The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-02-14
NATIONAL CAPITAL
Regular Weekly Budget from
Our Correspondent
PENSION LEGISLATION, Etc.
Some Facts About Republican neth-
Oos OF Keeping all the Offices,

~
DDS of Keeping all the Offices.
f Washington February 9. Accord
, ing to present indications, Congress
Is preparing to obviate the necess;tv
OF and extra session by adopting a
resolution authorizing the President
70 withdraw the United States army
/ from Cuba and turn the island over
TO Its own people, as soon as certain
conditions are inserted in the new
constitution of the island. These
conditions include grants of naval
stations and formal consent to submik
the exercise of the debt raising and
treaty making powers of the new
Government to the supervision of
the United States. In other Words
the Republicans seem to have abont
made up their minds that thew can
90 BY lndirectiOn what they cannot
DO by direction; they hold that tbev
cannot amend the Cuban Constit6-
tiOa but they insist that thew can
compel the Cubans to amend it as
this country may desire. This is
certainly amazing in view of the
following resolution unanimously
adopted by Congress and signed by
President Mckinley "TRat the
United States hereby disclaim any
disposition or intention to exercise
sovereignty, jurisdiction or control
over said island, except for the paei-
flcatlon thereof, and assert their de-
termination when that is completed
to leave the Government and con-
troll of the island to its people. Under
this resolution, it is difficult for anv
honest man to see what either Con-
gresS or the President has to do with
the matter, further than to make
sure that Specification" has been
brought about. The position of the
Democrats in Congress, therefore.
Is that the President should with.
draw from the i@Band the moment a
stable Government has been estab-
lished.
The Overwhelmh hg flood of special
pension Legislation will soon force
Congress TO take. some means of dam
ming it. Even Republicans express
the oplniO that the scope of Con
gresslonal action in:snch matters had
been overStepped entirely, and that
under the present practice a pension
bureau had beenestablished under
the dome of the capitol. In the
present. Congress there have 2, 1873
special pension bills in th
Senate and with the general bills
and House bills, the Senate Pension
Committee had been asked 50 far to
take up about three thousand bills.
One Senator has introduced 1852 bills
and another l45. The businesc is
already as large as the Committee
can handle well and there Is little
doubt 1t will be doubled in the next
Congress. This IS due to the fact
hat the pension attorneys are advis-
ng soldiers that it is easier to get their
tensions through Congressional ac-
ION than thrOugBS the Pension Bu-
eau.
Ket0rence was made in this cor
eSpondence some tiae ago to the
.lmost openly avOwsdS intentions of
he Republicans t&rssort to gerry
in the stztes receiving in
reased representati1 1n ander the new
ensus, especially ntany of which
hey had obtainedtrmtOrary control
y the results ofitSe :last election.
'ew people, hOwey 2, know how far
MS method of secdfSg members to
yhich the Republicans are not en-
tied has already gfna in the north
rn states, rivaling IS effects, the
lost wholesale disRapchrsement of
egroes for whichth south has ever
cen responsible. For instance, con-
der the following statement pre-
ared from official records by Dem
ATTIC member of thekROuse. l find.
, said, that grAt discrepancy
lists In the population of certain
stricts in the United States as COM
'red with those foaOther districts.
Will give you sOene figures to
ustrate what / mean. The Fourth
strict of California cSntains 1892
'oPle, compared wHh 228,642 for
e Fifth district; New Y ork, Seventh
strict, l4,766, aud Fifteenth, 223,
9, difference of 109,O72; Win
nsln 2S6,1O7, in the Fourth dis
ct andl13, .455 in the Fifth, a DIFF
'ene OF l22,74S; Connecticut, Sec
q district, 24S,542, and Third, 121,
z; Pennsylvania, Third district.