Milford chronicle., 1904-04-29
WASHINGTON LETTER

The present session of Congress
has been a business session. A sum
amounting to almost 500, 900
has been appropriated for carrying
on the government, and forwarding
those great enterprises to which it
is committed. Mr.. John Sharp
Williams, the minority Democratic
House leader from Mississippi,
complains that many abstract and
purely political questions have
been ignored or permitted to rest
until next December on a plea OF
want of time. He would have the
trusts prosecuted, the reciprocity
treaties ratified, the Fiilipinos
granted more rights, a nearer aP-
proach to free trade with Canada,
and a general reduction of the tar
iff. Mr.. Hamilton, member from
Michigan, threw down the gaunt-
let" few days ago, in which he
vindicated the present policy of the
Republican party, upheld its pres
ent tariff policy not only as ne
cessity for giving the government
its needed revenue, but as the chief
factor in the prosperity OF the time.
He said that if there is any wide
spread dissatisfaction with the tar
iff, the people will have an oppor-
tunity to give an expression of
their feelings at the polls next No
vember.-The pension bill carry
ing S137 900, 900 has passed. Sen
ator Scott, of w. Va, said that If
he could have his way, he would
give a pension Of S25 per month to
every Union man. rich or poor, who
took up arms in the civil war
There was some speech-making IN
the House against giving the Pres
ident control of the Panama canal
zone, but when the bill came to a
vote it passed unanimously.-The
only appropriation bills still before
Congress are the General Dehci-
ency and the Military Academy.
A good many odds and ends of
legislation remain to be looked at
ter before the final adjournment.
There is a proposition to buy the
1st and end Bull Run battlehelds,
and erect monuments thereon
The Jamestown, Va, exposition
now asks for $4,000, 900, one mil
lion of which is to be used for ma
val para3e.-The Department of
commerce and labor has prepared .
twenty-eight bills for the establish
ment of fish hatcheries and sta
tions,-A government subvention
scheme for the promotion of the
construction of ofrailroads in the Phil
ippines, is before Congress. It pro-
poses to empower the Philippine
Commission to arrange the details
of the subsidy, the time for repay
ment, and the manner Of securing
the government against loss. Sec
retary Taft is in favor of the plan
and wishes it to cover a period OF
thirty years by the expiration of
which time he thinks the roads will
be self supporting and that the ma
tives will have made great progress
in commerce and civilization.
The question of Mormonism and
plural wives is again before the
public, owing to the frank confes
sions and admissions of Agnus Can
non aud ex-Congressman Brigham
H. Roberts. Three of Mr.. Rob
erts' wives have been accounted
for, and Mr.. Cannon has made the
astonishing statement that he mar
ried two of his six wives at the
same hour. This is quite as bad
as progressive divorce, which only
permits a man to marry several
wives in succession. Senator Bev-
eridge is strongly i'll favor of Sena-
tor Smoot retaining his seat. Ac-
cording to a Mr.. Cobb, of Boise
City, Idaho, the Mormons h old the
balance of power in that State
Senator Dubois wishes to know if
any postmasters in Idaho are living
in polygamy. If there are any
such, they should be excluded from
a