Evening star., 1901-01-11
MIR. CUsHMAN's BREEZY SPEECH.
Caused q Number of Spirited EncOun
tera in the House.

ters in the House.
| The general debate debate on the rivel
and harbor bill continued in the House yes
| terday until o'clock. when the death OF
| Representative Clarke Of New Hampshire
| was announced and the House adjourned
| out of respect to his memory. The features
| Of the debate were the speeches Of Mr..
| Cushman (Wash.) and Mr.. Hepburn Iowa).
| The latter has been a persistent and con-
sistent opponent Of river and harbor bills
for years. and he attacked the bill all
along the line in his usually vigorous fash
ion. Mr.. Cushman's speech was unique in
many particulars. He was in favor Of river
and harbor appropriations and his com
| plaint was due to the fact that the men,
| bers of the committee, according to his
| ideas had located the bulk Of the appro-
priations In their own states and had given
| scant consideration to the needs of other
| states-eSpecially to a certain canal in his
own state, known as the Seattle ship canal.
Mr. Cushman illustrated his remarks with
Criticised icls several @ Of the individual mem M
bers Of the committee in breezy style and
became engaged in half a dozen very spirit
ed encounters before he concluded. Mem
bers crowded about the area in front of
the Speakers desk, where he stood ex-
planning the figures upon the charts. and
every one seemed to enjoy the picturesque
performance immensely. When he wound
up with a glowing appeal for justice to
the Seattle project he got a stirring round
Of applause.
Imperial Caesar, Mr.. cushman said, had
divided all Gaul into three parts Caesar
was an ancient and provincial. Had he
lived to the dawn Of the twentieth century,
said he. he would have divided ''galr' into
enough fragments to give one to each men,
Der Of the river and harbor committee Of
the House. Naughter)
Mr.. Cushman had brought into the hall
another chart showing the proportion Of
q rnYlrfQ "a tn Ia ooY1 1d1t fnno NJ
the chief Of engineers. The states repre-
sented bv the river and harbor committee,
he said, got SO per cent Of the appropria-
tions recommended, while the other states
got less than 40 per cent Il invite the
members Of the committee" said he, "to
go up against the frozen facts Of that
chart" daughter)
One. by one. Mr.. Cushman paid his re-
spects to the members of the committee,
producing individual maps. showing the ap-
preparations each member had secured.
The district Of Mr. Bishop of Michigan he
said, had six counties with frontage on
lake Michigan, and each one had an appro-
priation in the bill.
"And each one has harbor," interposed
Mr. Bishop.
Have you ever examined the map of the
state Of Washington" retorted Mr. Cush-
man amid laughter
At another time Mr.. Cushman declared
that the Florida member of the committee
had secured an appropriation in the bill for
a harbor that could not be found in the
AdtSSt dHu idI ScSl IIldp ne was especially
severe in his criticism of the appropriations
secured by Mr.. Tongue Of Oregon for his
state. calling attention to the fact that, al
though $5.OO0,0OO had been spent upon the
Columbia between Portland and the sea. the
depth of water was today less by seven
feet than 1t was before a dollar was ex-
pended. In conclusion, Mr.. Cushman dis
closed the reason for his attack. 1t was
because the committee had mot provided
for the Seattle ship canal. He made an elo-
quent plea for justice for his state.
Mr.. Alexander IN. y, member of the
river and harbor committee. made a gem
eral defense Of the committee, pointing out
how fallacious 1t was to charge to a state
money expended for the Improvement of
the general commerce facilities of the conn
try. He also pointed out how natural 1t
was that the river and harbor COMMITTEES
should be made up Of members whose sec
tions were interested in river and harbor
Improvements.
After some further remarks by Mr. Mann
QH) and Mr.. Otey Va.) the Committee
rose. Mr.. Hill Comm announced the death
of Representative Frank G. Clarke of New
Hampshire and presented the customary
resolutions Of regret. They were unani-
mously adopted, and the following com
mittee was appointed to attend the funeral:
Messrs. Sulloway IN. HI. Hill (Conn.l.
Knox (Mass.), Capron R. H. Howell IN
j.. Lane Qowa), Allen (Me). Landis Gndo.
Littlefeld CMe), Weaver (Ofdo), Fitzgerald
(Mass.), Grfggs (Ga-), Gaines >(Tenn.). Rob-
inson Qnd.I Naphen (Mass.) and King
(Utah).
Then, at 4:05 pm, as further mark of
respect, the House adjourned.