Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-08
PENROSE SCORES
PROBING SSTOP
TOLARGER WORK
Senior Senator Calls Agricul-
tural Investigations Useless
and Ridiculous

Washington, July ST have sat
here for the past year and voted for
more measures that met my disap-
proval than 1 have voted for during
| the preceding twenty years as a MEM
Der of this body" declared Senator
Penrose. in the course of an attack
| upon expenditures proposed by the
Democrats in the Senate on Saturday
| night. The Senator, who spoke for
| nearly an hour. especially criticised
| the Democrats for the wastefulness
of the Agricultural Department. He
referred to Investigations proposed
by that department as useless and
of a ridiculous character"
81 have had a disposition like most
Senators to let the Administration go.
certain distance and then see how
it would make out, but the absurd
character of these expenditures has
exhausted my patience" said Senator
Penrose. "At this time every dollar
of the citizens money, taken from
him in taxes or borrowed from him,
should be applied strictly for war
purposes.
The city of Philadelphia, the third
city in the country, has been notified
by the Treasury Department, through
the Securities Corporation, that il
shall not be permitted to proceed
with certain improvements. Either
the securities will not be approved
or through priority orders and other
arbitrary powers of these autocratic
minions that have been set over us
in the last year, Philadelphia will
not be permitted to go ahead with
the work"
Senator RidicuIes Houston
The Senate was convulsed with
laughter while the Senator sought to
hold up the Department of Agricul-
ture to ridicule for asking an appro-
priation of almost half a million dol
lars with which to investigate
skunks. squirrels. coyotes, oysters
and cottage cheese.
II consider that in the general ag-
ricultural appropriation bill recently
passed and before the President, and
his alleged supplemental bill for
stimulating agriculture there is more
waste, criminal waste. of the public
funds than in any measure that has
been pending before the American
Congress in 100 years. he said
81 have long considered the bill for
the Agricultural Department approx
mated about as nearly a condition of
graft. departmental graft. as it is
possible to approximate without
actually involving the participants in
legal proceedings. We only have to
examine some of these items to real
iZe their wastefulness. There is in
the two bills-the amount can easily
be estimated-a number of millions
of dollars, 1 hesitate to say how
many, which, in my opinion, are vir-
tually being poured into the gutter.
Three hundred and ninety-four thou
sand dollars to investigate the hab-
its of skunks, minks and prairie
dogs in the general agricultural ap-
preparation, while there is another
item to investigate oysters.
why, Mr.. President men have
been eating oysters for several mil
lion years. We find oyster beds
among the bones and rubbish of
primitive and primeval man. The
oyster is the original food of man,
together with fish and other things
that he could reach with his primi-
tive weapons. Immense bodies of
| them occur along our seacoast, and
yet in the midst of this great war
crisis the Agricultural Department
asks for a considerable appropriation
| to investigate oysters"