THE SUNDAY OKEGONIAN. PORTLAND, 5IAY 3.' 1905.
9
SIDELIGHTS ON
THE RESOLUTION
rulton Measure on Oregon &
California Grant Provokes
Much Debate.
HAWLEY TIRELESS WORKER
Together With Townsend, of Attorney-General's
Office,' Conducts
Campaign of Education in the
House Two Others Help.
OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU. Wash
ington, April 27. (Special Correspond
ence.) Side lights on the debate Inci
dent to the passage through the House
of the Fulton resolution authorizing
the Attorney-General to bring suit to
secure forfeiture of the grant to the
Oregon & California Railroad show up
a number of interesting facts not here
tofore reviewed. .
This resolution, after ieing consid
ered very thoroughly In the public
lands committee, where all parties were
heard exhaustively, was reported to the
House, but before it could be brought
up for consideration the Demooratic
filibuster was inaugurated, and the res
olution was sidetracked. The House
had to devote its full time to appropri
ation bills, which always have right of
way. Time dragged on and the reso
lution did not come up. Its friends saw
the end of the session approaching and
were becoming slightly apprehensive.
But, while delayed, they were not
asleep. Representative Hawley, of Or
egon, sponsor for the resolution in the
House, worked ceaselessly In behalf of
this piece of . legislation, for he be
lieved It to be Just and proper and In
the Interest of his state. Day and night
he was In conference with members,
explaining to them the importance of
the proposed suit and the necessity for
the passage of the resolution. Never
a day did he miss in the House, and
scarcely a minute was he off the floor.
With him every minute waa valuable,
and he made good use of his time. The
result was that when the resolution
did come up for discussion the House
pencrally was at least apprised of its
importance, and a great many were
convinced of its merit.
Townsend Works With Hawley.
With Mr. Hawley worked B. D. Town,
send, of the Attorney-General's office,
the man who made the investigation
for the Government, and who discov
ered the necessity for the resolution.
Townsend worked hftT-Hcf Ytnfnr
committee getting a favorable report,
hut when the report came out he spent
much time convincing members that
tliey should vote for the resolution and
vote against all amendments. Town
Sond and Hawley worked In entire har
mony, and to their quiet campaign of
education Is largely due the credit fo?
the final passage of the resolution.
While the resolution would probably
have passed without material debate,
this is one rare Instance where discus
sion made votes. As stated, members
generally had become interested In the
subject, for It had become noised about
that defeat of the resolution meant de
feat of the suit, and this was equiva
lent to donating to Mr. Harrlman 35,
000,000 worth of lands. Members want
ed to know whether this was true or
not. So they stayed . to hear the de
bate. Mr. Fordney came forward with
an amendment which sounded fairly
reasonable to the unacquainted mem
bers, and he made a plea that satisfied
many. But as the debate progressed
and the Iniquity and double meaning of
that amendment was laid bare, those
votes were changed. The amendment
was defeated, to 44. Had it not
been for the protracted debate the
vote would have been much nearer a
tie. It Is seldom that debate makes
votes for any measure In Congress
members usually know how they will
vote beforehand, or else divide on party
lines. No party line was drawn on this
resolution. It was supported and op
posed by men of both parties.
Vote on Fordney's Amendment.
An analysis of the vote in favor of the
Pordney amendment shows nine from
New lork. where the railroad mortgage
bonds are held: nine in Pennsylvania,
where reside some of the large stock
holders In the affected lumber companies;
seven In Michigan and four in Wisconsin.
