The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-01-24
NOTES FROM WASHINGTON

Especial Correspondence.) }

: an emplOye OF the general land Office
D cannot acquire public lands under ex
isting law has been held by the su
J prcme court Of the United States in
the case Of William +. Prosser vs.
F. George l.. Finn, which has been pend.
ing in the courts and the interior de
partment for the past 20 years.
Dangerous Practice Exposed-Mem
bcrs OF the senate and house from
the same states frequently work lr
close harmony. When senator in
PRODUCES a bill Of interest 10 the com
monwealth, the representative from
that state VIII put the same bill into
the house hopper. Often the senator
viii send a copy OF his bill over TO The
other end OF the Capitol and the con
gresham will scratch ont the tclltaIC
marks and put it in as his own. Bu
there is some danger in this practice
The other day Senator Hopkins intro
duced a bin. He sent a copy 10 Rep
Icscntatiyc Mann OF Illinois Mr.
! Mann hastily scratched out the scnat
Or's name and inserted his own, but
unfortunately forgot to obiterate III,
other details. Hence the bill went in
headed: In the senate Of the UniteG
/ States, a bill by Mr. Mann OF Illinois
! The error was caught in the file room
! by a clerk.
Should Study Statute Books-David
/ Moore, whose duty it is 10 distribute
| TO the various members Of the house
| the bills. resolutions and other papers
referred 10 them. groaning under 9
! burden that fairly staggered him
! dumped the load upon the table i'm one
Of the committee rooms and remarked
There's one good thing about these
bills. one hundred and twenty-threo
Of those so far introduced at this ses.
sion are laws already Which goes
further 10 prove, as was demonstrate
by Representative Landis Of indiana
in a cOllOquy with John Wesley Gaincs
OF Tennessee, that even the law-mak
crs OF the land don't know what is on
the statute books. Mr.. Lands was
addressing the house ON the occasion
referred 10, and Mr. Gaines, i'm hi-
usual way, intcjcctcd an inquiry of
more or less rclcyancc TO the matter
undor discussion Mr. Lands had
been aging for the great utcrruptor'
for some time. II Will answer the
g,utlomau's query" ne said, drawiue
printed bill out Of his desk "if ne
introduced this BILL" reading the til,
to repeal the Spanish war taxes. II
did, Mr. Gaines replied II merely .
desire TO inform the gentleman that .
that particular law has been on the
statute books for several months" ob |
served Mr. Lands.
Withdrawal from Cuba-So far as ne .
can Secretary Taft has committed the I,
American government TO promise to I
withdraw completely from Cuba i'm the
beginning Of the spring OF 1909 This
pledge is contained in letter from
the war secretary TO the president,
transmitting the report Of Governor
Magoon of his stewardship in Cuba
for the last year Secretary TaG's en-.
COmum upon Governor MagOOn i'm his
letter may be Of significance i'm view |
Of a recent revival of an old rumOr |
that the present governor of Cuba has
been considered i'm connection with
the vacancy in the Office Of secretary
of war, which would be created next !
July i'm the event that Secretary Taft !
receives the nomination for the presi.
dency al the national Republican con.
vention. After declaring that the i'm.
tercsting report from the governor
q gnnIit ions In hn hg |
very encouraging, Secretary Taft
writes: Governor Magoon has con.
Quoted matters in most clcar-hcaded
and tactful way and with conspicuous
success"
COL Goethals Answers Questions
The house committee ON Interstate
and foreign commerce hal before il
a few days ago Colonel Gocrhals. L.
:. A.. chairman of the lsthmiau canal
commission. and the CHIEF engineer of
con, truction. Colonel Goethals was
questioned about the Gatun dam. but
said definite method of construction
had not been adopted. After a recent
visit 10 the WachuSct dam he said.
the commission would not attempt to
duplicate that dam. The work O,
building the canal, Colonel Gocthals
said, was progressing more satisfac.
to"ily than he had expected The
rainy season had interfercd with trans.
pur,ation and other works. Colonel
Goethals thought the excavation OF
the Culebra cut would be completed ir
the next four or five years Answer.
ing rapid fire OF questions 10y all ot
the members OF the committee. Col.
Goethals said the number of men on
the canal and railroad payrolls huctu.
ated between 10000 and 10000. main.
ly Spaniards, Italians and West Indian
negroes.
Aides Must Remember Leap Year
President Roosevelts body guard of
brave. handsome officers has been Sc
lected All the girls OF Washington