Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-01-10
is TO RAILROAD RATES
Proposal to Let Interstate Com
mission Fix Them.
DoUD7FULIruousE worLDDOIr
Two Mig Lines said 60 ne WfltinE.
The Omnibus Decornuaa u~iii-Sen~
ntor MitcbeiI's Hawaiian R~pew
The Retirement OF kahs-

washington. Jan. g. tSpeciall -
There was an interesting discussion
recently between WI influential mem.
bers Of the house as "a whether il
would be policy to empower the inter
state commerce commission to ax rates
railroads, during which the positive
declaration was made that two q the
largest railway corporations ia The
codatry were willing TO give the com.
mission the power. These corporations
together reach from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. One of the men, who under
stands the temper Of the house very
well. said that congress would never
pass such an act; that Il would never
lodge In the commission Of Eve men
any such power. which would enable
them to WELD an influence too great for
this country. TO a certain extent the
discussion at present is academic. as II
will be many years befote such a prop
osition is seriously contemplated. al
though bills for that purpose are nov
often introduced. 1T is not because
rates are too high declared one Of
the members, that causes complaint.
1t Is the determinations and evasions
Of the law respecting rates that make
most Of the trouble"
Decorations and Souvenirs.
The constitutional inhibition against
the acceptance and wearing Of decora-
tons and medals from foreign rulers
without the sanction of congress com
pels all officers and civilian employees
of the United States to go to congress
and get a bill through when decora-
tioas are rendered by any government.
On Dec. 3 the house passed a bill grant
Ing permission to a number of officers
wear tile decorations or accept the SOU
veairs which certain foreign princes
had rendered. The senate committee
on foreign relations has favorably re-
ported the bin and added Il number Of
other names, SO that thirty-seven Off
GERS and employees of the government
are included In the Omnibus decoration
bill" It Is very likely that the bill will
meet with resistance, as some senators
do not belIeye ia the custom. Among
these who are named In the bill are
Lieutenant General Schofeld, retired;
Captains Il. z. Rodgers, Bowman Me-
Gala and Richardson Glover, u. S. n,
and Assistant Secretary Peirce Of the
state department. III several cases the
souvenirs are simply photographs Of
Prince Henry, who visited this country
last winter.
a Hawaiian Report.
They'll never get me into a job Of
that kind again." remarked Senator
Mitchell Of Oregon as he was putting
the finishing touches upon his report
Of investigations in Hawaii. Senator
Mitchell was made chairman of the
subcommittee that went to Hawaii aft
err the adjournment of the last session
Of congress. The other members Of the
committee We're Senator Foster OF
Washington and Senator Burton of
Kansas. Both of these senators helped
to make the investigation. They were
at the various sittings and asked ques-
lions and filed evidence; but, as is al
ways the case in such Investigations, 1t
is the chairman Of the committee whol
prepares the report. So in this case 1t
is Senator Mitchell who is going
through the thousand and more pages
of testimony and trying to place before
the senate In d compact form the main
facts that were brought out In the In
y~estigation. 1T is like preparing briefs
in about thirty big cases in the supreme
court" remarked the senator, "and
when there is another investigation an
other can have my place"
Win Be Missed.
One OF the members OF the present
house who win be greatly missed in the
next is julius Kahn of California. Real
ly his fate was one of the hard luck
cases. Kahn comes from what Is
known as the Chinese district in Cali
f0rnia-that is. where the Chinese are
very plentiful and the prejudice
against them corgespondingly strong.
During the last session Kahn devoted
all his time to getting through a Chi.
nesa exclusion bill. He worked hard
not only IN the house, but among IL
senators, ana was very disappointed
that a drastic measure was ncl passed
Among the aep who came TO Washiae
ton to work for The bill was +. ]. LiyeT-
nash. He and Kahn joined forces and
did their utmost, finally accepting "a
bill which became a law as the best
possible measure. Livernash returned
TO san Francisco, ran against kaLn
ana seat him on this very Chinese Is
sue. II was suggested 10 Kahn that he
contest the seat. but he did not care 70
make a fight simply because the elec.
ton was close.
Congressional Notes.
Representative Mercer o< Nebraska
would like to close his congressional ca
reer by providing the capital with a
handsome supreme court building and