Omaha daily bee., 1901-03-01
BITS or WASHINGTON LIFE.
scenes mud Incidents at the Hub oi
NattouaI Politics.

NHftonat fptfttcrs
Ordinarily the daily report OF the pro-
ceedngs in senate and house begins with
the bare announcement OF the hour OF
meeting and prayer by the chaplain" "
When, however. there is anything OF an
unusual character about the invocation, re-
lates a Globe Democrat correspondent, the
president pro TEN of the senate or the
speaker of the house, as the case may be,
directs the stenographers to incorporate
in the proceedings the full prayer. The
cha plains of both branches are blind men
and cannot see their efforts In print New
ertheless, their prayers are becoming so
notable that they appear quite frequently
Rev. DR.. Couden recently did the unusual
thing OF quoting verse in his address to
the throne. Referring to the death OF a
member. he spoke OF "the blessed faith and
hope OF the Christian religion. which as
sures us
There is no death; what seems so is transit
This life of mortal breath
Is but the suburb of that life Elysian
Whose portal we call death"
The speaker is a blum Scotchman, with a
keen sensibility for song and poesy. He
promptly gave the order that this prayer
should go into the Congressional Record.
The bronze doors OF the capitol, says the
Washington Post, are works of art. They
are very tall and heavy and each is COM
posed OF several panels which present. in
bas relief, pictures from American history.
The execution is so lifelike that the fg-
ures stand out some distance from the
background OF the doors. The guns of
the Revolutionary soldiers protrude from
the shoulders OF the men, the feet OF tho
cavalrymen are perfect. This fidelity to
nature has been the opportunity of the
vandal The doors have been robbed of
every bit of bronze that could be chipped
off. The bayonets of the guns have dis
appeared, the spurs have been taken from
the feet of the men on horseback and
even the feathers in the head dresses of
the Indians have been broken away. OF
course there Is no way either to catch
the offenders or remedy their vandalism.
The defects in the beautiful bronze work
remain as evidence Of the insatiate desire
of the average American tourist to carry
off a souvenir.
In the same way the statue of Pere
Marquette, in Statuary hail, has been dis
figured. The Indians in the bronze bas
relief had feathers in their heads when
the statue was unveiled, but now every
feather has disappeared.
No president OF the United States has
ever had so much money to spend as Mr..
Mckinley, notwithstanding the fact that,
apart from the salary of $50, 900, which lie
draws annually from the treasury, he is a
poor man. Just before the outbreak OF the
Spanish war congress placed in his hands
$50 900. with permission to spend It ex-
actly as he might choose. In fact, says
the Saturday Evening Post, he was not
required even to render an accounting OF
the expenditure of this vast sum. The
necessity for such bestowal of confidence
In the nations executive arose from the ex-
traordinary unprepared condition in which
the country found itself, and there is no
likelihood that absolute control of such an
amount Of the public funds will again need
to be given to any future occupant OF the
White House.
This was by no means the only money,
however. which has been placed at the
absolute disposal OF President Mckinley
Only short time ago congress appro-
priated 100000 for the purchase OF suit
able sites for coaling stations and their
establishment. Out of this sum 5000 was
paid the other day TO private owners for
a small island in the harbor of Guam
There have been other large war funds
provided from time to time during the
last tive years on which the president has
been at liberty to draw as he saw ft. In
such matters he could not be controlled by
the secretary Of war or the secretary OF
the navy. inasmuch as those officials are
merely his clerks, and have practically no
authority save such as he may choose to
delegate to them.