New-York tribune., 1902-12-26
NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL
TBy TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBuNE.l

ro,qress tells an amusing story OF Secretary
Unson illustrative of the influence of bureau
,iefs The member recently asked Mr. Wilson's
-3nion Of a bin before Congress. u know moth
,nr about it said the Secretary. Il do not con-
err myself with legislation before Congress. If
:, e passed. and the President sends it to me to
vscute that viii be time enough for me to form
N opinion. 1 know nothing about it. nothing at
r and the Secretary lay back in his chair re-
ordine the Representative with half-closed eyes
,ben sat upright and opening his eyes wide looked
:, him over his glasses with an expression which
clearly said, Now, what have you to say?' II
IN sorry" said the member ''I was hoping TO
pet some light from you. In fact. have just been
-esding a long communication favoring the bill.
which ! am inclined TO oppose 1t says and
so--the Secretary looked bored--and, Mr. Sec
retary. il was written over your signature
ssR q er wre such F9theE els
wss the reply. but Professor wrote it and
sd best 4aa or right o cdhseeen 5haFs M MSSn Erom PyS S
mstra wrapped cigars in his cabinet.
FIVE PENSION BILLS a MINUTE-Much i'll
.dy5sed criticism of the pension legislation pro-
cedure Of Congress has been published because Of
a recent record of the House in passing ia private
rsnsion bills IN thirty-nne minutes, the rate
n one every twelve seconds. This rapidity. which
has frequently been surpassed in the Senate. does
NOT hv any means warrant the idea of persons un-
familiar with Congress methods that such eff
cheney Of legislative mechanism necessarily implies
basv and unconSidered action On the contrary. II
-,ssns exhaustive consideration by the special
nittee appointed for that purpose by the House,
and that ia of the thousands of bills of this sort
have had the stamp of unanimous approval by
ramocrats and Republicans alike. Any member
If the House, were he absolutely assured Of
fbe care with which these bills had been inVestl-
sai and of its accompanying report, and consumed
1z hours or more Only the obviously meP1toreTs @ I
minute that the house spends in their passage s
before them are called UP for passage
ESPECIALLY INTERESTING TO PRESIDENT
cANToR-'"That Dom Paul in his memoirs makes
M ooncealrnent of his ineradicable hatred OF the
English was to be expected said John Il
stephens formerly consulting engineer Tor the Con-
soidated Gold Fields Company Of the Rand
While was in the Transvaal President Kruger re-
4rsed 10 speak English and, although ---aAsuooo
everything said in his presence by English speak
Ing delegates and diplomats, the grim Boer leader
insisted upon having every word interpreted INTO
Dutch ! will not said Dom Paul TO me through
an interpreter hold converse in tongue In Enlch
80 much cunning and Jreachery have been coucneo
Az one time continued AIr- Stephens, tine street
commissioner Of Johannesburg. desiring like GER
tain Nez-York official 70 appear progressive hao
hlsr pacards with white letters nailed up at every
corner telling the of the streets AS almost
,be whole population OF Johannesburg was tngilsh
speaking these signs bore ne woro w an5 and
Dom Paul learned Of this he was very e4stg E a!tu
or6ered the letters teet painted out OF the signs
o5a5 aa55 s s6ehst s through the black patch, but
Dom Paul didn't mind that On the GonlL sIS;
words and the commissioner was restrained fT3In ON
effecting utter effacement Of the oolec'lons DIS
letters"
SMALL, COMPENSATION OF STATESMAN
sHTP-The salary question. which constantly ag-
y-svs+es men Of both branches Of Congress VINO 90
not possess private fortunes, is common Topic aI
the Capitol this winter, though there Is no llreoi
ate possibility OF legislation regarding IT. II Is e
that S Oc8 year is much more than majority OF
these men could make in private life but there are
scores Of expenses incident TO service in Congress
as well as an election which scale down the net
revenue and often swallow ii up entirely. lhefe
are some who advocate the cutting of Of al per
ouisites and the payment Of fiat salary OF So"
g wear leaving the member or Senator 70 puy MS
own stationery. for which there is now an afhua!
allowance of s125, and TO pay for his own clerk Tor
which there is an allowance Of Sloo month"; also
10 eprive him Of the mileage, which amounts TO ~
cents mile each way for each session There IS
some philosophy in the argument for most men
get to and from the capital without large IayGHt
n coir or the waste Of much time AccoTollels.
the conpe1SatioT ISL Ives @ in MARYLAND or virginia for
eTsrnrle receives only meagre stipend on that
account whereas the Statesman IRON tie f hoChE
Mountain region receives over S4l fut me LlIue
far distant when Congress will dare 10 attempt an
sdjuslment OF ne saaEes % Gs srge s sum TO most Of
the American citizens who vote men INTO ONCE "F
out Of it
oxTAHoArs,s STATEHOOD CLAIM-An Okla
homa City banker who Is spending the honoaSS
here rUt life into usually dull Treasury statiStics
,o-dsv that will astonish Eastern readers. His
towns bank bearings for the week ended NoVenl-
her were 500 sl2 II For the same week the clear
inzs Il Lowell Mass. were S4466S2 OF Akron Ohio.
s5g7 600: of Springfield III, S590so2; Of Lexington.
Ky ss 945; of Canton Ohio. sE72o61, and of Jack
sonyille Fla s3ll, ,7S7. Oklahoma City has seven
institutions doing q banking business. with total
deposits approzilnatng 50 0O0,0o0 1t has a popula-
tion Of 5000 enlightened and progressive citizens
streets paved with asphalt well edited daily papers
and all the appurtenances of cosmopolitan exist
erce Il has one wholesale establishment that does
yearly business of S3. 3.eo0eo0. The Territory Of
Oklahoma has assessed values Of S72,c0o0, but. as
this does not represent one-fourth Of its real
wealth Il is safe to place the totaI properly HIut9
z $500 population is round numbers.
sOgA and IN the last election $1,000 votes Were
cast When +he high average Of citizenship is con-
sidered. Oklahomans feel that every arg %
reason and justice is back of the demand Tor az
mission State.
The REINCARNATION OF THE SHIN PLAs-
TER.-With his pockets bulgfng with circulars
the covers Of which suggestive of a S bill and
50 cent shin plaster, respectively a man IS be-
sieging Senators and Representatives these DAY
urging the massage Of bill which has reposed
since last session in the Committee on Postoflces
and Post Roads This bill provides for an issue
of paper money in denominations of g. 81 and fra-
tional sums thereof, each bill 10 bear Oh one slde
blanks which when filed will convert II INTO d
money order payable the person 10 whom II Is N
dorsed and will require that stamp be attacheu
and cancelled 10 make it legal This scheme Is known
as the post check system Of currency. and the
inventor desires TO present his conception 70 I.e
government The system would dountieSs ISttlIte.
the remittance of money by mail and Woul1 pr
Of inestimable value to concerns IN the man o'o'