The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-03-17
RAILROAD SUBSIDIES
ROUNDLY CONDEMNED.
Various Postal Matters Discussed In
the House.

Various Postal Matters Discussed I'm
the House.
Washington, March 16.-The grant
ing of subsidies to railroads for car
rying the malls was vigorously OPP
posed in the House to-day by Mr.. Rob-
inson of Indiana. who characterized
them as stain and blot upon the bill.
Mr.. Sibley of Pennsylvania contend
ed that to deny the subsidy would be
doing a manifest injustice to the in
terests of the South. A heated discus
sion followed. which was participated
in by Messrs. Lamb of Virginia, Holli-
day of Indiana and Gaines of TenneS-
see. Mr.. Robinson had charged the
Republicans with being responsible for
the subsidy, which brought from Mr..
Lamb an emphatic protest, saying
there were as good Democrats in the
House as Mr.. Robinson who would
support the proposition.
Although the Louisville and Nash
Vile Railway, one of the roads benefited
by the subsidy, passed through his
town, Mr.. Gaines excitedly declared
the subsidy to be "a legalized steal"
Mr.. Aiken of South Carolina urged
an increase in the salary of rural car
riers to 5000.
Mr. Finley of South Carolina follow
ed with an analysis of postal appropria-
lions for the past twenty years. He
believed in a reasonable and just al
lowance for clerk hire for all post
offices, and said he would not condemn
any member for requesting allowances
for separating mail and for unusual
business. There were, he said, rumors
of the abuse of the Thanking privilege,
and the commission should look into
that.
Mr.. Sibley of Pennsylvania suggest
ed to Mr.. Finley that If he personally
knew of any such abuses it was his
duty to call specific attention to the
individual. t84
Mr.. Finley declared he was not maxi
ing charges against members of Con-
gress, but had read the statements in
the public press. He said the public
mind was saturated with the charge
that there was corruption in the POST
office Department, and the only thing
to do was to investigate it. If there
was scandal to be uncovered, "the ras-
Gals and grafters,'l he said, would be
enmeshed in the tolls of the law"
In speech characterized by intense
vigor, Mr.. Flood of Virginia asserted
that the credit for the establishment
of the rural free delivery service be-
longed to the Democrats. 1t had, he
said, been claimed by Mr.. Perry S.
Heath, former first assistant postmas-
ter general. Il am not" he said,
"astonished that a gentleman who was
willing to rob and plumber his govern
ment and permit other people to rob
and plumber the government he had
sworn to protect should rob political
opponent of the credit to which he was
entitled He protested, he said,
against honorable gentlemen on this
floor following the example of Perry S.
Heath"
Mr.. Williams of Mississippi sent to
the desk and had read an editorial
from the New York Times of to-day
under the heading, GAS to Running
Amuck," having reference to an inter-
view with the attorney general on the
subject of the merger decision. The
attorney general had given his views,
he said, ito quiet the apprehensions of
trusts and combinations for fear they
might think the government was going
into the business of discovering and
prosecuting them miscellaneously
without regard to political affiliation or
past connection with Republican poll
icies." He said it remained to be seen
whether this prosecution was a theat-
rical campaign trick or the beginning
of a general policy "of shackling cum
ming now, as strength and brute force
have been shackled in the past"
The House adjourned until to-mor-
row,