Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-10
FOR THE POST OFFICE
Appropriation Bill Up in the
House.
SPECIAL MAIL SUBSIDY
Antagonized by Representatives Of
Southern States.
POWER SHOULD BE CURTAILED
Discretion Of Third Assistant Post
master General In Regard to De-
termining Second-Class Matter.
POWER SHOULD BE CURTAILED

When the House convened at II O'Clock
today the galleries were crowded with
school teachers from the New England
states and a large delegation from the New
York College for Girls. In the absence Of
Speaker Cannon, Mr.. Dalzel (Pa.) was
elected Speaker pro tenn, Chief Clerk
Browning calling the House to order.
Owing to the. early hour of meeting there
was but a small attendance of members.
Immediately after the Journal had been
approved the post Office appropriation bill
was taken up the desire of the chairman
of the post Office and post roads committee
(Mr. Overstreet of Indiana) being to COM
plete general debate on Wednesday.
Mr.. Johnson On. c. said that. notwith-
standing the receipt of many letters from
constituents of his. whose judgment he
respected, Ire would be compelled to an
tagonize the special mail subsidy carried
by the bill in favor of certain lines of rail-
road In the south and west He said that
he did not go into frenzy when the word
railroad was mentioned THAT because
some corporations had sinned against the
government 1t did not follow that all cor
porations were sinners"
He resented the insinuation on the part
of some of the members of the House that
the subsidy for the Southern railroad was
due to the sparsely settled sections of the
south. He said satiricaIly that sparsely
settled New England, with slow-going OK
trains he presumed had not a railroad
in all its dominions that received as much
mail pay as the Southern received between
Washington and Danvile, Va.
Mr.. Randell's Free Pass Bill
Mr. Randel (Texas) addressed the
House on his bill prohibiting railroad tele-
graph, telephone. steamship or express
companies from giving to any member of
Congress or any Judge of any federal
court any free pass or transportation or
anything of value He said he had hoped
for a favorable report the measure
from the judiciary committee. but he had
to admit that it was being "strangled' in
that body and that the Speaker had re-
fused him consideration. He called atten-
ton to the magnitude of the free pass
evil and called upon the members Of the
House to awake to realization OF the
seriousness of the situation.
Mr.. Randell said the subject was not one
of partisanship, for 1t concerned both demo-
crat and republican alike. He cited Penn
sylvania as having a law prohibiting the
issuance of free passes to its legislators,
but 1t was notorious fact that the law
was a dead letter He then called the at
tention of the House to democratic Texas
stating that in the last four legislatures
anti-pass bills were up, but were defeated
by members of the senate and house be-
cause their pockets were loaded with
passes He believed the time had come
when the House of Representatives should
GO on record against the pernicious pass
system.
Mr. Gaines (Tenn.) interrupted to ask
what had occurred in the Judiciary COM
rnittee regarding Mr.. Randell's bill. The
latter said that the action of the commit
tee was executive, but he admitted that the
vote on the bill stood 9 TO g. all the demo-
Gratis on the committee voting for the meas
ure with one republican
Mr.. Bartlett (Ga.) spoke in regard to the
unjust and improper exercise of the power
in excluding from the second-ciass rate a
number of publications in his and other
districts. He called special attention to
the case of the Union News Company of
Thomaston. Ga, which was denied the sec
ond-class rate and which was the subject
of investigation by the House. Not con-
tent with the report made in this case.
Mr.. Bartlett insisted that the power of the
third assistant postmaster general was
despotic and should be curtailed
Mr.. Small On. c. defended the subsidy
which is paid to the Southern railway. He
said the "anathemas which We're hurled
at this road in view of the inestimable sery-
ice furnished came with bad grace.
4 letter from First Vice Pres dent An
drews of the Southern railway, declaring
that II the mail subsidy to that road is
withdrawn the mail train affected would
be abandoned, was denounced in the House
by Mr.. Macon (Ark.}, who intimated that
the letter was bluff
In a heated exchange between Mr.. Macon
and Mr.. Small. who had the floor, the lat
ter charged that Mr.. Macon had ''insulted
the integrity and manhood Of the House
and libeled Mr.. Andrews"
When Mr.. Macon rose to deny that he
had libeled any one he was called to order
by the chair.