WM6rf .tr tbolders wield great po
litical influence, and the other scattering
.votes came from Representatives all of
Whom had been appealed to by constitu
ents who had bought lands from the rail
road company Iowa 4. Minnesota 1, Mis
souri l. North Carolina 3, Idaho 1, New
Jersey 1 Utah 1, Ohio 1, South Dakota 1,
and Ioul-slana L . .
iJJZ1 If,', .' "fdit is due Represen
tative Mondell for the manner in which
he handled the' resolution before the
.iSe- . 6 I",ade a "P'id opening
statement, which set the House right on
the proposition: then he gave opportunity
to Republican and Democratic members
or the public lands committee to voice
their support, and also recognized Repre
sentative Hawley, the man most Inter
ested, and Representative Jones and
Humphrey, of Washington, both well ac
quainted and directly interested in the
matter. Mondell himself,, by reason of his
position, was able to show the House why
the resolution was necessary and why it
should not be amended, and such words
from the chairman of the committee In
charge had very great weight. Had he
opened the way for the amendment, or
even compromised, the vote might have
been very different. But he . uncompro
misingly rejected all proposals of amend
ments, and made It plain that neither his
committee nor the Department of Justice
would stand for any change. (
Moiidell's Speech In Favor.
Many interesting passages occurred
during, the debate, some of them illus
trating the feeling that was Injected into
the discussion as the subject became bet
ter understood. The House began to sit
up and take notice when Chairman Mon
dell. of the public lands committee, hav
ing charge of the resolution, pointed out
that the adoption of the Fordney amend
ment would . virtually nullify the Fulton
resolution and render suit impracticable.
In this connection Mr. Mondell said:
My opinion is that nothing could occur
which would be so harmful or disastrous to
the Interests of the Government, of the peo
ple of the United States, and of Innocent
bona tide purchasers themselves as the adop
tion of this amendment. .The probability Is
that the court would hold It to be uncon
stitutional, as being- discriminatory, as being
class legislation: and so at the end of long
an( tedious litigation, the court of lam re
sort having declared the whole resolution
unconstitutional, the titles of the so-called
"innocent purchasers" would h In the same
position thsy are today challenged and In
secure. If the court did not hold this
amendment unconstitutional! It Is altogether
probable that the Attorney-Oeneral- wou'd
And It utterly Impossible to assert the rights
and the remedies of the Government and
people If this amendment le adopted. If It
Is contended that limitations contained In
this grant constitute a condition subsequent,
then the conditions subsequent. If such they
tie, have been breached ia the sales In vio
lation of those conditions; and. If t.e Con
gress, at the seme time that It authorised
the Instittulon of the suits, provides that we
shall forgive and condone the very breaches
on which our suit must be founded, any suit
undertaken by the Government would be al
together futile and useless, and In that event
the titles of the so-called "bona fide pur
chasers" would still be In their present un
satisfactory and Insecure condition.
The rights of all bona fide purchasers from
the railroad companies will be. fully pre
served under this resolution wfthout amend
ment. A court of equity which must pass
upon these matters will and must take into
consideration the equity of these purchasei-s,
and all innocent purchasers will 'unquestion
ably be protected. Eut If now. In the Ineli-.
tution of the suit, in authorizing the Attorney-General
to proceed and a&eert all the
rights and remedies' of the Government, we
condone the very acts, the very breaches,
upon which we are proposing to assert this
.forfeiture, what use will It be for the Attorney-General
to Institute any emit? So in
the Interest of the people, in the Interest of
the Government, and in the Interest of the
purchasers themselves this resolution should
be passed, and paeged without a word or line
of amendment.
"Greatly Scared Innocents."
Representative Craig, Alabama, Demo
crat, was contending that the Fordney
amendment was loaded, and was criti
cising the protection It would give to
large lumber companies that bought ex
tensively concrary to the terms of the
law. Fordney declared these lumber
companies were bona fide purchasers.
Mr. Craig came back with this hot 'one:
Are they bona tide purchasers? That Is
the question we' want - to submit to the
court. The gentleman from Michigan has
THE VANCOUVER TR.I-CIT1
LEAGUE TEAM HAS DEAF
MUTE FLAYER. '
fjf. m'Awr. sn,iii.v vi'.-..-frw.y.'-7
1
5
Si
- it
v
W. S. Hunter.
W, S. Hunter, one of the new
recruits added to the Vancouver,
Wash., Trl-City Leag-ue team, la :
the only deaf mute player In the
league. He played four years at
shortstop for the. Gallaudet Col
lege, of Washington, D. C, before
coming to Vancouver, and is
rated a speedy, tellable player.
