Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-04
STIRRED UP COMMITTEE
ABUSE tOF THE FRANK.
ING PRIVILEGE.
Extraneous Matter Enclosed in Envel-
opes without knowledge of
sSiE
ENDORSING, Member.

Charges that incl thanking privilege OF
members of Congress-, had been abused in
the campaign in favof of the Doliver-H Hep
burn bill. granting police power to! the
states oyer original packages Of intoxicat-
ing liquor shipped into their borders, was
made Just as the heaffhg before the House
committee on judiciary was closing yester.
day afternoon by Duncan B. Harrison, rep
resenting the United States Brewers Asso-
citation. Mr.. Harrison produced a number
of envelopes. bearing the frank of Repre-
sentative Clayton of Alabama, a member
of the committee, and passed them around
the committee table for members to open
They contained a speech of Mr. Clayton
printed in a section of the Congressional
Record. and number of other documents
which were declared to be semi-official
one bearing the portrait of Gen. Nelson l.
Miles. .
Mr.. Clayton demanded to know INV the
other documents got inside the envelope
E. c. Dinwiddie, the legislative superin-
tendent of the Anti-Saloon League, these
speeches N his franked envelope sealed up
IF these documents we're inserted after
ward he declared somewhat heatedly, ut
was done wholly without any authority
and l say that If Mr.. Dinwiddie did that
he did what. he had mo right to do and il
1t Is violation of the law l shall have him
prosecuted for it
Mr.. Dinwiddie who was present ex-
planned that he had been in Washington
for four years, and believed he had a very
good idea of the proper use of the franking
privilege. He said he should furnish tie
committee his affidavit and also that of his
secretary, to the effect that nothing inn
proper had been franked
But" interrupted Mr.. Clayton, eff you
sent anything. except this Congressional
Record you violated the use of this frank"
Representative Hepburn demanded of Mr..
Harrison further explanation as to how
he got possession of the envelopes. This
looks" he said, ''ds If some one had been
to importing with the mails. 1 also under
stand, he continued that you have been
stating that / have been misusing my
ranking privilege"
MT. Harrison was quick to deny this abb
solutely. He said he never had made any
such statement. He had stated that the
temperance organizations urging the pas
sage of the bill had done so. He explained
further that he had obtained the evidence
presented by having people write to the
headquarters of the Anti-Saloon League
in this city from New York asking for
literature in favor of the bill He read a
letter replying to one of these requests
which stated that the literature had been
mailed, and that the league was sending
out millions of copies. Mr.. Harrison said
lie Iidu tins written dulHoiIly 1oE tHOSe
New York people to open the envelopes adj
dressed to them which they had forwarded
and on eight packages of which they had
paid postage aggregating $2.2S
Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts, who represents
the temperance movement for the bill, de-
manded further proof. At this point the
committee held secret session, after
which 1t adjourned for the day.
The committee. continued the hearing on
the Doliver- Hepburn bill making liquors
shipped into q state subject to the laws OF
the state. Rev. Mr.. Haas of Newark, N. j.,
representing the German evangelical synod
of North America, and Rev. G. A. Boehrig
OF Pittsburg, representing the Independent
United Evangelical Church of North
America. and Rev. w. Oeser of the Holy
Cross Lutheran chlr2h Philadelphia, OPP
posed the BILL Representative Scott of
Kansas urged favorable report.