, 1902-01-30
LATE WASHINGTON NEWS AND
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS

affairs are drafting "A bill TO entirely
abolish the tribal relations of Indians.
1t is proposed to have all moneys In
the United States treasury credited to
the tribes divided per capita and In
dividual %ccoun kept with each In
dian. Allotments are to be treated
the same way. The property of de-
ceased Indians Is to 20 to heirs, In
stead of revert to the tribe. The whole
idea of the bill. Is to treat the Indian
as an individual, instead of an unrec-
ogniZed part of n tribe, in all govern
ment transactions. The plan is sup
ported by the Indian commissioner and
favored in the Senate II House.
The general board of army officers,
which has been examining army posts
in the United States with a view to
future action concerning them by the
War Department, has made a report
which has not been made public. 1t
is known that the report recommends
that Forts Russell, Wyoming; Logan,
Colorado, and Douglas, Utah, be made
permanent military establishments and
that zach of these posts will be en-
larged considerably. Forts Russell and
Douglas will be enlarged to accommo-
late Il full regiment of infantry and n
COMPANY VI hANiii'As "hi'h ID az -"
crease over their present size of about
fifty per cent. Fort Logan will also
be increased in about the same proper
ton. A number of smaller posts in the
West have been designated rs tempo
rary" and some of these are recon-
mended for Abandonment, though not
Immediately.
The treaty of cession of the Danish
West Indian islands from Denmark to
the United States has been signed mt
the State Department by Secretary
Hay and Constantin Brun. Danish
minister. The treaty will be submitted
to the Senate for ratification imme-
diately. Following the invariable rule
In such cases, the State Department
officials decline OF make public any
IF the details of the treaty, so that it
is not possible TO state positively the
price to he paid, though this is believed
to be in the nelghborhood of 100000.
1t is known also that Denmark has
abandoned the position Ii was in
clined TO occupy toward Ii conserva-
ton of the political rights of the In
habitants of the island, and leaves to
the United States n free hand to deal
with them, without pledge of Ameri-
can citizenship or of free trade priv
ileges. So 1t is assumed that the status
of the Danish West Indian isiasds,
politically and commercially, should
the treaty be ratified, will be similar to
that of Porto Rico.
The details of n bill restricting an
archy and anarchists have been deter
mined upon by the special committee
of members of the House judiciary
committee, appointed to consider this
subject. The language of some of the
provisions Is yet to he settled, but all
of the essential features of the forth
coming measure are determined upon.
The measure will provide the death
penalty for an attempt to kill or as
sault the President, or any one In line
of succession for the presidency. An
accessory before the fact is to he
treated as II principal and an aces
sorry after the fact is punished in II
less degree than n principal. Any per-
son who counsels, advises or advo-
Gates the %assaulting or killing of any
officer of the United States shall be
fined or imprisoned. No alien who al
vocates an overthrow of organized
government, or who is affiliated with
an organization holding such views, is
to be admitted TO this country. Pro-
vision also is made for the punishment
of those cOnspiring In this country
against n foreign ruler. The special
committee probably will report to the
judiciary committee within h next
few days and n report to the House
Is expected soon thereafter.
Former Secretary of State John W.
Foster appeared before Ii Senate
committee on immigration on the I'D
and spoke in opposition to the Chinese
exclusion bills which have been intro
duced in Congress. His remarks We're
directed more particularly to the Mitch
ell or Pacific coast bill. which, he said,
was n plain violation of our treaty with
China. Mr.. Foster said our govern
ment had four times asked China to
modify existing treaties in the interest
of American citizens, aud that in every
instance China had ncccdCd to our re-
quest. lie then submitted for he con
sideratiOn of the committee three prop
OsitiOns: The first was that any law
passed by the present Congress which
continues the exclusion of Chinese III
bOrers beyond 1904 would be not only
without international authority, but
would be in violation of treaty stipula-
lions. He said that during the nego-
tiatlOns resulting In the treaty of 1894
the United States sought to have the
exclusion of Chinese labOrers extended
to twenty years ana hat the Chinese
government refused to make 1t for
more than ten years. He also insisted
that when the treaty of 1894 came to
an end, the Burllngame treaty of 1865
would be received and cOme into force,
which treaty stipulated for the free
and unrestricted immigration of Chi
nese of all classes into the United
States. The treaty, he said, had only
been suspended as to immigration,
not abrOgatcd. His second proposition
was that the exclusion laws should not
be made applicable to all our insular
possessions and said the Hawaiian
islands presented the exact state of af-
fairs which was contemplated by the
American negotiators for the exclusion
treaty, in which they gave the assur-
ance that To such II condition of af-
fairs the exclusion law would not apply
when all the interests OF the islands
asked for Chinese immigration and the
local authorities agreed that it would
not in any way affect white labor.
MIR. Fosters third proposition was that
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