The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-24
ARMY BILL IS DEBATED
FRENCH NOVELS AND DREYFus
 INJECTED INTO UIs0USsuoN.
Robinson of Indiana Criticises the War Department for Spending
 Money on Lengley's At.
 tempts to Fly.

Washington. Jan. 23.-Ths House devoted the entire day to consideration of the army ap- Dropriation biil in Committee of the Whole.
 Mir. Robinsop Osm.. Ind) took occasion to criticise the War Department for expenditures made by the Bureau of Ordnance and Fortin- cations in the Langley airship. declaring that such expenditures were without the sanction of Congress and that the airship was without utility. -%ss
 Only twelve of the forty-one pages of the bill had ben read for amendment whom ths Heuss adjourned The provision in the bll for the construction Of a canal from sitka tc Fort Mscum, Aissisa, went out on q point oI
 The paragraph pFotidsrr ~ the eoutingent expenses of the army oN neeion of Mir. Hem enway und.) was amended 50 as to restrict tns sum appropriated for the ofFice of the chief oi stan tO purely military purpoaes. <.
 Mir. HemAhwey precipitated breezy, period Of general discussion In which the DreyfNis case and Preach novels received attention by proposing to limit to SIo0 the amount avail. abla for the purchase of periodicals and news. papers. In offering his amendment, Mr. Hem. enway made the general statement that, the department libraries were full of yellow novels and books of no value as well as good novels.
 8Sr. Hemenway was closely questioned for a specific. statement by members of the Military Committee. H
 MT. Parker (N. J.l called attention to the difficulty of getting military information abroad and he maintained that no restriction should be made. This matter of hetraying se- cret information, he said, was one of charges against Dreyfus.
 Mir Hay fva.) asked Mir. Hemenway who was responsible in the War Department for the purchase of French novels. O.
 The answer was that it had gone on for years under the various secretaries of war
 Mir. Williams (0diss.). suggested that the House Committee on Agriculture had eradi- cated this same abuse in the Department of
  ton to the purchase of technical works per taininR to the work of the department.
 Mir. Siayden (Tex.). offered an amendment to this effect. which Mir. Hemenway accepted and withdrew his own.
 Mir Robinson Und.) said that the approprla- ton bill should be made specific and limit the uses to which the funds appropriated may be put and took occasion to criticise the expen- diture of money by the War Department in the Langley airship experiments. He declared that the expenditures made for that purpose lacked the sanction of Congress and characterized the airship as lacking in utility.
 'I will charge directly to the officer of the Government, to It's officials and to its de- partments." Mir. Robinson said, "a system of enlargement running wild. I see the War De- part, yes. and the head of the War Depart ment has permitted an expenditure for scien- tifc purposes of over SIo0, 900 in a vain at- tempt to breathe life into an airship project which collapsed and which was known. 1t seems to me, by every sensible man, had no utility about 1t. and this they did without the sanction of Congress, by a misconstruction of an act.
 50 that 1t has become a scandal that Lang ley's airship, the result of Congressional ac- ton in general terms has cost the Government over S2oO, 600 when 1t never had grain of utility about It: and that under the di- rect charge of the Secretary of War and un- der the charge of war and navy officers, a board sanctioned by this Congress- which gave them at that time over S3.ooo, 600 with which to operate. and by the Qualifications bill of last year gave them Slo0ooo of the peo- ple's money to be wasted on this scientific aerial navigation experiment"
 Concluding he said: T take it that nobody upon that side of the House or this would ex- pend even where the law has sanctioned this money sunk in the bottom of the Potomac River this aerial navigation. this Don ouix- otic scheme of Professor Langley"
 Mir Slayden's amendment prevailed.
 The paragraph providing S32I ,5so for sub- marine cable from Sitka to Fort Liseum. Alaska, went out on a point pr order
 Mir Hitchcock CNeb,) asked Mir. Hull why It was that the United States Army requires 6 greater annual appropriation than that of any other nation.
 l'Bscause the United States pays Its soldiers more than is paid by any other nation in the world" replied Mir. Hall.
 The provision for 300 acting Quartermasters at SIoo per annum in addition. while so act ing. to their regular pay, was stricken out on a point of order.
 At SAY the House adjourned until Monday