The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-25

cenSufe nlm--cenSure IS the tax a great man pays to the public for being en1inent-but his name and his fame will endure forever.
 When Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
 To deck the turf that wraps his clay, She there shall press a fairer sod
 Than ever Fancy's feet have tTod."
 A BlII Doomed.
 Among the measures apparently doomed at this session. notwithstand- ing it is the express desire of the President and the Secretary of War that it should pass, is the bill, which has passed the House, abolishing the Panama Canal Commission. Secre- tary Taft has declared that the com mission Is an obstruction instead. of an aid to the success of the great enter prise. For one reason and another influential Senators think differently. The leader of these is Senator Allison who has always stood for a good job for Admiral Walker, the head of the present and chairman of the old isth- milan canal commission. There are other Senators who have friends on the commission who have but barely be- gun to enjoy the $12,000 a year salary. Senator German is said to be ready to stand with Mir. Allison. and. with these two powerful leaders shoulder to shoul- der. 1t is highly improbable that any change will he made, at least at this session. Senator MoHkan believes in executing the Spooner law which was enacted after very much deliberation. It Is a rigid act; it provides that the President shall build the canal through the commission.
 No Pork Barrel Measure.
 A veteran member of Congress from the South, speaking today about the relative merits of the rivers and har- bors bill and the public buildings bill; said:
 There Is undoubtedly some grating in the buildings bill. Formerly there was pork barrel politics in the rivers and harbors bill. but that has all been eliminated. It should be remembered that every measure that comes from the committee has to run the gauntlet of survey, estimate and revision from the beginning to the end by competent and skilled engineer officers of the | army. Finally before the House con- siders any measure it must have the | recommendation of the Board of En- gineers of the army. Appropriations for the Mississippi River are even more carefully scrutinized. In addition to the supervision by army engineers the | improvements of the great river are under the care of the Mississippi River | Commission, a thoroughly organized l body of experts whose work has been time and again demonstrated as es- sential to the general welfare of a vast part of the commerce of the country No such claim could ever be made for the public buildings bill, however big an omnibus measure 1t might be-" Day for Texans at Capitol. There will he big day for the T.ona Star State at the capitol on the occasion 1 of the formal acceptance on Saturday of the statues of sam Houston and 1 stephen Austin. The statutes have | been in position and exposed to view | for some time. Although they are the work. of Texas woman, Miss Elizabeth Ney, said to be a relative of the greatest marshal of Napoleon, and the sculpture Is not without merit, 1t is covertly criticised even by Texans as rather an inadequate effort The marble figures of the famous common wealth builders look emaciated and | runty by the side of other statues in ] the hall. Old Sam Houston looks as though he had somehow dwarfed his growth by some kind of, excess of h. dulgence and Austin looks like a be fore-taking' picture of misery and at tenuation. But there is no committee on art in either House and no provision is made by law for passing upon the merits or acceptabiIity of alleged works of art which individuals or States choose to give the government To this is due the fact that there are in and about the national capitol not few abominations of efforts at art The sittin0 statue of George Wash ington on the east plaza of the capitol grounds, garbed as it is in the ray- ment of a Roman pagan on a July day. being half naked, has perhaps disgust ed more Americans and astonIshed more foreigners than anything ever permanently exhibited in America.
 But the little Texas marble runts will be accepted nevertheess with ap propriate ceremonies next Saturday and a special committee representing the Daughters of the Republic of Texas vii be present at the dedication. The members selected for the event are:
 Mrs. AnsOn Jones, widow of the last president of the republic of Texas. and president for life of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas; the State of ficers and executive committee of the organization; the Daughters of sam Houston; Mrs. Laura Bryan Parker and