The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 16, 1896, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY - 1 6, 1896. NOT GREATER THAN CONGRESS, Federal Officers Who Have! Disregarded All the Laws. MORTON AND BOWLER. Censure for the Disobedient Acts of the Secretary and the Comptroller. STATESMEN APPLY THE LASH. Public Servants Who Must Obey the Legislative Mandates or Be Impeached. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 15.—The of the agricultural appro- rant that official in refusing to execute the law of Congress in the matter. Moses (D.) of Georgia followed Baker in denunciation of the course of the Secre- tary of Agriculture. He said 1t did not make much difference what kind of an appropriation was made if the will of the House was not to be the law of the land. The danger to American institutions, he said, was not that the representatives of | the people failed to carry out their will, but that some other power, after the rep- resentatives of the people had expressed the will of their constituencies, nullified | that expression by neglecting or refusing to carry out the law. Boatner (D.) of Louisiana was the next to attack the Secreta His manner ex- | pressed the deep indignation which he | said he felt over the fact that the refusal of the Secretary of Agriculture to expend the seed appropriation made by the last Congress was based upon a sort of false pretense. *‘Antecedent to his decision that under the terms of the law he was not a\ltho_x'- ized to expend the appropriation,” said Boatner, ‘‘there emanated from the Agri- cultural Department reports derogatory and discrediting to the Congress of the United States.. The individual who has found his way into the AgriculturalDe- partment under this administration (laugh- ter) considered it not inconsistent with the | dignity of his position to allow reports to go out through the press, scattered broad- cast through the Union, that he had dis- | covered great frauds and abuses in the distribution by members of the seeds al- | lotted to them under existing laws. [ do | not know whether these statements were true or false, but I do know ana T assert that the publication of any such scandalous ! to-day gave opportunity for the revival of the attacks upon Secretary Morton of the Agricultural Deps begun by Senator Vest in the other br of Congress, for refusing to execute the purpose of Congress to distribute seeds among the farmers of the country. crats—Moses and L nd Boatner of Louisian gston ircluded Comptrol i i thi denunciati sisted th be time had come when it was v that the line between the leg nts of the | atner and er Bow. lative and executive departme Government should be definitely and finally settled. Livingston said that he was willing that the legislative bran eho ito its - d be required to att ness and he wanted the e to learn to attend to its bu When the agricultural bill was pen Hill (R.) of Iowa, c rman of the Com- tee on M rs, filec the views the mino; committee upon bill to place Ger Alexander Webb | red list of the a . to the following Teed to: > Daughters of the Rev- 1g & year s ahsence to set- 1kton, Sioux and Sisseton reservations in South Da- the lease of university s of Arizona. cutive branch ess. at 5 o'clock New York substitute on regarding the re- oller Bower to certify the claims for payment was ; ttee on the Judi- 1 e law sub- itive officers of the 2 the several departments e to enforce, execute or comply { at i of mportance. If the power existed c rs might set at de- | roved by the Nation. On might be urged that the h those officers to 1 determination in on of a law of Con- valid and constitutional. 1ssion by those learned in the had disclosed a wide difference of opinion as to what the law is oras to what itought to be. Without expressing any opinion as to what the law or as to what t to be, the comniittee was of the opinion that the con. n of the law upon this subject ought to be looked into h nvestigation might suggest ation on the ject. The committee did not deem it wise or proper that the investigation should be directed to any icular officer, act or depart- (D.) of Arkansas said he was not mpathy with the ulterior object sought to be secured by the resolution, believing that an executive officer enforced an unconstitutional law at his peril. How- ever, if the House thought the committee should enter into an inquiry into the law the s ct he should not object. T the passage of a few unimportant bills McCall (R.) of Tennessee, from the Committee on Accounts, reported the reso- lation authorizing the Committee on Ways and Means to investigate the workings of reciprocity treaties. In the form in which it was presented the resolution met the objection of Crisp (D.) of Georgia as not approved matter, a proposition which Speaker, after scme ar- gument, sustained. The resolution was withdrawn. Lacey (R.) of Towa called up the bill pre- pared in pursuance of the message of the President requesting legislation to extend the period within which suits may be bezun to annul land patents. By agree- ment the bill went over till the agricul- tural appropriation bill shall be disposed of. Grosvenor (R.) of Ohio presented the n of 8652 members of the G. A. R. praying for a graded service pension law. The House then went into committee of the whole upon the agricultural appro- priations. Willis (R.) of Delaware