People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 April 1896 — WILL BE PROTECTED; [ARTICLE]

WILL BE PROTECTED;

HEAVY APPROPRIATIONS FOR COAST DEFENSES. Bin hiM the Hohae Wltfeaat ißmdaa>t and With Bat Oa* Opposing ▼at* Bond laane Q Bastion la the 1 scats —Venezuelan Matters. Washington, April 15. —The house Tuesday passed without amendment the fortification appropriation bill carrying appropriations and authorizations involving an expenditure of sll,384,613. The appropriations for fortifications since the Endicott commission in 1886 reported its plans for the defense of, twenty-seven seaports, at an approximate cost of $100,000,000, have averaged something over $2,000,000 annually. During the debate there were a number of references to our foreign complications and the necessity of preparing for any possible emergency. Only one voice was raised against the passage of the bill. Mr. Berry (deal., Kv.) thought it would be wisdom to build ships capable of co; ing with the most powerful battleships of other nations rather than to erect fixed fortifications on our coasts. Mr. Bingham (rep., Pa.) presented the conference report on the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill, and explained with reference to the paragraphs to abolish the fee system in the case of marshals, attorneys and Uunited States commissioners that the whole question had been referred to a joint committee of the judiciary committees of the two houses, which were to consult with the attorney-gen-eral and report to the conference com-, mittee. The senate, %e said, had added $229,000 to the house bill. of. which $59,000 had been disposed of by the house agreeing to $39,000, the senate yielding the balance. About $189,000 still remained in dispute; of that amount $67,000 was for the increase of the salary list of the senate’s employes, and as to this last he predicted the house would have to yield. The record showed that the average cost of employes to each member of the house was $939, while that of each member of the senate was $4,483. Justice to the house, he said, required that these facts should be made notorious. Mr. Dockery (dem., Mo.) followed in the same line. He thought it but fair that the house should understand that the senate had insisted on an addition of thirty-eight annual clerks to senators not chairmen of committees, and had also insisted on an increase of the compensation of their individual clerks from $1,200 to $1,500. The report was adopted and a further conference agreed to. The house then went into committee of the whole and took up the consideration of the fortifications appropriation bill. Mr. Hainer (rep., Neb.), in charge of the bill, explained its provisions. Mr. Livingston (dem., Ga.), a member of the appropriation committee, favored the bill. He thought, perhaps, that the great increase in the appropriations for fortifications ($11,000,000, as against $2,000,000 last year) needed explanation, in view of the fact that we are borrowing money at a heavy sacrifice to pay current expenses. After some further remarks by Messrs. Sayers (dem., Tex.), Baker (rep.. N. H.) and Hemmingway (rep., Ind.), the general debate closed with a brief speech by Mr. Cannon, chairman of the appropriation committee, who eulogized the bill as the best fortifications bill presented in the house in twenty years.

WILL TAKE CP BOND QUESTION. Senators Have a Lively Controversy, but Reach nn Agreement. Washington, April 15. —It was made apparent after a lively colloquy in the senate Tuesday that there was no disposition among the silver and populist senators to allow the resolution for a senate inquiry into recent bond issues to lapse. By unanimous consent it had been set for consideration at 2:15, but at that time Mr. Chandler was proceeding with a speech on the Dupont case, Mr. Gray was waiting to follow, and Mr. Cullom had an appropriation bill in reserve. This precipitated a clash, in which Mr. Peffer, re-enforced by Mr. Wolcott (Col.) and Mr. Stewart (Nev.) asserted with emphasis that the bond resolution could not be crowded out either by design or by inadvertence. An agreement was finally reached that the bond resolution would come up immediately after Mr. Chandler and Mr. Gray concluded their speeches. Mr. Squire (rep., Wash.) made an elaborate presentation of the pressing need of coast defenses, pointing out the defenseless condition of our great seacoast harbors. Maumee Valley Battlefields Washington, April 15.—yhe house committee on military affairs has decided to report favorably the plan fosetred by the Maumee Valley Mounmental association and other organizations for the purchase of battlefields of the Maumee valley. A bill introduced by Mr. Southard, with an appropriation of ! $16,000 for beginning the work, will be ; reported. The plan contemplates the acquirement by the government of Fort Industry, Fort Meigs, Fort Miami, Fort ! Defiance, Fort Wayne, the battlefield of Fallen Timber and the piece of ground at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie where soldiers and sailors of the war of 1812 are buried. • Venezuela Presents Evidence. Washington, April 15.—The Venezuela commission met Tuesday after a ten days’ recess, with all of the members present. Mr. Scruggs, the counsel for the Venezuela government, has submitted about forty maps and charts, which are receiving consideration. Also he has presented a few translations of

Washington, April lb.—At a special meeting of the house committee on Tuesday, the Arizona statehood bill was ordered reported favorably to the house. The vote stood five in favor and two against.