The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-12
RIVER BILL WAS PASSED The House Appropriated
 $3.OOO,OOO. DEMOCRATS WANTED MORE, Appropriation Styled an
 Emergency One. Hamlin of Missouri Argued for Ex- penditure of Money on Missouri River Instead of on Filipino
 Instruction.

Washington. April 1.-The House today passed the bill reported by the Commit tee on River and Harbors appropriating $S,o00,o00 for the restoration or mainten- ance of channels, or for other river and
 harbor Improvements
 Mir. Burton, chairman of the committee,
 in explaining the bill, urged the adoption of settled principles with regard to river and harbor work. Messrs. Burgess. ot
 Texas, and Ransdell, of Louisiana, favor ed increases in the appropriations for river and harbor improvements. the form. CT urging that they should be doublcd and the latter regarding si0O,0O0.oOo as not too muSn. Mir. Clark, of Missouri, made plea for the improvement of the Missouri river Quite large number of bills of minor importance were passed
 Mr. Burgess, CTexas) a member of the River and Harbor Committee declared that the industrial life of the United States depended upon quicker ,transporta-
 ton and hoped the. next general river and
 harbor appropriation will provide a total sum double that of any heretofore grant ed.
 Mir. Ransdell, tLa.) also a member of the committed said he would support bill carrying .s1OO. 100000 because the peo- pie are ready for it and would applaud its passage. He. regretted the present measure simply was an emergency one. The American people. hs said. are not afraid of large sums but rather like them. He charged that the Republicans had been lavish and even reckless of expense in all matters except river and harbor Improvements and called attention to the hundreds of millions which he said had been spent in connection with the war with Spain and on "criminal aggression and passive warfare"
 To Improve Levees.
 MT. Humphreys, CMiss.) also a member of the committee spoke of the fallacy of the levee system of improving the Mis- sissippi river and said 1t was not possible for levee or q system of levees to with. stand floods such as occurred in 1897 and ls0s
 Mir. Hamlin (Mo.) opposed an amendment appropriating $1O0OOO for continuing the improvement of the Missouri river at Hermann and Washington, Mo. Mir. Clark (Mo.l said the river and harbor committee was made up entirely of mem- bers living on the gulf coast. the great levees or the ocean. -.
 Seven great Stafes through which the Missouri river flows or passes are with out a single representative. He alluded to the acquisition by the Senate of the Sandwich Islands, the Philippines, Guam and Porto Rico lon the pretext that homes are wanted for our children" And yet, he said, there Is more farming land out of which to make such homes that is overfowed and destroyed and made barren by the floods of the Mis- souri river than could be found in all those Islands. Instead" he vigorously declared. amid applause, 'of sqrandering money to hold the Philippines in subjec- ton. to educate the Hawaians and to car | ry the mali at an exhorbitant price to | the cannibals of the Eli Islands. you | better be taking care of this land you | have got at home"
 A point of order against the amendment | was sustained.
 Cowherd on the Raw.
 Mir, Cowherd CMo.) referred to the cry | ing necessity for tho improvement of the | Raw River at Kansas City which elicted | from Mir. Burton the statement that the | Kaw River was not now and had not been | navigable for twenty years and no one | interested in that river had sought to l promote navigation on it. The bill was | then passed without amendment Under | it's provision the money appropriated be- | comes immediately available and is to be | expended under the direction of the Sec | retary of War and the supervision of the | chief engineer
 The following bills were passed: Au- l thorizing the Secretary of War to trans- | fer to the Columbia Military Academy | certain land in Maury County, Tenn. to | restrict the unlimited transfer of mer- chandlse in bonded Warehouses, to au- thorize the Secretary of the Interior to | correct errors where double allotments of | lands have been made to Indians and to | correct errors in land patents; amending | the St. Louis Exposition acts so as to admit free of duty articles imported | from foreign countries for exhibition and the sale or withdrawal of such imported goods in the exposition and on the grounds subject to the payment of import duties and also providing that where the articles have become worn or damaged the duties to be levied shall be based on the value of the article at the time of removal or sale.
 A Senate joint resolution was passed the issue of duplicate medals for distinguished and meritorious service where the originals have been lost or 
 Mir. Williams. rising to q question of privilege, called attention to last Satur- lays vote and proposition to lay on the table the Cochran resolution regarding .bo Toraafdapfa naaSIdfa 0rdar ootd |