stated that the biil carried a total appropriation of $3,158,- 182, which was $145,358 less than the total of the bili for the current year. “I believe,” he said, “that the bill will meet your approval until yoz come to the seed distribution paragraph. and that, I have no doubt, you wili be able to manage to the satisfaction of men and angels.” Pickler (R.) of Sonth Dakota asked if here was anvthing in the bill different m that of the current year, intended to compel the Secretary of Agriculture to dis- tribute seed as desired by,Congress. Had the committee any assurance that the Sec- retary who defied the law of 1895-96 would not defy the law for 1896-97? Wadsworth (R.) of New York, chairman of the committee, said there was no change in the law, and no such assurance as the gentleman suggested had been given. Baker (R.) of New Hampshire, whose The | charges against a body of gentlemen with- out the designation of the names of the individ who lad been found so small and so corrupt and so untit for the posi- at they occupied was not only an to the Congress of the United States, | but a cowardly attack that was inconsist- | ent with the dignity of any man who occu- pied a cabinct position. [Applause.] It ems to me, Mr. Chairman, however 1l and obscure any individual might be, if by chance under executive favor was raised to the high position of a pet officer the mere fact of his eleva- it to raise him above any such | contemptible and cowardly littleness, Applause.] For one, as a member of the ‘l'lfly-lhil‘d Congress, I resent and de- | nounce as an infamous slander the asser- tion that that body as a body, or the preceding Congress of which I was a mem- ber, were addicted to the sale of seeds which were allotted to them for distribu- tion among their constituents.” Ray (R.) of New York said: *‘Does not the gentleman know the fact that the hard beart of the Secretary of Agriculture has relented, and that out of the abundance of his heart—and of the appropriation—he is about to make the most generous distribu- tion? I received a letter this week from the Secretary of Agriculture announcing 10 me that he had complied with the law; that he had made anapportionment under the appropriation act of seeds, plants and bulbs, and that the pro rata coming to me for my district of 216,000 people would be fifteen grape seeds and twenty-five | strawberry plants.” [Laughter.] Boatner—Justice to the Secretary of Agriculture requires that that admission should be made. I received a similar let- ter, advising me that there were forty grape cuttings and 100 strawberry plants at my disposal for distribution in my dis- trict. I supposed the Secretary had found some rare kind of grapes. The refusal by the Secretary of Agri- culture to execute the Ilaw to expend the appropriation was in deliberate contempt of the authority of the Congress of the United States. I so construed it; and for one, as a member of Congress, I am tired—I am absolutely tired—of having this body brought into discredit and its authority despised by a mere executive ofticer. Why, it has got down to that point that a mere subordinate, a man who is known as Comptroller of the Treasury (laughter) declares an act of Congress un- constitutional, and refuses his roval assent to its execution, (Laughter and appiause.) It has come to tbat point that a second veto power has been discovered—that while Congress may pass a law which, if the President veto, it would be passed over his veto, that a clerk in the Treasury Depart- ment (snapping his fingers) may turn it down, to that the parties who are inter- ested have to go to the courts and show that this law is constitutional. I repeat that this refusal on the part of the Secre- tary of Agriculture to expend tnis appro- priation is in contempt of the authority of this body ; that it is one of the very small- est economies, and that it takes away from a large class of our people the only thing which connects them with the Govern- ment. (Applause.) Livingston (D.) of Georgia followed in the same line, but first criticized the Com- missioner of Agriculture, whom he said the House and the country would hold re- sponsible for the conduct of the Depart- ment of Agriculture. Referring to the construction of the bill, he said: “You come back into this House witiz the same verbiage in your bill as ambigu- ous as Mr. Morton or anybody else would like to have it. I have no excuse to offer for Mr. Morton, and I want it distinctly understood that he has gone a long way and certainly stretched his conscience and stretched the constitution and the law a great deal more when he refused to expend that money as the House directea.” Ray (R.) of New York—After March 4, 1897, we propose to have a Republican Sec- retary of Agriculture, who will carry out | the law as written on the statute books. Livingston—Well, let the gentleman take heed that his party does have such a Secretary. Put a man there who knows how to clean the mud off his own boots, how to manage a farm, how to work a farm—and not ® politician, a man who goes over the country singing either gold- bugism or silverisin. [Applause.] Give us a man who is not a scientific man, but a practical man; above all, a man who is in touch with the people who draw a line over a mule and plow from Monday morn- ing until Saturday noon, and then unhitch the mule, put a saddle on top of him and ride