Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-01-31
BILL
PASSES HOUSE
APPROPRIATION OF $257, o00, 900
ADOPTED WITH NO VOTES
IN NEGATIVE.
HOT DEBATE PRECEDES THE VOTE
During Debate, Men Higher Up Are
Severely scored.-sisson Would
Fix Responsibility for De-
fects in Service.

Washington, Jan. 25. - The house
passed the postotfice appropriation
bill, carrying about 257,0O000O. with
no votes in the negative.
The postoflice committee of the
house, the postmaster general and
"others higher up including by in
ference the president of the United
States, came in for a scoring at the
hands of members of the house dur
ing consideration of the bill.
The debate reached its height when
Representative Sisson of Mississippi
declared with vigor:
1.-The mail service all over the Unit
ed States is in h of tix-to
use strong expressiOn-and this
house should fix the responsibility
where it belongs. Some say it is the
committee. some say it is the depart.
ment and some say it is the president
The department has declined to spend
the money appropriated for additional
rural free delivery routes and is going
to turn back surplus of Sl,7OO,0OO
from this service. Forsooth, upon
what hath these Caesars fed that they
can thus defy the mandate of the
house and of the United States SEN
ate?"
AS soon as the rural free delivery
service paragraph was reached in the
bill a dozen members were on their
feet offering amendments to increase
the pay of the rural carriers from 5000
a year all the way to $1,000. Chair
man Weeks of the postoftice commit
tee attempted to limit the debate, but
the house would not hear of it.
Representative Bartlett of Georgia
led the fusillade of criticism by offer
ing an amendment to give the car
riers $1,000 a year. Representative
Austin of Tennessee scored the postal
committee and said the country ought
to know where the responsibility lay.
The house then passed with enthusi.
asm an amendment providing that al
ter July 1, 1911, the carriers should
receive salary not exceeding $1,000
year.
An attempt to substitute official
postage stamps for the franks now
used by members of congress and gov.
eminent departments was defeated.
st. Croix River Project.
A number of interesting questions
have come up in connection with the
consideration that is being given by
the interstate commerce committee OF
the house to the bills relating to pow.
er dams in the st. Croix river What
amounts to four or five distinctive is
sues are presented which promise to
have an important bearing upon every
question that shall arise in Congress
relating to the utilization of power in
the streams of the country. These is.
sues are so complicated that it is Ger.
tain that some efforts must be made
by congress to solve them before any.
thing like a general policy shall be
adopted.
Congress has been devoting consid.
cradle time to the consideration Of the
question as to payment for the use OF
power, a question that was raised dur.
ing the Roosevelt administration.
1t now appears that other interest
ing issues have been raised which may
be more important than the question
as to the amount of compensation the
government shall receive for the use
of water for power purposes. The
present case arises over a bill in.
troduced by Representative Stevens
of ST. Paul to authorize the construc.
ton of the Markham Kelsey dam In
the st. Croix river to furnish power
for Rush City, MINI. There is also
pending before the committee bill
to authorize the raising Of the New.
ers dam and a conflict of interests Is
produced.
One of the problems is whether a
monopoly shall be granted in any
stream under the authority Of con.
gress. Also whether these water pow.
er projects shall be confined to large
corporations or for the uses of the
larger municipalities, or whether small
companies or smaller cities and towns
shall be allowed to participate in
the benefits which flow from the con.