The National tribune., 1910-03-31

lidS ftdu DtIOre II IOT SOlilt tllllc u JIM
to place eX-Presidents of the United
States on the retired list as Command
ers-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of
the United States at a salary of $4,000
a year, and has finally voted emphat-
ically against such a proposition. At
the same time the committee reported
favorably on bills providing pensions of
$4,000 annually to the widows of two
former Presidents, Mrs. Harrison and
| Mrs. Cleveland, the only two wives of
ex-Presidents living. Mrs. Harrison in
way was not the wife of a President,
but is the wife of an eX-President, hav-
ing married former President Harrison
a year or two after his term of office
! expired.
There were on the floor of the Senate
Chamber the other day several irter-
| esting figures. One of these vas former
| Senator Pfeffer of Kansas, the first
and practically the only Populist Unit
ed States Senator and also Senator
Hiscock. of New York. On the Goor of
! the House the other Gay was Gen. Dan
lei Z. Sicllles of New York, one of the
| three surviving corps commanders
Gen. Sickles, altho 81 years of age. docs
4 not look it by 20 years. He was always
extremely digniGed in mis- movements,
now as ever He sgl for a long time
watching the proceedings of the House,
I where he was for 50 many years a dis
tinguished member. and was most o.
the time the center of attraction, men, |
bers from both sides of the House |
crowding about him to shake hands.
The United States Senate has done at !
least one very appropriate thing at this |
session. 1t has passed Senator Wet
more's bin appropriatfng s3.600,000 for |
the enlargement of the Capitol Grounds |
so as to afford a clean sweep between |
the National Capitol and our magnifi- |
cent new white marble Union Station |
The bill provides for the acquisition of
2 city blocks, which are at the present |
time covered with buildings, some of |
them very handsome ones. It is per- |
fectly proper that the National Capitol |
should be surrounded by grounds COM |
mensurate with its great beauty, and |
1t is more than probable that following |
the acquisition of this particular plot of |
ground, which includes everything be- |
tween the Capitol and the old Balti- |
more & Ohio Depot, the Government |
Will proceed TO secure the northwest |
corner on Pennsylvania avenue oppo-
site the old Botanical Gardens, thus
making a complete circle about the
Capitol. At the present time that cor
ner is made up of a lot of old rook-
rate boarding houses, and just in back
of them is the old slave pen, where 4
negros used to be herded like cattle and
put upon the Block for sale. One can
not help but think that, after all, the
Government has been pretty dilatory I,
and negligent in the matter of beautify-
ing the Capitol Grounds, and IL is going
to cost tremendous sum at this stage
of the game to secure land that belongs
to private citizens. but the longer it is
put off the more this ground is going to
cost, as II accrues in value every day.
A great many people are still under
the impression that Gen. Greely was ,
rewarded by the United States for his
work in the Arctic regions, and that II
this forms q precedent for doing things
for Engineer Peary. Gen. Greely en-
phatically states that he was not re-
warded, and that he never received any
recognition, either by medal. diploma
or public testimonial, from the United
States. His advance in rank was thru
the regular lines. Gen. Greely says that
his work was scientific and entirely Off
cial. as he belonged to the United States
Navy and was working under orders
from that Department ali the time He
says also that he suffered the loss of a
fortune in refusing to lecture. He was
offered SAC, 900 for 100 lectures and the /,
exploitation Of his comrades misfor-
tunes, but this he declined, as he felt
that his labors were for the Navy De-
partment, and that it had the right to
any discoveries that he had made and
to the benefit of any of his scientific
work. Gen. Greely while making these
statements declared that he approved
the plan for National recognition for
the exploits of Engineer Peary in the
Arctic region as "a wise National policy |.
10 stimulate in our young men similar
feats of accomplishments" Gen. Greely
received the highest honors from Eu-
rope for what he did. 1t would look
like rather small potatoes, in view of
the great fund of scientific information
that Gen. Greely brought back, to hon.
or Engineer Peary in the manner that
a great many of his friends are de-
manding.
Millionaire Miner Thomas F. Walsh,
of Colorado, has been yainly seeking
health in the vicinity of San Antonio,
in the Lone Star State, but has not
found the relief expected, so he has re-
turned to Washington, hoping that the
mild Spring days will be of benefit. Mr..
Walsh is one of the rich men whom
most people like He uses his money
with free hand in helpful way, and
very few cases appeal TO him and go
unrewarded IL upon investigation they
prove to be worthy.
Mrs. Bertha Lincoln HustiS, of Du-
buQue, Iowa, daughter of former De-
partment Commander Charles 2. Lin
coin, of this city, is candidate for
Vice President-General of the Daugh-
tiers of the American Revolution at the
coming Continental Congress. Mrs. l.
Hustis has been for several terms Re-
gent of the Dubuque Chapter. and is
the unanimous choice of her city for
the Office. She is a member of the So
ciety of Mayfower Descendants, and
is Colonial Dame and belongs to many
other patriotic societies. She is very
well liked in all of these, and will prob
ably get what she is after.
The United States is decidedly in
favor of building home for Vice Pres
idents Of the United States. There is
no reason in the world why this should
not be done. a Vice Presidents salary
is insufficient to permit him to live as
people expect him to live, when he is
second in power in the National Gov
ernment, and he should hare an off,
cial home provided for him exactly as
is provided for the President He has
to entertain more lavishly than any
other Government official excepting the
President, and the demands upon him
are so great that it is simply impossi-
bic for poor man to be Vice Presi-