He is a 10-second man on the
bases, and played with the Sand
Point, Idaho, team for a short
time at the latter end of the last
season.
made an argument a If h were arguing
this question before a court. If there are
any of the equities which the gentleman
from Michigan say a really exist, he ought
not to fear to go into the courts of this
country. I,oud applause.) But. Mr. Speaker,
they are th worst scared innocent people
I ever saw In my life, (laughter.)
One of the most interesting speeches
made on the resolution, and in defense
of the Fordney amondment, was that of
Representative Jenkins, of Wisconsin,
chairman of the committee on judiciary,
the man who wanted to get hold of the.
Fulton resolution when it came 6ver
from the Senate, and who would have
killed it beyond all doubt. Jenkins had
had letters from some of the poor "wid
ows" In the case, and he got up on the
floor, and with "tars In his voice" said
it was the purpose of the Attorney-General
to "proceed agaipst the little homes
out there" and force the poor settlers to
spend all their money defending their
rights. He had the effrontery to declare
that the actual settlers, those who
bought strictly according to law, and
those who slightly exceeded the law
either as to quantity of land or price
per acre, would have to go into court,
when he knew full well he was not stat
ing the truth; But Jenkins was mud. He
was mad because the resolution had
gone to the public lands committee in
stead of to his committee: mad because
the public lands committee allowed it to
come before the House, when he could
so easily have smothered it 'had it gone
to the . committee on Judiciary.
Jenkins Takes Himself Seriously.
Jenkins takes himself very seriously;
he regards himself as the great consti
tutional lawyer of the House; nobody
knows quite as much about the law and
the Constitution as he. and with most
superior air. after opposing the resolu
tion, he Informed the House that "the
railroad company is not in any danger
under this resolution, and the learned
Attorney-General will find he cannot
proceed against the company, and that
he has got to have further aid of Con
gress." He said there was nothing In
this controversy for a court of equity
to act upon. "When you talk about a
court of equity protecting these honest
settlers, these innocent purchasers'
said he, "It is a fraudulent statement. A
court of equity cannot protect them."
And yet he was much wrought up in his
.opposition to a resolution, which he de
clared was inoperative. "The Attorney
General Is just as helpless after ye
passage of this resolution as though it
had never been passed," he said in clos
ing. This- is the opinion of the mighty
Jenkins the man who was sore because
he did not have opportunity to kill the
resolution.
Representative Howland, of Ohio, a
member of the committee,- did not mince
words !n tearing the Fordney amend
ment to pieces. He devoted himself en
tirely to the amendment and was so
caustic that Fordney jumped up to ask
If the public lands committee had not
rejected all amendments. Fordney was
soon sorry he spoke, for Howland came
back at him in this style: '
Mr. Howland It Is absolutely true that
the Committee on Public Lands, of which
I have the honor to be a member, has wise
ly rejected every amendment which your
attorneys have submitted to that body
4 applause), and we want tne House to re
ject this amendment, because, in our judg
ment, it deprives the United States Gov
ernment of rights which It now has, amount
ing to minions of dollars. (Applause.)
Now, I again direct your attention to
this amendment, which is the product of
the combined abilities of tne best attor
neys of the railroad companies, of the lum
ber companies, and other wise men that
hv -appeared before our committee.
Mr. Fordney I y the gentleman's par
don. What authority has he to say that
this amendment was framed by the rail
road company?
Mr. Howland Because they have been
working on these amendments lor the last
two months.
Humphrey Gets Applause.
