The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-01-17
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WAsHINGToN, ID. G., January 18th,

Mr.. EDITOR: perfect discipline
which prevails among the republicans i'll
Congress and the ease with which few
leaders control the majority was well
demonstrated on last Thursday when the
House of Representatives voted for the
Hepburn bill hy Il vote of 3OS to 3 That
the individuality of members is destroyed
and the wishes of certain constituents sac
riticed are Of little moment to the party
leaders compared with what they choose
to consider the party good. One rerubi-
ca. voted against the Hepburn bill, Mr..
Loren Fletcher, of Minnesota. When
seen by your correspondent he stated that
numerous members of his party had come
to him after the vote and expressed TIE
wish that they had dared vote as he had
done. but the fear of the party lash doubt
less prevented them from doing So.
Mr. Fletcher gives rs reason for voting
against the measure the fact that he has
had eight Yeas experience as Il member
of the committee before which the pros
and cons of the isthmian canal have been
discussed and he believes that the enter
prise is fraught with many dangers and
that the estimates on the Ncaraguan
route, at least, are far too low. Mr..
Fletcher admitted that he light have vot-
ed for Il canal along tie Panama route
but he is by no means enthusiastic for
canal along any route. He further be-
lieves that the advantages from such
canal are greatly overestimated. AS
matter of fact, the republican leaders re.
gard any debate or decision by the House
"a mere waste Of time and it is in the Sen
ate that the subject will be discu>>e'! aid
IA definite plan Of action dettrm ned upon.
The action of Senator Morgan. i'll his
capacity of Chairman Of the Committee
on later oceanic Canals, in subpocnains
Nj. Lamrre, the representative OF the Pan
| anna Canal Company, is regarded as some
what drastic, cspt cially in view of the
i fact that NJ. Lampre was ready TO 20 be-
| tu:e the committee and furnish any i,.f"r-
nation that might be required, but II the
Senator, after putting the representative
of the French company under oath,
| should succeed in discovering evidence of
| the conspiracy he believes to exist be-
| tween the Panama Company and the
trans continental railroad companies his
| action will doubtless stand approved
Admiral Walker has nude public Il
statement in which he says that he has re-
ceivcd from the headquarters of the Pana
ma Canal Company in Paris a cablegram
| confirming the offer of their representa-
| tive in Washington, of all the property Of
the company for the fl 1t price of $40, 0oO,-
| 600 The Admiral states that he will call
meeting of the Commission at the earli-
| est practicable date to consider the propo-
sition and make supplementary report to
| the President. This report will be for
| warded to Congress and it is unlikely
| that any definite action will be taken ny
| the Senate until after it is received.
There seems to be little doubt that the
| opposition to the construction Of the Ca
nal now emanates from Senator Allison
| and Representative Cannon, chairmen OF
| the appropriation committees Of the Sen
| ate and House respectively. Both of these
| gentlemen express themselves as aghast
| at the amount OF money which the enter
| plise will require Mr.. Cannon said yester
| day: The United States is a rich coun
try and can well afford to undertake any
enterprise which will make for its ma
terial welfare but that is not saying that
it should enter into a vast undertaking
| of this nature without a most careful con-
sideration of the prospective benefits and
the most accurate estimates ohtainable as
| to the eventual cost" Beyond that state
ment he refused to express an opinion.
| The bill reported by the Census com
mittee of the House came up as especial
business on Friday in that body, and
was productive If spirited debate by
| Chairman H hopkins ON tn one side and
Representative Burkett OF v .braska on
th.ttl,r. The fact that the n-.s ire pro
vides for Il salary Of $500 for Director
Merriam, vino is now to be Il favorite OF
the administration, but who is receiving
ia: greater compensation than the heads
Of other bureaus in the government, and
the further fact that the protection of the
| Civil Service Commission was not assur-
| ed to the clerks in the Census Bureau re-
suited in the bill being referred back to
| the committee for revision. When the
| committee has made such changes as the
members desire it will undoubtedly pass
| h,l l,,,
ed with favor by the Senate.
| Senator Frye is proving indefatigable
in his efforts t. secure the passage of the
ship subsidy bill, and his committee, the
| Senate Committee on Commerce, has
spent many hours discussing its provi
sions Senator Frye has himself prepared
| the cp,It VIII ch be desires shall be favor
ably reported to the Senate, but it is such
| a voluminous locume 1t tn 1t the commit
tee ordered it printed before undertaking
to read it. Senator Frye expects to Sc
cure the favorable action of the whole
committee on the report next Thursday
and he feels sure that if the committee re-
| ports in favor of the measure the Senate
will pass it without que 'tion fro u the re
| publican side IF the ch llnber. The dem
ocratS who regard the subsidy as a per
nicioEs form of legislation, will asset
their opposition before it becomes IA law,
but merely with Il view to recording their
disapproval as they appreciate that there
is little chance for effective opposition.
The frank avowel of his powerlessness
in the matter of Southern appointments
by Senator Hanna, is regarded with no
little amusement by the democrats and
| considerable concern by the republic his;
/ the senators, at least. AS is well known,
all questions of Southern appointments,
under Mr.. McKinley's regime were. de-
cided by Senator Hanna in his capacity of
Chairman of the Natio nal Committee
Under the superstition that such was still
| the case National Committeeman Hawlev