Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-02-23

or less inconsequential debate. An
amendment, offered by Robinson of
Arkansas, was accepted, limiting the
present legislation to the agreement
with Great Britain and providing that
congress and not the President shall
approve of other funding arrange
ments.
n DETERMINATION of a majority of
~ the senate to have $56,000,000 ex-
pended ON river and harbor improve
ments may possibly lead to the call
ing of an extra session of congress
after March A, in order that the army
appropriation bill may be passed.
President Harding, according to YER
acious reports, thought he had dis
covered a way to circumvent the pork
barrel brigade and planned to instruct
the Department of War to spend no
more than the $27,000,000 which the
budget bureau recommended, and to
turn the balance back to the treas
ury. This made the pork senator's ex-
ceedingly angry and they let it be
known that they would organize a
flibuster and prevent the passage Of
the army bill unless they received sat
isfactory assurances that the entire
$56,00O,000 would be expended. Sena-
tor Caraway Of Arkansas was the
recognized head Of the crowd making
this threat. He asserted in the SEN
ate that the President was making a
bluff in order to win votes for the
British debt settlement and the ship
subsidy measure.
Secretary of Var Weeks said that
President Harding had given no d.
rections regarding the expenditure Of
money appropriated for rivers and
harbors.
THAT would not be necessary" said
Secretary Weeks. II saved a large
amount of money last year on the war
department appropriation but / had
no specific order from the President to
do so. The fact that the val depart
ment engineers told congress, as re-
quired by law, that they could ex-
pend $685. 900, 900 this year on river and
harbor improvements, is in no n
a recommendation that this amount
should be expended"
ON MOTION Of Senator Walsh of
~ Massachusetts the senate adopted
a resolution citing charges of waste,
extravaganza and mismanagement
made against the veterans bureau and
directing the special committee which
investigated the treatment of disabled
ex-service men in 1921 to report on the
ACCESSIBILITY of instituting a new in
quiry into the affairs of the bureau.
For some time a shakeup in the affairs
of the bureau have been expected, and
it is believed in Washington that this
is now at hand. 1t was heralded by
the resignation of Colonel Forbes, the
director, who is now in Europe. Prob
ably he will be succeeded by either
Col. George e. Ijams, assistant direc-
tor, or DR.. L. B. Rogers, now in charge
of the medical division.
MRS. MAE ELLEN NOLAN Of San
lN1 Francisco was sworn In last Mon
day to succeed her late husband, Con-
gresham John 1. Nolan. She is the
third woman member of the present
house. Her election was also to the
next congress, of which she Is now
the only woman member-elect.
a CCORDING to a resolution adopt
"A ed by the Facist council in Rome
presided over by Premier Mussolini,
"a man cannot be a Fascist and a
Mason at the same time. The Facist
who belongs to a Masonic lodge must
resign from either one or the other
organization" The reason for this
stand is that the Masonic orders in
Italy are largely political and Fascism
does not admit of any other political
power which has been organized into
a secret party. Moreover, the italian
Masons are too much internationalists
to suit the Fascist, who are super
nationalists: The head Of the Scottish
Rite Masons Of Italy is, Count Palermi,
and he has asked all its members to
obey the Fascist order for the good of
the country.
a LMOST the entire country suf-
"A fered last weak from the coolest
cold wave of the winter. Sub-zero
temperatures and icy gales prevailed
and train service in the northwest was
d~emoralized for several days. In the
such a huge institution and its affairs
are so complicated that to pass any
judgment on its management in ad'
vance of a complete inquiry would be
worse than foolish.