Early ' in theV debate John Wesley
Gaines called Representative Humphrey
to his feet and questioned him to .know
whether his constituents favored the reso
lution amended or unamended. Humph
rey said they wanted it unamended, and
had written and telegraphed Mm to op
pose the Fordney amendment. Fordney
said that could hardly be so, as the
amendment had only been drawn the
night before. Later Humphrey. In. his
-own time, sent bom a hot shot that
got the loudest applause of any part of
the debate. He said: 1
Mr. BpAAker, the gentleman from Michigan
(Mr. Fordney) asked how it. was that I was
able to state that I had received dispatches
and letters opposing this amendment, when
hi amendment was not made public jintil
last evening. I will tell the gentleman with
a great deal of pleasure. I received letters
and dispatches and resolutions, saying that
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Fordney)
would offer an amendment Intended to pro
tect the railroads and the lumber interests
from prosecution. .
And the moment I read the amendment
offered by the gentleman I recognized it
from that description. (Applause.) I deny
that any bona fide purchaser from the Pa
cific Coaet is insisting on this amendment.
The tearful plea of the gentleman from
Michigan has been" wasted. If the bona flde
purchaser. Is In fear of thlsj -resolution, why
were not the members from the Pacific Coast
told of that fact 7 Has any protest come to
the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Hawley), in
whose district most of this land is situated,
upon this proposition ? None whatever. -
It Is not a remarkable faot that these Inno
cent purchasers have to go so far from
home to And come one to defend them. I will
tell you who is opposing this resolution;
those who are here urging this amendment.
After describing the big lumber com
panies 'which bought large tracts,, Mr.
Humphrey added:
These are the people who want us to de
clare their Innocence In advance; these are
the poor innocent purchasers who- want us tb
throw some obstruction between them and
the prosecution of the Government. These
are the men that want this amendment. It
you paes this resolution no innocent person
will be Injured, and I aak you to vote down
the amendment so that no guilty person may
escape. (Applause.) .
Jones' Argument Is Strong.
A very strong argument for the resolu
tion and against the Fordney amendment
was mode by Representative Jones, of
Washington. In part he said:
- Mr. Speaker, 1 desire to eay when this
proposition first came up for consideration I
received some telegrams from people in my
state urging mo to insist that some amend
ment should be inserted in the resolution
protecting bona fide purchasers. That sound
ed very good to me. but when I began to
look into the matter further the difficulties
became greater, and I appeared before the
public lands committee 'and listened to the
representative of the Attorney-General's of-
flee, and became satisfied from his statement
before that committee that the Insertion, of
any amendment of this character upon this
resolution would very greatly Injure the pro
ceedings desired to be Instituted by the Gov
ernment of the United States, and It has
seemed to me that the interest of the few
in thU case, must be subservient to the inter
est of the people of the entire country. (Ap
plause.) There Is no doubt but that many of these
purchasers were acting In perfect good faith
and supposed that they were acquiring a good
title. Their interests should be protected,
but we should not sacrifice the far greater
interest of the public in order that these
should be protected in their equitable rights.
There can be no question anyhow but that
they will oe fully protected in their equitable
rights by the courts and by Congress by such
legislation as may be necessary In order to
do full Justice.
The plain letter of the law has been gross
ly violated by the company, and it must have
been done knowingly. . The law has been violated-
by the purchasers, pospibly unwittingly.
They have not paid the price nor purchased
the quantity required by law, nor are they
actual settlers. If this were all, however,
there would be no difficulty In dealing with
the situation.
If the title 'of these purchasers Is good now.
It will not be affected by the?e proceedings.
If It is not good, then they are not entitled
to confirmation, by act of Congress, and that
seems to be what they deeire. If the grant
to the company is forfeited, these purchasers
will still have the right to present their equi
ties for the consideration of the courts, and
if legislation Is necessary to do full justice,
there la no doubt It will be enacted.
This amendment is unfair In Its very terms.
It proposes to except bona fide purchasers
other than railroads. Why this exception?
If there is ft bona fide railroad purchaser. It
Is just as much entitled to protection as atiy
one else. This simply emphasizes -the real
purptwe of this amendment und the lengths
to which those interested will go In order
to secure their own selfish ends.
Gaines Arouses the Speaker.
