Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-10
Committee Of Whole House
Amends Appropriation Bill.
VOTES DOWN AGE LIMIT
No Change Made in Status Of Gov
eminent Employees.
BITTER WORDS OVER MEASURE
Mr.. Fitzgerald Makes Covert Attack
on Speaker Clark, CHASING Re-
calcitrants as Guerrillas.

After tedious fight, lasting until 9
o'clock last night, the House of Repre-.
sentatives, in the capacity of committee
Of the whole House, finished considera ton
of the legislative, judicial and executive
appropriation bill, and chief among the
items of interest to Washington was the
amendment adopted to strike out the lines
which would legslate from Office all
clerks Of sixty-five years and over AS
reported in The Star of yesterday, this
change was in the form of a committee
amendment. offered by Representative
Johnson OF South Carolina, and it was
adopted without question.
Representative johnson said a few days
ago that he was simply endeavoring to
rearrange the clerical service so that it
would be a more efficient branch of the
government, and that the whole idea of
the majority members of the appropria-
tions committee was to arrive at some
legislation which would be of greatest
benefit to all concerned.
Original Suggestion.
The plan then suggested by him was
to insert a paragraph which would allow
civil service appointments to cease in
1917. and that all reappointments would
be for term of five years, the. clerks to
hold Office as long as they are efficient.
When the committee of the whole
House adjourned last night 1t was un-
derstood that the amended bill would be
taken up formally in the House today.
In ADDITION to the amendment concern
ing the clerks in Washington the bill
now includes features which were the
subjects of much debate in the commit
f0n nf he -h11n yneto
The question of abolishing minis was
taken up late in the afternoon, and after
bitter fight the proposal to abolish
minis at San Francisco, New Orleans
and Carson City and the assay offices
at Boise, Charlotte. N. c.: Deadwood.
s. D.; Helena, Mont; Seattle, Wash, and
Salt Lake City was defeated.
1t also refused to abolish the position
of deputy commissioner Of the lighthouse
service. and Speaker Clark joined with
the opposition to the committees propo-
sition.
Commerce Court Abolished.
The amended bill also carries the propo-
sition to abolish the Commerce Court
and the restoration to the interstate COM
merce commission of all railroad regu-
latory power. subject to appeal only to
the United States district courts. It car
ries q section for the creation of a for
eign and domestic commerce bureau, with
the powers Of the present tariff board.
to be under the Jurisdiction Of the Sec
rotary of Commerce and Labor This new
bureau Is planned to absorb the bureau
Of trade relations in the State Depart
ment and the bureau of manufactures
and statistics of the Department of Com
merce and Labor. The concentration OF
the distribution Of public documents is a
feature Of the bill as adopted by the COM
mittee Of the whole.
The voting on the amendments showed
detection in democratic ranks. The
House, under a misapprehension, had just
repudiated the committee on the clause
providing for the concentration in send
ing out public documents by adopting an
amendment excepting the Agricultural