Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-05
MAY SAVE LEVEES WAR OVER THE ITEMS
Sunsnne Along Lower mss's- Contest in House Over De-
s'pp' Gives Hope partmentaI Appropriations
DANGER IS NOT ALL PAST LITTLE PROGRESS mAnr
Desert Their Homes That Clause Enforcing
At'hafal'ya River tirements Will Be Dropped.
WATER SPREADS FROM ToRRAS APPLYING TO ABOVE e5
Baton Rouge
Hun'snne supplies to About tack the War Department
Persons Red,c;o,.
Contest in House Over De-
partmentaI Appropriations.
LITTLE PROGRESS MADE
Declared That Clause Enforcing Re.
tirements Will Be Dropped.
APPLYING TO THOSE ABOVE e5
Former Speaker Cannon Joins in A..
tack on the War Department
Reductions.

heductlOnS.
| ohcie Joe" Cannon took a hand IN
.he republican assault on the reductions
| IN the legislative. executive and judicial
appropriation bill yesterday afternoon.
ana vigorously criticised the democratic
proPosal to cut the War DEPARTMENTS
Iorce by 10 per cent. Representative
F1txgerald made reply, by stating that
bureau heads had recommended many
OF the changes. but the former Speaker
succeeded in getting him to insert in the
Congressional Record a list of all de-
partmental reductions in the last three
| years.
The biggest fights on the bill. IL 10
said, are Yet TO come. notwithstanding
Representative iohnson's assurance yes
| terday that the provision eliminating
| clerks at sixty-ttve years OF age and the
| provisions reorganizng the civil service
would be withdrawn. and Notwithstanding
the drastic gag rule adopted early in the
proceedings.
During the debate the republicans
taunted democrats with the cry that the
appropriations committee had proposed
arbitrary reductions in the government
departments in this city in the face of
protests by department heads. and dem
ocrats answered by saying that the re-
ductions In the past had been made at
the recommended ton Of republican bureau
chiefs.
| All along the line the republicans yes
| terday endeavored to get toe hold" IN
dnet,dns 5hs bin now Nv and then to prevent re
primed with reasons OF fact, of law.
Of fair treatment and Of partisan spir-
IT. TO person interested in this
| graphing of the two parties on a matter
Affecting iod xho
| spectacle from the galleries in not far
removed from that of the movements or
two splendidly trained athletic teams. and
| any one objecting to this simile would
see plenty of athletics in the way some OF
| the more active and vociferous members
| choose to hurl their vehbiage and aA-
| cent their reasoning with gestures.
Considered Item by Item.
The bill is a volume OF 143 pages The
| method of procedure is to let the reading
| clerk sound out the sections line by line.
| item by item. The House is considering
the measure in committee OF the whole
all be passed" or adopted" or lost"
ana the record made up the bill Ia merely
ready for the lower body as q House. and
| not as committee. to cast the final vote.
Ihe reading clerk got as far along an
page II yesterday. interrupted as he was
by the debates. the roll calls. divisions
and interminable voting by name. He
| reached that stage merely because. by
consent OF the House. two highly ifnper-
tant items We're skipped over for the
| time being. These are the sections reor-
gantzing the bureau of manufactures and
placing 1t under the Department of state,
and another, consisting of three and
| half solid pages of proposed law, abol-
ishing the United States mints at San
| Francisco, New Orleans and Carson, and
the assay offices at Boise. Charlotte.
Deadwood. Mont, and Seattle.
Representative johnson, in charge OF
| the bill, said that as big fight was ex-
/ pected on these points the bill mad better
proceed for the afternoon without regard
to them. The suppositon is that the
| House will return to consideration OF
| these sections Tuesday.
Not only are the republicans fighting
to have many of the big Items put back
into the bill. but they battering
| heavily to have replaced many a small
| item-which, as small as they are il is
| contended. mean food and clothing for
many a family. There is section In the
| bill as printed. for example, which pro-
vides places for five fremen in the Treas
| ury Department at $780, Now 1t happens
| that every other fireman in the govern
ment service draws S72o. according to
statements made on the floor of the
House yesterday. The democratic ap-
| preparations committee found these fire.
men placed at $500. and left them there.
But Representative Mann. by a clever
maneuver. had the words lat $3.50 each
stricken from the bill. and. as a result.
| as long the law places the salary OF
the firemen employed under the govern
| ment at $I2O, unless otherwise specified.
the boast of no raises In salaries suffer-
| ed to the extent Of $50 apiece for the five
men involved.
Moore FLASHES the Law.
Representative Moore of Pennsylvana
obtained one additional watchman for the
| subtreasury in Philadelphia, the appro-
priation bill under consideration providing
| for six only. Much TO the surprise OF
| the democrats. Mr.. Moore exhibited the
| law, which provides for seven watch
men in that office. This gives an idea
| of one phase of the contest.
| Representative Willis of Ohio tried un-
successfully to add two law clerks for
| the office of the judge advocate general
| in the War Department 1t was at this
juncture, that Representative Cannon at
tackled the proposition to reduce the ar
Department force by 10 per cent.
The business of the government, he
said. cannot be carried on with any re-
ductions. When the matter of reductions
was broached in the committee, | under
| stand. 1t was fiat statement on one side
and a protest on the other. The commit
tee did not go into any detail at ALL but
decided that 10 per cent of that force
will have to walk out if this section Is
enacted
Representative Fitzgerald said the
chief-of-Staf had recommended this re-
duction. This opened up discussion of
whether Gen. Wood was correct In MAX
ing the recommendation. In the printed
hearings on the subject Gen. Woods
recommendations are not in accord with
other officials of the War Department.
Committee Interrogated.
Representative Austin of Tennessee
asked:
Were all these reductions throughout
the entire service made at the recon-
mendation Of the heads of departments?
NO" replied Chairman Fitzgerald OF
the appropriations committee.
They were made by the committee7'
pursued Mr.. Austin.
After careful investigation. they were
made wherever the committee thought
necessary
In spite Of protests by heads Of de-
partments. inquired Representative
Austin.
The committee did not assume" ex-
planned Chairman Fitzgerald that be-
cause a place exists It Is necessary"
italian Squadron Unopposed.
ROME. May 4.-Premier Giolitti an.
nounced In the chamber Of deputies this
afternoon that the Italian squadron occu-