An Interesting feature ofy the prelim
inary debate is found in the talk of Rep
resentative Gaines, of Tennessee. Speak
ing of the attitude of the public lands
committee, Mr. Gaines made the follow
ing statement which led to exciting col
loquy: Mr. Gaines They do not approve of any
amendment, and this morning they voted 16
to 1 to instruct the chairman of the commit
tee to lneist on the passage of the Senate
resolution 48 without amendment. The De
partment of Justice General Bonaparte and
its special counsel, Mr. Townsend, have been
before that great committee and Insisted up
on this resolution blng passed exactly as it
was sent here by the Senate of .the I'nited
States lHt February, and it has been un
der consideration by that committee -down
until this morning at 11:30 oc!ock, when they
were called here to vote on another public
land bill. As I say, this morning, by a vote
of 15 to t, the chairman of the committee
was directed to insist ujxm the Senate reso
lution and that alone.
The Speaker The gentleman from 'Tennes
see will suspend. The chair will state that
It is not in order to refer In the House to
what pasped in the committee.
Mr. Mondell I want to call the gentleman's
attention to the fact that the committee has
offered no amendment; that the committee
M opiosed to all amendments.. The gentle
man from Tenneesee knows that it is Im
pownble to get on the floor for consideration
of these matters unless we give an oppor
tunity to the House to consider an amend
ment. Mr, Gaines of Tennessee I am informed
here and elsewhere com-erning this matter
that the Speaker absolutely refused recogni
tion to bring up Senate resolution 48 without
this amendment.
Mr. Fordney The gentleman Is mistaken
about that.
Mr. Gaines of Tenneseee That Is what I
am Informed by members of the public lands
committee, who have the matter in charge,
and I eay it without reflecting at all upon
the Speaker. The Speaker has- the right tn
do it.
The Speaker --If the House will Indulge the
Speaker and this is not to be taken out of
the time of the gentleman from Tennessee
the Speaker desires to say that this is? a mo
tion to ruspend the rules, and the Speaker
did, in the performance of his duty as a
member of the House and as Speaker, pro
pose that the motion to suspend the rules
should give the House a chance to vote upon
the amendment. (Applause.)
Cannon After Delegates.
Thus did John Wesley Gaines "smoke
out" the Speaker, and maRe him admit
full responsibility for forcing considera
tion of the Fordney amendment. Mr.
Gaines did not relate the peculiar friend
ly feelings existing between the Speaker
and Mr. Fordney relations which may or
may not have influenced the Speaker In
giving the Fordney amendment a show.
Gaines knew of these facts, but they were
hardly a proper subject for discussion on
the floor. It seems that Fordney, accord
ing to Michigan men. is a Cannon man,
and is booming Cannon for President. At
the premature convention held in Ford
ney's district, two delegates were instruct
ed for Cannon. The unfeeling National
Committee declared those delegates ir
regular, they having been chosen prema
turely, and at the second convention two
new delegates wore named, neither in
structed, but one of them Is Mr. Ford
ney. It Is stated by a member of the
Michigan delegation that "Uncle Joe" is
looking for delegates, and saw his oppor
tunity to get one, and possibly two from
Michigan. Whether this surmise Is cor
rect or otherwise, is for no uninformed
man to say.
Reed French Piano Mfg. Co.
Sixth and Burnside Sts., Pianos. Play
ers and Player pianos. "Frora Maker
to Player,"
CAUCUS DF REPUBLICANS
HOUSE MEMBERS' TO CONSIDER
FINANCIAL QUESTIONS.
Majority Hopes Second Vreeland
Bill Will Pass Another Confer
ence on Anti-Trust, legislation.
WASHINGTON:, May a It has prac
tically been decided to hold the Iong-talked-of
conference of Republican mem
bers of the House to consider financial
questions next Thursday evening. It is
believed that the sundry civil appropria
tion bill will be - disposed . of by that
time, and the House will be free to
enter upon the consideration of any bUl
on the currency question which the con
ference may recommend. -. The leaders
declare they have ho purpose of trying
TiECOffl
Fifteen Gents a Copy
. land ViU
to force any measure upon the party
which is not generally acceptable.
