The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-18
President Makes Grandstand
 Play on Pension Order
THOMPSON MUCH BETTER
Alabama Congressman Has Pneumonia and His Condition Has Been Con sidered Alarming By the
 Attending Physician.
BY PATTERSON sTEALEY.

Washington, March 17-tSpecial) 1.-The democratic congressional committee will meet two weeks from Monday, when plans for the forthcoming congressional races will be made. The chairmanship or the committee has been offered Repre- sentative Griggs of Georgia, but he de- clines to again conduct q campaign IL is expected that Representative Cowherd of Missouri will be selected for the chair manship and Charles A. Edwards for sec retary
 Representative Babcock of Wisconsin will manage the republican congressional races this year. The national committees will of course hold the center of the stage at the coming election so little impor- tance is attached to the personnel of the congressional committees.
 Attorney General Anderson of Virginia is in the city to represent his state on the suit filed in the supreme court in the test case involving the consttutionality of the suffrage clause of the Virginia con- sttution. The case Is called for tomor- row. The argument will probably be con-
 .nued to April 6. Lawyers generally be- leve the case will be dismissed in line with the Alabama constitution decision
 The Presidents efforts to corral the old soldier vote by putting through an execu- tive order in the pension office and vir- tually creating a service pension act in some respects similar to the measure in- troduced by Representative Subway. chairman of the pensions committee, was not very pleasing to republican members.
 Not on account of the fact that the order takes anywhere from eight to hf- teen million dfnars annually out of he treasury Is there soreness on the repub- lican side, but simply because the Presi- dent in his haste to solidify the old sol- diers vote for himself has beaten the republican congressman out of campaign thunder they expected to manufacture for themselves. Representative Subway 8 committee had even gone so far as to arrange for hearings on the G. A. R. service pension bill next Saturday. The President estimates the expense of his new order at a three million dollar limit, but the figures above given more nearly represent it's cost to the treasury.
 Representative Thompson of Alabama. who Is confined to his rooms at the Metro politan hotel with an attack of pneumonia Is reported better by his physician, Dr. J. W. Bayne. tonight MT Thompson was taken sick last Sunday and yesterday his condition was regaded as alarming He is much improved however, and his physician believes that he will shortly be able to resume his duties al the capitol
 The sundry civil bill which will be re- ported in about two weeks, will carry s75,O00 for the Anniston public building, S4l250 for the building at Selma and S27,5O for Natchez, Miss.
 The house committee on war claims this morning favorably. reported bill extending the time for filing claims of the Spanish war from January 1, 1902 10 January 1. 1906. and allowing claims to be re-opened which have been disallow- ed for expenditures made by the states on Spanish war soldiers after they had been mustered into the service. The bill will give the states of Alabama and Tennessee almost s2500O each. The state of Mississippi will get about $15.OOO