ten miles to get their mail. When such a man receives a few papers of seeds through the mail he goes home rejoicing in the fact, saying to himself, ““I am a citi- zen of a great country and L am not for- gotten, though ever so humble.” In conclusion Livingston said: “Mr. Chairman, I want to see this committee take hold of this bill and change and amend it as it ought to be changed and amended, so that in the first place it will add to the business for which it was created, and not be for the benefit of the poiiticians, but of all the people who farm the land and till the soil. In the second place, I want to see it take the bill and controversy last summer with Secretary Morton over the refusal of the latter to dis tribute seed in accordance with the appio- priation law and the intenuion and desire of Congress was exploited at the time, ad- dressed the committee for half an hour. He asserted that theres was absolutely nothing in the opinion of the Attorney- General, upon which the Secretary of Ag! culture said he based his- action, to war- amend it so that the servants—and Morton iz nothing but a servant, and I want him to understand that I said it—to see that our servant, the Secretary of Agiculture, obeys the will of the House, or we will im- peach him or do worse.. [Applause.] “‘Now this country has just about got to this point: There are three branches of the Government and I am perfectly will- ing to see that the legislative department attends to its own business, but, so help me God, I am determined that the other departments of the Government shall at- tend to their own business and let us alone. [Applause.] And we will draw the line and have it distinctly understood that this is a republican form of govern- ment and is not under the control of a Comptrollerof the Treasury or of the Secre- tary of Agriculture, and that they cannot undertake to construe laws made by the House of Representatives.” [Applause.] At the conclusion ot Livingston’s re- marks, which clesed general debate on the bill, the committee rose and at 5 . ., on motion of Wadsworth (R.) of New York, adjourned until Moncay. —_— PLONMARERS WIN LT, McBride Loses the Suit to Pre- vent Infringements on His Patent. Decision Rendered in One of the Most Important Cases Ever Tried in Iowa, DES MOINES, Jowa, Feb. 15.—In the Federal Court to-day Judge John S. Wool- son decided one of the most important cases ever tried in Iowa. It is the suit of John McBride vs. Kingman & Co. et al. McBride was the first patentee of a riding plow and he sued all the important con- cerns in the country which are manufac- turing the plows for infringement. Among the leading defendants are Kingman & Co. and R. M. Galbraith of Peoria, the Weir Plow Company, H. H. Sickles & Co., the John Deere Plow Company, the Moline Plow Company, James Ainsworth, John S. Bonbright, George W. Randall, Adam Dickey and the Norwegian Plow Com- | pany. The trial was held here last fall and ex- { pert patent attorneys from all over the country were engaged for ten days in it. Samples of every riding plow made in the country were exhibited in the court- room to prove that their essential features were copied after the idea patented by Mc- Bride. The court holds for the defendants on the ground that the ideas of McBride were crude and undeveloped, while those used by the defendants are vastly improved and more practical. McBride especially claims to have invented the flexible axle by which the plowshare could be raised and lowered by the operator without leaving his seat. The court holds that the idea as patented was not practicable, and could not have been used. McBride asied heavy damages for the infringements, and is overruled. The case will be appealed to the court of last re- sort. AN EXPLOSION OF GASOLINE. Sleeping-Cars Damaged by the Careless- ness of Cleaners. PITTSBURG, Pa., Feb. 15.—A violent explosion of geasoline took place at 11:45 to-day in the sleeping-car Wyndham in the yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad | Company, near Union station. There were no jassengers in the car at the time, it being in thre hands of the cleaners. Two women, Mrs, Foss and Miss Conroy, and the car porter were at work at the time. The women were cleaning the carpet of the car and were using gasoline for the purpose. in some way the gasoline be- came ignited and the explosion followed. The three occupants were hurled the length of the car and were unconscious when found. They were all padly hurt. The car itself was badly damaged. In front it is almost a wreck above the trucks. The sides were bulged out and the roof lifted. Every window was shattered and the doors were blown from their hinges. The sleeping-cars Zita and New Eng- land, which were standing on either side of the Wyndham, were both badly dam- aged. - . RIVER AND HARBOR WORK. Meeting of the Californians NSent to the National Capital. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 15.—The committee-room of Representative Loud | was the scene this morning of an enthus- | lastic meeting of more than a dozen Cali- | fornians. All the members of the Cali- fornia delegation in Congress, including the two Senators, were present, as were also H. J. Corcoran of Stockton, William Johnson of Courtland, Dr. J. T. McLean of Alameda, E. McGettigan of Vallejo, W. T. Colter of San Jose and Mr. Greaves of Redding. The six gentlemen named are the dele- rates selected at a convention called in California_in December to seek Govern- mental aid in improving the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tribu- taries, as well as the harbors of San Francisco, Oakland and Vallejo. It is the intention, if f"’”’ble' to secure appropria- tions for building jetties and dredging the rivers and to improve the harbors on the plans designed by the United States en- gineers. 