The National tribune., 1906-03-22

My. but there we're hot times in the
House last Friday The House had un.
der consideration a bill to abolish the
grade of Lieutenant-General in the
United States Army, and the bill is all
right. Mighty few men have been born
who should possess that rank, mighty
few, and far between, If you please,
and Congress should be the only power
to bestow 1t, and that 7bestowal should
be for merit, as Washington got 1t, and
Grant, Sheridan. Schofield, Sherman
and Miles. They did things. Well, no.
body i'm the House objects to taking
the power of making a Lieutenant
General away from the President, abol
ishing the grade entirely, in fact, except
Gen. Grosvenor and the few friends of
Gen. Henry C. Corbin, of Ohio, do not
want it abolished until that gentleman
Of the figure and presence has had a
brief whack at the rank, say, about 80
days or something like that, and then
he can retire with the rank and pay of
the highest grade in the United States
Army Lieut.-Gen. Henry Clay-it is
Clay, isn't it?-Corbin. Gen. Grosvenor,
whose own military record is without
blemish, has been sponsor for CorbiE,
lifting him grade after grade as fast as
he could, and now he hopes to crown
his own long service by helping his pet
officers. Congress can't see it that way,
for ii knows that Corbin is not worthy
such high honor. The House would be
perfectly willing to let Macarthur go
to the top grade if he can be disasso-
ciated from Corbin, but with Corbin-
oh, no! The House would like to graf
ify Grosvenor, but 1t will not accept
Corbin at Gen. Grosvenor's valuation,
any more than the Metropolitan Club
of Washington would, and both seemed
to be determined to keep him out. The
whole of Friday was taken up with fill
clustering against the amendment which
Gen. Grosyenor presented exempting
Gems Macarthur and Corbin from the
conditions of the bill. There were some
20 roll-calls. and Gen. Grosvenor lost
out on each. The temper of the House
is to abolish the grade at once and leave
out in the cold these two aspirants for
the high honorS.
The fate of Statehood in the House
is problematical. The House leaders
decided last Friday at conference"
which would have been a caucus" If
1t had been big enough-well enough
attended-then the conference" could
have been at the last termed "cau-
Gus" and the members bound by a
pledge-well, at this conference" the
leaders decided that they woul1 not
permit the House test vote on the
Senate provision to send the thing hack
to the Territories to let the people OF
each vote separately on whether they
would trot in double harness or single
The House managers have decided to
take the bill from the Speakers desk
on Wednesday, March 21, and send it
back to conference 1t is said that a
count of moses" in the House shows
a majority in favor of the Senate
amendment. The Speaker has things
fixed so as to gag the tongues of the
House insurgents; but, just the game,
the Senate amendment must be voted
upon at some time. and the Speaker is
just now scheduled along with the
President to lose out.
Speaker Cannon,s who has been the
guest of honor at many of the Gridiron
dinners, the club of Washington Cor
respondents who report the doings of
Congress, gave a dinner Saturday even
ing at the New Wizards to the mem
bers of the Gridiron Club and the Cab
met, the President and Vice President
of the United States being thrown in
for good measure The banquet hall
Yves laid out to represent the Capitol
grounds. with palms and flowers bor-
dering the walks and driveways, and
the Capitol at the far end of the hall,
all lighted up as for a night session.
The effect was unique and realistic. The
tables for the ESQ guests were laid out
in the form of a gridiron. Fun was
the object of the evening, and the
stories were principally ''man-stories,"
not for outside consumption. The Pres
ident was the principal speaker, taking
three-quarters of an hour to expostu-
late with 'retarders of legislation" or
words to that effect. Sunday morning
got a black eye before the distinguished
host, and his distinguished guests got
enough of it. Oh, it was jollyy crowd,
all right.
Kermit Roosevelt was confirmed in
a large class at Groton College, Mass,
last Saturday, by Bishop william Law
renee. Mrs. Roosevelt went over to
GrotOn from New York, where she had
been attending grand opera. and at
tended the confirmation. On Sunday
Miss Ethel Roosevelt was confirmed in
a large class at Old st. Johns, here in
Washington. the Right Rev. Bishop
Satterlee officiating. Theodore, Jr., Is
the only one of the Roosevelt children
who has followed the footsteps of his
father in religious matters. He is a
communicate in the little Lutheran
church which the President attends.
Senator Boies Penrose Of Pennsyl-
vania, has the Senate hip and thigh,
and that staid and reverend body of
men-reverend is used as Shakespeare
would use it, please-doD't know
whether they are going to school or
coming home SO far as Penrose's bill
is concerned. His bill provides FOR an
investigation of "the quantity of the
so-called hammer blow, centrifugal lift
and tangential throw of the counter
balance in locomotive driving wheels"
Now, Penrose knows all about locomo-
tfves-he was born right up there In
Pennsylvania where these big moguIs
sprout and grow; but the Senate and
the House-well, they are inclined to
pass this bill on. Gen. Grosvenor is
quite sure that it is not hammer
blow" aimed at his dear Gen. Corbin
centrifugal lift" into Lieutenant
Generalcy. Senator Beveridge, on the
other hand, isn't so sure that the tan
genital throw of the counter balance"
isn't meant to sidetrack the Statehood
bill. while Senator Tillman sees in that
reference to "driving-wheels" a dispo-
sition to "bust" his plans on the rail-
road-rate bill. No, indeed, Mr.. Senator
Penrose, that little bill of yours will go
to sleep with biff in the jaws, a ham,
mer-blow in the solar plexus and a
centrifugal lift into the oblivion of mis-
conceived bills, along with the little old
$4,000 appropriated for the proposed
investigation into the bloomin' business
unless you introduce some lectures on
scientific locomotive building into the
United States Senate.
There is now being prepared In the
State Department a brief of the diffe--