Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1903-02-06

congress, the entire citizen SOld1ery or
the country is to be supplied with a
regular army service rifle. The state
militia organizations aggregate ap-
proximateSy $4,000 men, nearly
double the number in the regular army
establishment. They will be furnished
their new arms as rapidly as they can
be manufactured by the national ar
mory at Springfield, Mass. In addition
to this, the war department is INSTALL
ing plant at the Rock Island arsenal
for the manufacture of the service
rife, though it will be some time be-
fore it is ready for work. The depart
men thas on hand large reserve sup
ply of rifles, sufficient almost to equip
the militia, but will rely mainly on the
production of the armories, as the Of
fcials prefer not to draw on the re-
serve too heavily.
Friday was the last private claims
day of this congress in the house and
members with bills on the calendar
carried everything before them in COM
mittee Of the whole. Forty-five bills
in all were acted on favorably. Many
of the claims were old, dating back
to the Civil war, and few originated
prior to that time. The latter were
for balances due for carrying the mails
in the South when the war broke out.
Mr.. Payne was particularly insistent
in his opposition to these bills, calling
attention to the exposure of the fraud
ulent character of many similar claims
in the Forty-fifth congress. He ex-
pressed the opinion that all these
claims had been paid before. The
members interited stood together,
however, and voted him down every
time he demanded division. There
were several bills to reimburse post
masters and internal revenue collect
ors for stamps lost or stolen. One
was to pay the balance on contract
for ice furnished the army hospitals
in the Mississippi valley during the
war. The amount claimed is $4,000,
and Is for ice at the rate of 80 cents
for 100 pounds. Among the others
were bills to pay George G. Ellison, an
engineer at the hospital in the '7Os.
$4,000 for the cost of defending him
self against the charge of murder; to
pay $4,000 to the widow of Samuel
Muhlman, one of the victims of the
old Ford theater disaster, when the
building collapsed upon a number of
government clerks who were employed
there; and to refund to the customers
Of William Jacobs, Of Lancaster, Pa,
the amount Of the counterfeit stamps
purchased from him. When the COM
mittee of the whole reported the bills
to the house, Mr.. Payne blocked thier
final passage by making the point of
no quorum. But the friends Of the
claims refused to be baked. Let us
stay with him." cried Richardson, of
Tennessee. A motion was made to re-
cess in order to continue the legisla-
tive day, and the sergeant-at-arms and
his deputies were sent out to arrest
and bring in absentees. 1t was O'Clock
at night before the requisite quorum
was secured to carry the motion and
let the session go over unit. 1880
Saturday forenoon.
The situation with regard to state
hood IN the senate Is practically un-
changed. The ono conspicuous fact in
connection with the whole business is
that Mr.. Quay acts with the confidence
of man who is sure of his votes.
This is pretty well conceded, but
nevertheless, there is some doubt
whether he will be able to keep a
quorum in the senate when he insists
on continuous sessions. 1t is some
thing of trial for senators to go to
the capitol after supper and stay there
indefinitely to keep quorum present.
AS soon as the opposition is reason
ably sure that the quorum is broken,
the point is Immediately made and
there Is nothing for 1t but to count
noses If sufficient number of SEN
ators does not respond to the roll call,
a motion to adjourn is at once made.
Barring this aspect Of the case, Mr..
Quay has still the best Of it, and the
opposition is growing FESTIVE under the
long protraction of the fight. There
were rumors Wednesday of all sorts
Of attempts to get vote on some sort
ofsSompromise, but nothing was &C.
complished, and 1t may be several days
before there is any break in the ranks,
one way or other.
The attitude of opposition shown by
Governor Mickey in his recent message
to the Nebraska legislature regarding
what is known as the Dietrich land
leasing bill will serve to defer action
on the part of congress to pass any
leasing laws at this session. The opin-
ion among congressman is that there
are too. many conflicting interests at
stake to be too hasty in attempting to
solve this, vexacious question. They
believe, as does Governor Mickey, that
there should be commission appoint
ed by the president to investigate the
leasing and fencing of public lands.