Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-18
PASSION FOR POWER.
It Is Directly Responsible for Con-
 gressional Profigacy.
Adding Amendments to Legitimate Bills the Favorite Method of Lawmakers of Securing
 ssPiev for Personal Use.
Especial Washington Letter.l


 THE passion for pelf and the power of public plunder were
 never so we'll illustrated in the history of our republic as during the closing days of the recent short ses- sion of the congress. The indiyid- uals comprising the senate and house. of representatives were exceedingly nonpartisan in their efforts to get their hands into he treasury away up above the elbows. Statesmen of both political parties were equally culpable.
 There is nothing in the constftu- ton, nothing in statutory or common law, to authorize the expenditure of the public moneys for expositions, for river and harbor steals, for fraud ulent claims, nor for any one of the many things which were put to the fore by the politicians in the national congress, at the instiga ton of their constituencies and commonwealths. The people should know the truth and deal with their servants accord ing to their merits or demerits. Dem ocrats and republicans alike have sinned, and the truth may be told without partisan feeling. or partisan statement.
 There were senators and represent atives who desired an extra session of the congress in order that consid- eration might be given to Chinese, Philippine and Cuban affairs. Some of them were so much in earnest that they declared that all legislation l~o o,,Ia taf cT, extra session might be compelled. The reason why they all fell down and prostrated their sincere opin- ions was given by Congressman Hep burn, of Iowa, the acknowledged lead ing debater of the house of repre- sentatives, when he said to the writer: ''It was the greed of public money. The legislation which would prevent an extra session was placed upon the army appropriation bill, in the form of amendments. Then the army appropriation bill was placed on the calendar, in advance of the sundry civil and the river and harbor appropriation bills. Those bills con tained the pie or pork for which many were contending.
 Those bills could not be taken up and. considered until the army appro- priation bill was disposed of. Conse- quently, in order to get at the pie" bills, statesmen who had sworn that they would ne'er consent consented, and voted for the bill which they had sworn kill.
 "The sundry civil appropriation,bi bill contained the provision of $5,000,0o0 for the St. Louis exposition; and all of the supporters of that appropria- tion were obliged to vote for the army appropriation bill in order to get at the sundry civil pie That measure also contained the appropriation of $25o,0O for the Charleston exposition, and they also were obliged to vote for the army appropriation bill. The river and harbor appropriation bill contained aggregate sums amounting to O,0oO, ,000. Inthat bill almost every member of the senate and house of representatives had an interest. They were obliged to vote for the army ap- propriation bill in order to get their pie in that bill. Consequently they all fell down and surrendered.
 "The army appropriation bill was one of the best measures of the kind that has ever passed the house of rep resentatives. It was the senate amendments on foreign affairs which caused the hot opposition to it; but the senate amendments were all swal- lowed by the opponents of those