The Republican journal., 1914-07-23
Washington Whisperings.

a. WAodANGION, Ju'y ~ 100 =. s.'S
past few months there has been con-
certed effort on the part of certain
newspapers and periodicals to make the
public believe that the river and harbor
appropriation bill, which has been before
the Senate since June IS, is ''pork
barrer' bill pure and simple, and is full
of graft, to such an extent that it
ought to be beaten. p.
AS matter of fact, ''pork barrel
legislation no more fits the river and
harbor bill than it would fit the post
office appropriation bill, the army bill,
or the navy bill, for they all concern the
whole country.
1t has, however, become the fashion
on the part of particular newspapers and
journals of more or less sensational
character to cry "pork" when the river
and harbor bill comes before Congress,
with the result that many minimizing
people believe that it is primarily bill
designed to assist the political ambitions
of representatives and senators, when
the unvarnished truth is that there is no
big appropriation bill that is SO free
from the selfshness that prevails in
legislation to more or less degree, as
this same river and harbor bill.
. Many years ago river and harbor bills
were passed without very scrupulous
regard for reports of engineers or the
merits of particular projects. Such
bills were passed under suspension OF
the rules, without opportunity for discus
sion or amendment, and, naturally, re-
suited, in two instances at least, IN we'll
remembered vetoes. 1t was under such
conditions that the title OF pork barrel
bills came into use. OF late years,
however, it has been the policy OF the
Committees of Congress dealing with the
improvements of our rivers and harbors,
to refer all new projects to the Corps OF
Engineers of the Army for recommends
ton as to the need and utility Of every
individual project, and, as result,
nothing in the way of appropriation has
gone into bill for such project unless
the Engineers have given it their sane
ton.
1t is, therefore, impossible to believe
that the Corps of Engineers, jealous,
as it is, of its good name before the
people, would be found giving its endorse
ment to anything that might SAVIOR OF
"pork" or graft. AS General Dan G.
Kingman, Chief of Engineers, tersely
put it the other day, when interviewed
as to the merits of the river and harbor
bill: "My judgment is that there is less
than one-half of on. per cent of pork in
the river and harbor appropriation bill
now pending in the Senate.
Ambrose Huntington, farmer living
near Gitner, Nebraska, is the author of
as quaint sign as you might wish to
see. In front of his home he posted the
following:
81 need five harvest hands for more
than a month. Wages So per day;
chicken once a day; washing, mending,
and a bed in the hay NOW. Every
worthy young man hired will have
chance to marry one of my five pretty
daughters. If he wins one of them he
gets 100 acres of land thrown in. But
he's got to make good in more ways
than one"
1t is stated that Huntington had more
than a half hundred applicants. The
five lucky ones were hard at work in the
wheat field the other day, when it be-
came noised about that the young
ladies were preparing to leave in day
or two on an extended summer vacation
in the New England States, whereupon
the entire force of harvesters quit in the
midst of the reaping.
In case you are breeder of live stock,
it may not be out of place for you to
know that under regulations of the
Department of Agriculture, you must
secure two permits from the Secretary
of Agriculture before you can import
cattle, sheep, swine, and other ruml-
nants from any part of the world for
breeding purposes, except North
America. One of these permits, upon
presentation to the American Consul at
the port of shipment, will entitle the
specified animals to a clearance; the
other will assure, subject to inspection,
their reception and entry, subject to
observation in quarantine at the port OF
entry, on the date prescribed for their
arrival, or at any time during three
weeks Immediately following.
Cattle from Great Britain, Ireland and
the Channel Islands, are held in quaran-
tine for period of thirty days. If from
other countries, except those of North
America, the quarantine period is ninety
days, counting for date of shipment.
Sheep and swine from any part of the
world, except North America, are sub
ject to a quarantine of fifteen days.