Evening star., 1901-03-04
Senator Carter Kills River and Har-
Dor Bill.
SENSATIONAL SCENE IN TIE SENATE
General CONSERVATION of His As
sociates.
GENERAL DISAPPOINTMENT

"a seiiSdtioHdl feature OF the proceedings
| OF Congress was reserved for a moment
when an agreement had apparently been
| reached by which all the important legisla-
| ton that had been contended over during
| the night would speedily be completed. 1t
was at the break of today's dawn when
| Senator Carter of Montana took the floor
in the Senate chamber and announced in
positive terms. that he intended to defeat
| the river and harbor bill.
| Senator Warren had made a strong ap-
| peal for the appropriation contained in the
Senate amendment providing for expert
| mental reservoirs for retaining the arid
land regions Of the west. He made no
threat of seeking to defeat the hill, and his
language, while showing much feeling over
again losing an opportunity to introduce
this feature Of reclaiming arid lands. indi-
Gated that he was ready to succumb to the
inevitable and give up the fight. In report
ing the decision of the conferees that this
appropriation should go out of the bill Sem
ator Nelson had shown that he SYM
pathized with the House of Representatives
to some extent in their opposition to the
Senate amendment for the reservoir. So 1t
seemed clear that final agreement would
soon be reached and the bill carrying an
appropriation of $59,OoO,Go9, to be dis
tributed all over the country, would be
passed.
Senator Carters Announcement.
1t was at this moment of hopefulness on
the part of every one in the Senate cham
ber that Senator Carter announced his in
tention.
II do not think this bill ought to become
a law" he said, land so believing | shall
do what lies in my power to prevent Its
passage between now and II o'clock. The
bill will not pass if my strength does not
f9i tn toni ha no
occupy this floor" Then he hesitated a
moment and added: And 1 am in pretty
fair state of health"
This was startling announcement to SEN
ators who were momentarily expecting to
have agreement with the contention of
the House, as well as to representatives,
who were feeling a high degree of gratifi
cation because of the victory they saw near
at hand. The doors of all the galleries had
been closed at o'clock, except that le-
served for the press.
Opposing the Bill.
After making the announcement of his in
tention, Mr.. Carter proceeded deliberately
to talk on the river and harbor bill and 20
point out what he considered it's faults.
Senators gathered about in twos and threes
and entered into earnest conversation over
the situation. A few senators showed evil
dent satisfaction over the way the proceed
ings were going, but there was many a
long-drawn face, which plainly indicated
chagrin. The senators moved about as Mr..
Carter, with more and more deliberation,
seemed to be saving his strength for the
long task.
1t was then $50 o'clock and there was
a possibility that he might have to talk
four and half hours to make good his
threat. OF course, it was not possible to de-
lay the business of the session after II
o'clock without interfering with the inau-
gural proceedings, and then it would take
some time to engross the bill and have it
signed by the President of the Senate, the
Speaker of the House and President Nc
Kinley. All the time so needed was just
that much help to the senator who started
out to talk the bill to death.
When Mr.. Carter had gotten fairly under
way senators who were anxious to have the
bill passed asked: What does it mean?'
Others whispered the inquiry, What does
Carter want?'
There was reluctance to accept as the
entire motive behind him his statement that
he believed the bill was so bad it should
not be allowed to pass. Some wondered if
he merely proposed to talk until the reser-
voir amendments were conceded by the
House, but Mr.. Carter had said he was not
in favor Of those amendments. That left
every one at sea- No one knew what he
wanted, and the thought finally made itself
clear that Senator Carter really intended
to defeat the $50 100000 bill that had some
thing in 1t for the state or district of near
ly every senator and representative in Con-
gress.
After Mr. Carter had talked a couple of
hours he suggested that there was no quo
rum in the Senate, and the bells were rung
throughout the committee rooms and a few
senators came struggling in, but the call
showed that only thirty of them were in
the building. The president pro tenn. or
dered Col. Ransdell, the sergeant -at-arms.
to send for the absent senator's, and there
was nothing for those present to do but to
await their arrival.
So Senator Carter had a rest, and the at
tendants took advantage of the deserted
chamber to clear up the waste paper
strewn everywhere, and to remove the ma
hogany furniture to the ante rooms in or
der that arrangements could more readily
be made for the inaugural ceremony.