Most of them are hopeful that the sec
ond Vreeland bill will receive approval,
but there will be an effort to confine leg
islation to the appointment of a commis
sion which may be the outcome of the con
ference. Soon after the financial caucus,
but possibly not until the end of the week,
another conference will be held to con
sider the advisability of legislation for the
modification of the anti-trust taw and the
regulation of the issuance of Injunction.
There is a growing belief that something
may be accomplished in this line, and if
anything is done it will be along the lines
ot the recommendation of the Civic Fed
eration. Cholera Kills Philippine Soldier.
WASHINGTON, May 2. Private Will
lam F; McQue, Company. G, First Bat
talion of Engineers, died of Asiatic
cholera ' at Camp Commel In Samara
on April 22. So far as known at the
War Department, there has been no
other cases of cholera In the Army In
the Philippines for several months
past.
. . i i , : t . ,
Metzger fits firlAsses tor $1.00.
NG
ITIIVWT FOR MAY WILL BE A
OUlOil SPECIAL FLEET NUMBER .
The frontispiece is a beautiful 36-inch panorama in 3 colors
showing the fleet in San Francisco Bay By W. H. Bull
The special articles, will include
THE BATTLESHIP FLEET
By H. A. EVANS, U. S. N.
DEFENSE OF THE AMERICAN NAVY
By ADMIRAL CAPPS, an answer to magazine critic Reuterdahl
JAPAN'S WELCOME TO THE FLEET
By CHOZO KOIKE, Consul-General of Japan, San Francisco
These articles will be illustrated by photographs of the 8
admirals and 32 commanding officers of the fleet, also numer
ous pictures of battleships, showing interesting details, etc.
Also the second installment of
OWEN WISTER'S STIR- X JTVT TVfT T? A TV T
RING COWBOY STORY '.LIJN lVlCly.LLrN
,
ALCOHOL IN SOFT DRINKS
ENGLISH TEMPERANCE BEVER
AGES NOT TRUE TO NAME.
Many Popular- Tipples Are Stronger
Than Ordinary Hock or Claret.
Makers Unaware of fact.
LONDON, April 23. Mr. Asquith has
given the following list of government
analyses of beverages sold as temperance
drinks which contained more than the 2
per cent of alcohol allowed:
Samples over
Samples 2 P.C 2-3 - 4-6 Over
Tear taken. ,plrlt. P.C. P.C. P.C. P.C.
1004 1.011 801 233 7S 42 8
190R 24 . 840 248 68 35 8
1806 1,183 4i!2 i 71 8" 8
1807 1,079 417 218 81 32 6
Totals.. 4,147 1,640 1.085 288 14ti 30
"It Is a grave danper to the public
OF THE FLEET
All
health," writes a medical correspondent,
"that so-callod temperance drinks should
in any circumstances contain such a high
percentage of alcohol. Herb beer con
taining 8 per cent of proof spirit Is as
intoxicating as ordinary claret or hock.
More than one-third of the samples test
ed in the last four years have been as
highly alcoholic as ordinary beer or por
ter, which contains from 2 per cent to S
per cent of alcohol.
"These "temperance' drinks are largely
consumed by children, and the thought
that the boy who drinks a pint bottle of
one of these overproof temperance bev
erages Is taking more than the alcoholic
equivalent of half a pint of champagne
is startling. t
"These high percentages are, of course,
accidental, and are due presumably to
natural fermentation taking place after
the bottling."
"Alcohol." said Dr. T. D. Xister to
the Stepney Council of Public Welfare
yesterday, "is still considered by -thej
masses as a necessity instead of a lux
ury, and tea Is regarded as a life-giving
food instead of a drug of the same con
temptible value as alcohol." He found as
much illness among female workers from
tea drinking as from taking alcohol In
excess.
Newsdealers