The Grit-advocate., 1903-02-13
WASHINGTON NEWS AND
CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS

The House public lands committee
favorably reported Representative
Mondells bill authorizing the city of
Buffalo, Wyoming. to purchase tract
of fifty-five acres for cemetery purposes
at 81 % an acre.
The Grant memorial commission. ap-
pointed under the act of Congress OF
1901 to select plans for a monument to
General Grant. net on the 4th inst.
and decided to select the model sub
mitted by Henry Merwin Shready OF
New York.
Both the House and Senate have
passed the Sutherland bill liberaliZing
the laws relative to assessment work
on oil mining claims taken up under
the placer mining law. The bill per-
mits consolidation of assessment work
done on a group of five claims so that
the work for all may be done on one
claim, where such work is for the de-
velopment of all claims in the group,
or to determine the oil-bearing char
acter of all.
The case of Easton versus the state
of Iowa has been decided by the United
States Supreme Court in favor of Eas-
ton, thus reversing the Supreme Court
of the state. The case involved the APP
pliCability of state laws regulating
state banks to national banks. In this
instance Easton was president of the
national bank at DecOrah and he was
sentenced to five years in prison under
the state law for accepting Il deposit of
800 when r. knew his bank to be in
solvent The decision WAS delivered
by Justice Shiras, who said that state
laws for the regulation of state banks
do not extend to banks incorporated
under an act of Congress
Mr.. Clayton of Alabama. a member
of the judiciary committee, who fol
lowed Mr.. Powers of Massachusetts in
his speech on the antitrust bill in the
House. agreed with Mr.. Powers that
there had been no politics in the con-
sideration OF the subject of regulating
| the trusts in the committee, but he in
| sisted that the methods proposed by
| Republicans and Democrats differed
| radically. He and his associates, he
| said. believed that in addition to the
| interstate commerce clause Of the con-
| stitutiOn, the taxing power directly and
| the leYying of customs duties could be
and should be invoked. His side was
not opposed to publicity, but they did
not regard it as a cure. Mr.. Clayton
created much amusement by recalling
tho attitude OF the Republicans on th'
trust question in the Fifty-siXth Con
eress, in which they insisted that they
were powerless to deal with the ques-
| ton without a constitutional amend
ment He predicted that corporate
| greed would never permit certain sec
| ,ions of the pending bill to become a
| law. In conclusion, Mr.. Clayton de-
scribed the pending bill as the "sooth-
ing stroke of a friendly hand What
the Democrats wanted was action that
would mean something.
The Senate committee on commerce
has been considering the nomination of
DR. w. d. Crum, colored man, to be
collector Of the port at Charleston,
South Carolina. Senator Tillman
Mayor Smithe of Charleston and Col
mel Hemphill appeared in opposition to
confirmation. They preferred charges
to the effect that Crum had sold out as
a delegate to the Minneapolis Repub
lican convention, and in support of this
charge read an affidavit in which it
was declared that he had been sent to
the convention as Harrison delegate
but had shifted to the support of Blaine
on promise of the appointment Of
postmaster II was made quite plain
however. that the principal opposition
was because of Crum's color. and Sena-
tor Tilman admitted as much He told
the committee that the people of the
South did not want their Offices filled
by negroes And" he said. so long
as they are so filled there will be trou-
BILE, oil and water will not unite" Ex-
of I 10;
and Whitfield Mckinlay, formerly of
South Carolina. both colored. appeared
for DR.. Crum They declared that the
charge of selling out at Minneapolis
was unfounded and eulogiZed DR..
Crum as a man of education and char
aCter.
On February End which was "sus
pension day" in the House, the speaker
recognized Mr.. Bates of Pennsylvania,
who moved the passage, under suspen
sion OF the rules, of a bill to provide
for the better separation and utilza-
lion of public and private lands within
the limits OF railroad land grants in
the arid region. Mr.. Bates explained
that the bill was recommended by the
Interior Department. 1t permitted the
secretary OF the interior. he said. to
exchange arid ana semi-arid lands
within the limits of railroad and wagon
grants for public lands of equal value
in order to assemble public and private
lands in more compact bodies. 50 as to
permit them to be advantageously used.
Mr. Jones of Washington protested
vigorously against the consideration of
such an important measure under sus-
pension of the rules. He declared that
the amount of land involved was from
80 1000. 900 to 70,OO0,O0O acres. No man
could tell exactly how much land was
involved. This was a proposition he
said, to pass within twenty debates on
side, bill affecting one-fifth, of the
public domain of the United States.
People who had purchased lands from
the railroads now desired the govern
mcnt, at its expense, to segregate them