The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-07-25
DOWN AT WASHINGTON.
interesting Notes from the National
Capital BY 6. A. Wood, Special
Reporter Correspondent. ii,


America, and Taft $1,655,51S.27 to
locate the presidency.
That new route to beauty via the
washtub is not going to appeal very
strongly to the tight-skirted, peeka-
boo-waisted, silk hosed girl Of today.
Now the colored brethren Of
Washington have reversed the de-
cision of the Bible Students and say
there will be hell fire and birthstone
in the future life.
House has elected Charles M. Riddle,
House to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Stokes Jackson.
The importation of absinthe into
the United States and its sale in in
terstate commerce will be prohibited
after October l next under a decision
of the pure food board just signed
by Secretary Wilson.
90 BY vote of IS to rs the House
has passed the Beall bill, which pro-
vides heavy penalties for gambling
in cotton futures. Efforts made to
amend the bill to include provisions
prohibiting gambling in grains were
unsuccessful.
The House committee on public
buildings and grounds has reported
favorably the bill to contribute
100000 towards the erection in
washington Of building to COM
memorate the sacrifices of women
during the civil war.
The Senate committee on agricul-
ture has recommended favorable
report on Senator Burnham's bill
authorizing the Secretary of Agricul-
ture to create horticultural commits
sion with powers to enforce quaran-
tine regulations against plant dis
eases and insect pests.
Postmaster General Hitchcock has
recommended to the Senate commit
tee on postoffice and post roads the
Incorporation of a provision in the
postal appropriation bill which
would permit the payment at the Of
fee of initial mailing of postage on
return postal cards. Business
houses which send out thousands of
postal cards with their return adj
dress On them lose money on every
card not returned by the recipient,
and to obviate this loss there has
long been demand for some system
whereby the postage might be paid
upon the return of the card to the
original mailing office.
p The Peters bill providing for free
smokes for employees of cigar fac
tories, has passed the House. This
bill would relieve the payment of in
ternal revenue on the cigars smoked
by employees and not offered for sale
and would fix the number of such
tax-free cigars to each person at
three a day and six on Saturday.
"A resolution calling on the
economy and efficiency com mission to
investigate the patent office was Of
fered in the House by Representative
Bulkeley of Ohio and referred to the
committee on patents. Mr. Buckley
believes that the patent system is out
of date and inefficient and that new
system should be instituted.
The House has passed the Sulzer
bill creating a Department of Labor
and adding Secretary of Labor to
the Presidents cabinet. This bill
will change the present Department
of Commerce and Labor to a depart
ment of commerce strictly and trans
fer all bureaus relating in any way to
the new department., including the
immigration.
The Senate has reached an agree
ment to vote late next week on the
three principal democratic tariff and
finance bills, namely, the wool tariff,
the excise tariff bill, and the sugar
tariff. This agreement was reached
as a result of filibuster started by
the democratic members against the
sundry civil appropriation bill when
they were thwarted in an attempt to
have the wool tariff bill taken up.
Four per cent of the applications
for increase in pension as provided
in the bill passed May II have been
allowed, and the pension office is
grinding away steadily in an attempt
to handle the 100000 applications
on file. No such congestion Of work
has ever before occurred in the office
and it will require months to straigh-
ten out and dispose of all the appli-
cations. Most of the applicants &C
company their papers with letters,
these coming in at the rate of 900
a day, but on account of the great
pressure incident to the applications,
no effort is made to reply to these
letters
The Senate has passed without dis
cussion Senator Tillman's resolution
proposing that the United States
speak the last word in battleship con-
struction and thus put an end to the
continuous performance" in naval
supremacy, by building the greatest
dreadnaught possible unds-s modern
naval conditions. The resolution d.
reefs the committee on naval affairs
to determine how far shipbuilders
and armorers can 60 to secure the
maximum size, draft, armament, and
thickness of armor, to make the very
best battlechip or cruiser the world
has ever seen or will ever see."
BY a vote of So to %, the Senate
ousted William Lorimer from his
place in that body as junior Senator
from Illinois and declare his seat va
cant. The end of the long fight to
unseat the Senator came after six
days of debate, in which Senator Lor-
liner himself had occupied the floor
for three sessions, making an impas-
stoned defense of his election. The
final vote was upon the resolution of
Senator Lea, declaring that LOrimer's