Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-05-07
WORK OF
CONGRESS


The pension and the District of Colum-
bia appropriation bills were passed by the
Senate Tuesday. In addition, the special
message of the President urging legis-
iatlve program was read, and another
chapter of Senator Warmers speech on
the Brownsville ARRAY was heard. The
resolution of the House to give govern
ment aid to cyclone sufferers in the South
was passed. The resolution to extend the
time when the commodity clause of the
railroad rate law shall become operative
was called before the Senate by Mr.. Ell
klns, but went over under objection from
Mr.. Culberson. Ostensibly considering
the sundry civil appropriation bill, the
House devoted most of its time to-day
to speeches covering a wide range of sub
jects and concluded the session bv giving
an attentive hearing to the Presidents
special message referring to the multi
millionaire whose son is fool and his
daughter a foreign princess" was reached
there was storm of applause
Senator Davis of Arkansas created a
mild sensation in the Senate Wednesday
when in discussing his resolution calling
on the Secretary of the Interior for in
formation about the tribal rolls of the
Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians of Okla
homa he declared that 10000 names were
being kept off the rolls by the secretary
and instanced a case in which he said
nine members of a family were rated as
negroes and only one as an Indian. Ad-
vancing toward Mr.. Foraker of Ohio, his
H., 81 alny, oI,o,.
and adjacent halls as he asked, if the
Ohio Senator loved niggers" so well, why
did he not come forward and defend those
members of that race. Only laughter
greeted this and Mr. Foraker requested in
a mild tone that the Senator speak loud
err. Later Mr.. Davis resolution was
passed. All the pension bills on the cal
endar and many other measures of minor
, Importance were passed during the day.
The sundry civil appropriation bill was
under consideration in the House and the
greater part of the time was consumed
in general debate and discussion under the
five-minute rule. Mr.. Fowler. New Jer-
sey denounced the Aldrich currency bill
and pleaded for the passage of his bill to
create a currency commission. Mr.. Will
Jams, Mississippi, presented a petition,
signed by 164 of the 166 Democrats COM
posing the minority, asking the speaker
to recognize some member of the House
to move the discharge of the ways and
means committee from further considera-
ton of the Stevens bill for the removal of
the duty on wood pulp and print paper
and to pass that bill or a similar one. Mr..
II H.
ment to the sundry civil bill appropriate
ing 100000 for the establishment of a
national art gallery in the Smithsonian
Institution. The amendment was reject
ed on a point of order. The House disa-
greed to the Senate amendments to the
naval appropriation bill and the bill was
sent to conference.
The Senate had under consideration all
day Thursday the agricultural appropria-
ton bill Practically all the committee
amendments were disposed of except those
relating to the forest service, which will
be taken up Friday. Consideration of
the sundry civil appropriation bill was
resumed in the House. Mr.. Townsend of
Michigan offered an amendment increas-
ing from $4,000 to S350,000 the appro-
priaticn for the enforcement by the in
terstate commerce commission OF that
clause of the Hepburn. act directing the
commission to cause to be made examina-
lions of the accounts of the interstate
railroads of the country to determine
whether that law is being violated and to
make public the results of such eXamina-
tons. After a debate lasting four hours
the amendment was agreed to. The House
disagreed to the Senate amendments to
the District of Columbia and pension APP
preparation bills and sent those bills to
conference.
The time of the Senate was taken up
for two hours Friday with speech by
Senator Jeff Davis of Arkansas, asking
that the committee on the judiciary be
discharged from further consideration Of
his bill for the suppression of trusts. The
remainder of the day was given over to
the consideration of a resolution by SEN
ator Elkins, suspending until Jan. i,
1910, the commodity clause of the Hep
burn railroad rate law. The resolution
provoked so much debate and so many
amendments were offered dealing with
other phases of the railroad legislation
that the whole matter went over until
Monday. The House spent all of the
days session in considering and passing
paragraph by paragraph under suspension
of the rules, the sundry civil appropria-
ton bill. A determined effort was made
to strike from the bill restriction pro-
hibiting the employment of secret service
employees in any detective work other
than the guarding of the President and
the running down of conterfeiters, but the
limitation was agreed to and the para
graph finally adopted in substantially its
original form. Objection by Democratic
members to unanimous consent defeated
the passage of bill for the printing and
distribution of 100000 copies of a special
report by the Department of Agriculture
describing diseases of cattle.