanship.
| Then Mr.. Jones (Ark) attacked the COM
mission because it was not. he said, what
| had been intended by the law creating it. a
| non-partisan body. lie therefore offered an
amendment providing that not to exceed
nine members of the commission should be
| of the same political party. The amend-
ment was antagonized by Mr.. Allison, who
! said 1t would amount to an over;urning IF
| the entire commission and perhaps a de-
struction of much of its work
Mr. Mallory tF'la.), who is a me mber of
the commission, at the request of Mr.. Petit
grew, announced the political affiliations Of
some of the members of the commission.
When he reached the name of Mr.. Kyle of
South Dakota. he remarked: THE senator
| from South Dakota can no doubt tell the
politics of his colleague
Il do not know his politics. laughincly
commented Mr.. Pettigrew
THE junior senator from South Dakota"
retorted Mr. Kyle. warmly. lis able to take
care of his own politics. and he is satisfied
the people of South Dakota will take care
Of the politics of the senator CPettigrew) ar
the coming election
"A man with such variety of politics as
my colleague" Mr.. Pettigrew began, when
he was interrupted by Mr.. Kyle: Not as
much of variety as my colleague has"
Il am unable" continued Mr.. Pettigrew
ito define the politics OF my colleague but
he has decided leaning toward patronage
on which | care not to comment" laugh
teri
Mr.. Pettigrew complained that the SUBJ
committee of the commission on labor and
capital was composed of five men, including
his colleague. Mr.. Kyle, who We're in SYM
ba ~ y,,i,, fet, 1t,
This committee" said he. lis to sit until
after the election and publish to the world
such bulletins as will be of advantage to the
republican party in the coming campaign'
This. he declared was perversion of the
original intent of the commission.
Complexion of the Com m issfon.
Mr.. Carter (MontD said that of the five
members of the commission appointed from
the Senate only one was repubcan-Mr
Penrose of PENNSYLVANIA. Four others rep
resented the opposition to the republican
party. He admitted that Mr.. Kyle and
Mr.. Mantle We're now regarded as republic
cans. He presumed that when confronted .
by the facts OF the great prosperity of the
country. which had been brought out in
the testimony before the commission, they
had had a change of heart which did them
very great credit. The leading laborina
men of the country has supported Mckinley
i'll 1895 because said Mr.. Carter, '.of the
dire results of the previous democratic adj
ninistration.' The several representatives
Of organized labor on the commission, he
said. had the confidence of the country. and
the action of the President in appointing
tEem was guided by the wishes of organ
lied labor; politics did not enter into the
matter.
Nj Allen CNeb) declared that the COM
mission was a sham, a fraud and de-
lusion. and has not any useful purpose 10
serve in this world or in the world to
come
Mr.. Mallory offered an amendment: pro-
viding that in filing vacancies on the COM
mission that may hereafter occur appoint
ments shall he made so that not more than
nine members Of the commission shall be-
long to the same political party.
1hlS amendment was accepted by Mr..
Jones in lieu of his amendment, and it was
agreed to.
Eliminating Testimony.
Mr.. Jones raised what he regarded as a
very serious point, viz, that the commits
sion had what was called an editing COM
mittee." He had understood he said. from
persons who had appeared before the COM
mission that their statements had been
"outrageously garbled.'
Mr.. Kyle explained that no changes were
made in the statements of any witnesses
except in mere matters of grammar and
phraseology. Once or twice the entire COM
mission. in considering testimony. had or
dered parts of it struck out This was
true, he said. of the testimony of a wit
ness named Lockwood, because of its char
acter.
Mr.. Pettigrew presented Mr.. Lockwoods
statement. He was, he said. president Of
the Antitrust League of the United States
and had appeared before the commission.
His testimony had been substantially and
materially changed. If that was Il sample
Of the commissions work, said Mr.. Petit
grew. it would better be reorganized or
abolished at once.
Mr.. Chandler said it was evident that
some testimony had been eliminated. He
believed that if witness appeared before
the commission he ought to be given the
benefit of his own statement. He ex-
pressed the hope that Mr. Kyle would pre-
sent to the Senate exact statement Of
what had been edited, so that a satisfactory
statement might go to the country.
Mr.. Caffery Ua.) declared that the discus
sion had convinced him that the commission
ought to be abolished.
The committee amendment was agreed
to- the amount appropriated being increased
from S122.300 to S129, 800
Under the paragraph territory of Ha-
wall" an amendment was inserted provid-
ing for private secretary to the governor
at a salary of $1,000. The bill was then
laid aside for the day.
bill requiring the disbursng officer of
the census to file an additional bond and to
increase his salary to $1,000 a year was
passed.
After a brief executive session the Sem
ate, at 5:35 pm, adjourned.