The Elk Mountain pilot., 1902-02-04
GATE WASHINGTON NEWS AND
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS

DefOre the House cOmmlttee on aSTl-
culture to-day and by vote of twelve
to five ordered the report of bill
which is even more restrictive than
the original Grout bill re>introduced by
Representative McCleary of Minneso-
ia. The subject has been under con-
sideration for the past ten days, all
of the various interests having been
granted hearings.
The Cuban reciprocity hearings be-
fore the ways and means committee
Thursday were devoted chiefly to the
sugar interests of Louisiana, who are
opposed to the proposed concessions
to Cuba on the ground that 1t will
cripple the sugar production of that
state A number of the large plant
ers and manufacturers of the state
were present. and the allied interests
of beet sugar and tobacco, which are
similarly opposed to concessions to
Cuba, also were numerously repre-
sented.
A naval retiring board has decided
to recommend the retirement of Cap
tain Richmond p. Hobson. BE has
complained of his eyes, which suffered
from heat and glare while he was
working on the Spanish vessels sunk
at Santiago and afterward in the dry
dock at Hong Kong, where two vessels
of the Spanish fleet sunk by Dewey
were repaired. Captain Hobson him
self applied to be retired, but the
board of physicians which examined
him found that his eyes were not per-
manently injured, and refused to rec
ommend his retirement. He has been
ordered to return to duty at the
Charleston exposition.
Rising to n question of privilege ear
" in the session. Mr.. Dubois of Idaho
had read an Associated Press dispatch
from Manila in which General Whea-
ton was quoted as criticising some ut
terances of Professor Schurmann in n
speech delivered in Boston. Mr.. Du-
bois thought the President in the cir
| cumstances, would be warranted in
reprimanding General Wheaton for his
utterances He declared that such
comment upon the action of the Sen
ate was Outrageous and indecent"
and that the minority had had quite
enough of threats and blackmail. The
debate thus precipitated took wide
range, covering the entire Philippine
problem.
The general board of army officers,
which has been examining army posts
in the United States with view to
future action concerning them by the
| War Department, has made 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 each of these posts will be en-
larged considerably. Forts Russell and
| Douglas will be enlarged to accommo-
date full regiment of infantry and
company of artillery, which is an in
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 as tempo
rary" and some of these are recon-
mended for abandonment, though not
Immediately.
The bill creating n Department of
Commerce, which passed the Senate
| Tuesday, was amended in various par.
| ticulars. The most important amend
ment was on changing the title to read
Department of Commerce and La
bor." 1t provides for secretary, who
is to be a member of the Cabinet: an
assistant secretary and other officials
and clerks necessary. The proposed
department is especially charged with
the collection and distribution of sta
| tstical information and with the de-
velopment and fostering of foreign
| and domestic commerce. In the de-
partment there is to be new bureau
of manufactures, and many bureaus
now included in other departments are
transferred to it, including the life
| saving. light house, marine hospital
and steamboat inspection service, the
| bureaus of navigation, shipping and
immiOrnt tipn c yypII n Of ba
fisheries and the Chinese exclusion
questions. all now within the jurisdic-
ton of the Treasury Department; the
| Fish Commission and the census bu-
reau. The department is also given
| jurisdiction over the consular service
| so far as it pertains to commerce.
1t has been years since there has
been such hurricane of bitter yitup-
GRAFTON, of personal taunt, OF ugly
charges and of unmodified criticism as
was witnessed Tuesday in the Senate.
Not since the discussion of the resolu-
tions leading up to the Spanish-Ameri-
can war has any scene occurred in the
Senate chamber comparable with
Tuesdays. Even that debate lacked
the personal bitterness manifested at
times to-day. Irritation was aroused
on both sides of the chamber. and once
or twice personal encounters between
senators seemed imminent Once,
when Senator Teller taunted the Re
publican senators by declaring that
they knew the statements made in a
recent dispatch from Manila, in which
Genertal Wheaton was represented as
criticising the opponents of the govern
ment's policy in the Philippines, We're
true, half dozen Republicans were
on their feet in an instant. Senator
Lodge. at whom the taunts seemed TO
be aimed particularly, hurriedly
crossed from his seat in the center of