The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-01-09
FROM THE NATIONS CAPITAL.
From Our O.en Correspondent.


Politics" came to the enrface three
times during the three days that Con-
greas was in session this week and held
sway in both Senate and House. This
was the moro striking because the pre-
hnliaeSy sessions were marked by the
entire absence of anything Of the kind.
The. game was inaugurated in the
House promptly ON re-assembling by q
resolution for an Investigation by the
Census Committee, as to whether the
franchise Was restricted in the South
in such way as to call for q reduction
Of representation under the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution. The
resolution stirred the Southern men,
bers, who have been aroused before by
the steps taken by Representative
Crumpacker, of Indiana, in the same
direc' ion. 1t directs the Census Com
mite to ascertain where the vote has
been restricted and to make full and
complete reports to the House. This
involved to a certain extent the con-
sideration Of the apportionment bill.
The whole subject was gone over thor
oughly by Mr.. Garfield in the ninth
census. The committee could, Of
course, bring the information down to
date, and perhaps it would be q good
thing to have that done. 1t would
satisfy the public and show something
Of what the situation really is. The
language of the fourteensh Amend
ment applies to all male inhabitants.
1t would affect Illine;s, sos that that State
has law requiring residence for o cer
tain period before one can vote. Prob
ably there are $4,000 males over twen-
ty-one years of age in Chicago who are
unable to vote because of this State
law. Massachusetts has an educational
qualification, and Rhode Island has o
poll tax. Other States Of the North
also have suffrage qualifications which
would bring them within the scope Of
the constitutional amendment. Even
the inmates Of the insane asylums and
similar institutions would have to be
counted in reckoning the restriction of
suffrage. So there is likely to be
strong opposition to anything definite
being accomplished under MIR. Ohm
sted's resolution, which was finally re-
ferred to the Committee on Census.
In the Senate, politics was played by
no less a parsonage than the President
himself, who sent to that body re-
fusal by the Secretary of War to trans
NIT the report by A. l.. Lawshe, who in
vestigated- the Cuban postoffice frauds,
demanded from the Secretary of
War by resolution of the Senate.
The President declared curtly that he
did not deem it compatible with the
public interest to make public the re-
port. The truth of the matter seems
to be that the report shows gross neg
ligence and possibly corruption on the
part of high officers of the government,
whom the President and Secretary of
War hope to be able to shield. The re-
fusal is direct defiance of the Senate's
right to inquire into government mat
ters. To say that an executive officer
can refuse to furnish information te
the legislative branch when that infor-
tion concerns the challenged ccrduct
of an administration, is monstrosity.
In this case. especially, it is believed q
fostering mass Of corruption ezists :n
Cuba, and If the administration de-
iiberately withholds official reports it
is o matter for the whole country to
know. The determination Of the Pres
ident to cut off all informationis is shown
by the fact that Mr.. Lawshe, whose re-
port the Secretary declines to make
public, has been suddenly hurried to
the Philippines, to fill o $4,000 position
as auditor. If he had remained in
Washington, he could have been sum-
moned before the Congressional Com
mi stee to describe the situation he
discovered in Cuba and which makes
the publication Of his report incompati-
BILE with the public interests or with
the well-being of the Republican
party.
The army reorganization bill, which
was taken up in the Senate on Thurs
day, displacing the subsidy bill from
its favored position, also gave rise to Is
semi-political debate, the Democrats
expressing their willingness to give
the President special army for use in
the Philippines, but objecting strongly
to the pending bill which endows him
with almost absolute power over the
size Of the army used in the United
States. The sensational part of the
debate was when Senator Sewall, of
New Jersey. speaking for the Presi-
dent, declared that there was more
fighting in the Philippines to-day than
there had been since the beginning of
the war. During the course Of his re-
marks he made this statement, which
is Significant: Tf you will look at the
reports Of the general commanding you
will find that every two weeks or every
four weeks there wero so many men