Evening star., 1924-06-22


form of government for the District
of Columbia resulting
u y. Dill from the investigation
Enacted. by a joint commission,
was quickly passed by
| both houses, receiving the concur
renee of the Senate on the 18th of
June, 1874. The Star in its issue OF
June 19 says:
The District bill got through the
Senate with even less debate than the
House and without amendment. AS
there is little doubt that it will re-
ceive the Presidents signature it may
be accepted as the law for our guild
ance, at least until the next session
of Congress. 1t would seem that the
main reason why il was hurried
| through without amendment and al
most without debate was because un-
| less summarily disposed of there was
| no chance for its passage in these
| last days of the session. Yet. if what
We hear intimated rs to the legal
| defects and crudities of the bill BE
true, ii would have saved much fu-
! ture trouble and many perplexitieS
/ had it been subjected to discussion
| and amendment in both houses. It
| is to be hoped, however. in the in
! terest of the people of the District
| that when the act is tested practically
these defects will not prove as for
/
| the District have grown so used to
| being banded about from pillar to
! post by Congress that they will ac
| cept the new provisional govern
ment' or its promised successor next
year, with the same philosophy ex-
| hibited by the Parisians or the Mexi-
| cans, when they wake up in the
| morning and find themselves the sub
| jects Of a king, emperor, president
| or consul, as the case may be. What
| they want now above all things is to
| get the blocked-up wheels of business
| in motion, and il is hoped that the
| new bill will to a certain extent effect
| this desideratum."
Congress adjourned in June. fifty
years ago, leaving, as in the case of
| -. the recent session,
oiSAi niSn's m any important
Ri11 R1onked matters unfinished.
One of these was
the civil rights bill, defining the
equal rights of citizens of whatever
| color Bitter feeling was engender-
| ed by this legislation, for which
houses. but which failed Of passage
in peculiar manner, as thus de-
scribed in The Star of June 19, 1874.
When the Senate passed the civil
rights bill with many amendments)
and in the course Of routine it reach
! ed the House it was sent to the
Speakers table. 1t now becomes a
stumbling block in this wise: If the
House proceeds to business on the
| Speakers table all bills come up in
| their turn. OF course in its own good
| time the civil rights bill would be
| reached. If reached, there is a clear
majority in the House to pass it Thus
the only effectual way to keep it
slumbering is to refuse to 60 to busi-
| ness on the Speakers table, which
requires a two-thirds vote. There are
enough opposed to the measure to
persist in such refusal. But the
trouble comes up in another shape.
Not only is the civil rights on the
Speakers table, but there Is also an
army of little jobs. such as land
grants. relief bills. railroad subsidies
and sundry other matters upon which
lobbyists grow hardy and fat Many
| of these bills would pass, but those
interested in them are afraid to order
Legislation which would reach them,
inasmuch as the civil rights bill, like
the ham-fat in the sandwich. is be-
| tween the layers of the mass of docu-
ments at the Speakers right hand.
| Gen. Butler has in several instances
| endeavored to have the bill referred
| to the judiciary committee, but those
| opposed to the bill are afraid of But
ler. knowing If it got into his hands
| he would report it at an opportune
| time and put it through. Today
motion made by Mr.. Starkweather
prevailed, ordering the House to pro-
ceed to business on the Speakers
| table, under the two-thirds rule: that
| is, requiring a two-thirds vote to
pass any bill. This will of course kill
the civil rights bill IL it comes up"
"Boss- Tweed was convicted In New
York in 1878 on a charge of grand
.1, larceny and forgery
noss AWeeo and sentenced to
in Court. twelve years impris-
onment and a heavy
fine. His sentence was reversed in
1875, but being unable to furnish bail
pending civil suits brought against
him, he was committed to Jail. He es-
capped to Spain in 1875, but was later
brought back, on ,warship to New
York. where he died in custody. In
The Star of June 20, 1874, in the
course of New York sorrsspondenee,
auce in court on a writ of habeaS