The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-13
Whipping Post Bill Is Cause
 of Much Ltdty
ADAMS BEARS THE BRUNT
Stanley, Sims and Bartholdt All Take Fllnus at Him Because He Is a BacheIor-Rebate Bill
 Passed.

Washington, February 12.-The House today had sport with the whipping post bill for wife-beaters and then laid it on the table, effectively disposng of it by a vote of l55 to 55. The most impassoned speech for the measure was delivered by Mir. Hepburn of Iowa, who depicted the brutality of the man who would beat his wife and declared that to be whipped was hardly adequate punishment Mir Adams opened the discussion with se- rious speech In favor of the bill. All of the opposing speeches partook of levity and MT Adams received more than one filing | because he Is @ bachelor.
 The bill requiring the return of freight rebates was passed, also measure relat- ing to court procedure. The rebate bill provides that when a rebate has been re- ceived with guilty knowledge Il is viola ! ton of law and double the amount is to be returned by the recipient and half of this amount is to go to the informant.
 Gavel to Lincoln's Memory.
 new gavel was dedicated to the mem ory of Lincoln by Speaker Cannon today
  of the martyred President was remember ed in the prayer of the chaplain.
 Legislation for the District of Columbia was taken up, the bill most interesting on | the calendar being the Adams whipping post bill for wife beaters.
 During the consideration of bill to reg ulate the sale of poisons in the District of Columbia the statement was made that the drug habit particularly the use | Info baH at a n n l during the last five years. Chairman Bab- | cock said he had been called at all times of day and night by mothers and persons interested to plead for law which would make 1t impossible to obtain this drug. The evil had grown, said he. to be de- cdedly greater than the liquor evil. The ! bill was passed.
 Whipping Post Bill Comes Up. l A ripple of interest was manifested when | MT, Babcock at ? o'clock called up the | bill to punish with thirty lashes. wife i beaters in the District of Columbia Mir | Adams of Pennsylvania, in favor of the 1 bill was yielded thirty minutes. At once | he was importuned to yield to questions | but positively declined to be interrupted | and began with a rebuke of the levity | with which the subject had been treated He said President Roosevelt and the Dis trict officers were in sympathy with the bill and it was only those possessed with | that character of 'maudln sentiment which sent flowers to the criminals cell who opposed. The chief of police of Wash | ington, he said, has reported DOS wife beatings in the past two years. Adequate punishment for a hundred "brutes' he said should be provided. MT. Adams said 1 he did not advocate the whipping post as it existed in Delaware
 | Mir Stephens of Texas, interjeeted the query if the bill was not "class legisla- | tlon' Members laughed as MT. Adams i declined to be interrupted.
 MT Wachter of Maryland said that if the bill passed, the city of Baltimore had very good whipping post In the Balti- more city jail which the District could buy at bargain. In fifty years he said 1t had been used but twice.
 'The women of Maryland don't want 1t used any more than the men"
 Where does the gentleman get his in- formation?' asked MT. Adams. "At home" replied Mir. Wachter, and then. .aOh mean in Baltimore" Gaugh- ter)
 MT. James of Kentucky, wanted to offer an amendment to have the post es- tabllshed at the peace monument, locat- ed on Pennsylvania avenue, at the en- trance to the capital. MT. James was re- bnked for levity by MT. Adams.
 Sims Is Facetious.
 Mr. Sims of Tennessee, opposing the bill predicted that 1t would get one vote only in the House. The President. ne said, had advocated increased punishment for wife-beaters year ago put he IS year older now, and his last message sald nothing about It." He made the further point that the report of the local chief or police indicated that common law wives and other females" received most of the beatngs. Some one has suggested We amend the bill to apply to wife-ehasers, he declared further T don't know who that would hit" Qaughter)
 MT. James made another attempt to ad- vocate the whipping of the beast should be done in public.
 MT. Sims accepted this. If the whip ping he said was to serve as an example, d platform should be erected on top of the Washington monument, where the ef- feet of the beating could reach afar off.
 Stanley Guys Mir. Adams.
 For five minutes Mir. Stanley of Ken lucky made fun of the Dill and inciden- tally took MT Adams to task for never marrying It was, he said. brutal measure of brutalzing brute
 All the arguments in the defense of instruments of torture. buried 100 years ago with barbarian. he said, would apply to this bill.
 T am more surprised" continued MT. Stanley "at this unusual position, coming SIS it does from the distinguished gentle man from Pennsylvania-of all the men in the House the last one to shed tears as big as buttermllk biscuit over a suffering wife. LaughterJ If it had come from d gentleman from Utah l could have ls- tened with more patience.
 If you take all the suffering women In this country there are more of them really in pain that not married and in pain because of that fact than wop>>l who are married and beaten" Gaugh- ter.)
 And the gentleman from Pennsylvania belongs to the class which is really in- fiicting more torture than the wife-beater. The mental anguish is more serious than pain, and If you win think of the great number whom he has left alone, lament ing. he should have more mercy on oth- CTS, who infict agony on the fair sex.
 "I shall move that like punishment be inflicted on him who feloniously refuses to take a wife" QLaughter)
 MT Gaines of Tennessee. asked what ina