2 The meeting this morning was called to talk over the sithation and to arrange a {nro;:mmme which will be followed when a rearing is given to the Californians by the River and Harbor House. Committee of the —_— AFTER DIAMOND SMUGGLERS. Customs Officers Arrest Herman Keck Upon Arrival. NEW YORK, N. Y., Feb. 15.—When the North German Lioyd steamship Aller drew up to her dock in Hoboken last night there were almost as many special United States customs officers waiting for her as there were passengers in her first cabin. They arrested Herman Keck of the Cos- termans-Henreichs-Keck Diamond Cut- ting Company of Cincinnati, who was sus- pected of smuggling diamonds, and also a Cincinnati lawyer named Jones, who met and spoke to Keck, but notning could be found about either man of a suspicious character, so they were released. The search was made on account of the seizure of $20,000 ‘worth of diamonds in the posses- sion of the captain of the Rhynland at Philadelphia several days ago. DMarines Sent to Seoul. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 15.—Noth- ing has been heard at the State Depart- ment about the condition of affairs at Seoul, Korea. The report from Yokohama that Upited States marines have been sent to Seoul” has not been confirmed to the Navy Department. The gunboat Ma- chias is at Clemulpo, the mort of Seoul, and imarines sent to the Korean capital would come from that vessel. Soh Kwang Pom, the new Korean Min- ister, arrived in Washington this after- noon. g e Purchased for Mrs. Sprague. WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 15.—The property known as Edgewood, the Wash- ington home for many years of the late Chief Justice Chase, has been purchased by subscriptions among the friendg of Mrs. Kate Chase Sprague, who intend {o hold it in trust for her, and upon opportunity for its sale, to present the proceeds to admin- istrators for Mrs. Sprague’s use. At public sale a year ago the property brought $46,954, which was only the amount of mortgage upon it. Four years old. How time passes. On Saturday, the 22d, it will be just four years since the big store opened its big Kearny street establishment and gave to the people of San Francisco for the first time an opportunity of buying the finest grades of goods at prices that were right; gave ’em an opportunity of selecting from the largest assortment ever shown west of New York ; gave ’em a perfect establishment where all their comforts, where all the smallest details as tend to their comforts were studied. It will be just four years on Saturday, and our competitors, when we opened, gave us but six months, and here we are, four years old and an awfully healthy baby, enjoying the milk and cream of the trade, and it only took us four years to sweep the town from stem to stern. We have won a place in the people’s hearts, we have wound ourselves around the people’s hearts, we have their good will to such an extent that there’s only one place in all Frisco and that’s the big store. They have been treated right; they have rewarded us with their patron- age, and we will continue to merit it ; notwithstanding that our competitors, when we open- ed, only gave us six months. They have proven themselves enemies to you in the commer- cial way, for they have tried to satisfy their own end ; tried to drive out other competitors by calling San Francisco, in New York City, a “jay town” to open a big store in, and you don’t have to go far from our store to find the man that uttered it. But San Francisco ain’t a “jay town” when it has supported such a big institution as your big and favorite house, run by the Frisco boys, on Kearny street. We're awfully thankful to you, and as this is anniversary week with us, we’ll show our thanks to you in a very substantial way. RAPHAEL’S (INCORPORATED). 9, 11, 13, 15 KEARNY STREET One that has made things hum, and will continue to make’em hum, and hum in your interests. Those that want to be in the race for your trade will have to name lower prices than we, and that, you know full well, we’ll never allow. The highest charac- ter of goods and the largest assortment will always be found at the big store as well as the tiniest of tiny prices. RAPHAEL’S FRISCO’S BIGGEST AND MOST POPULAR STORE. NEW TO-DAY CLOTHING. | i To show fully our apprecia- tion of the large patronage given the big store we have concluded lto continue our $9 Sale and change its name from Challenge L | to an Anniversary Sale. It is a challenge because there | are no other houses in San Fran- | cisco that will produce like Suits, | like Overcoats, like garments,‘i as high in character, as new in style, under $18. | In the picture above we showj an awfully clever Cutaway ; tai- |Tors can’t make a lmmlsomer; We show it in Black | Clay Worsteds, in fine Grayl garment. Clay Worsteds and small, neat figured effects ; also in fine Blue | and Black Cheviots. in Single-Breasted Sacks; the The same { same in Double-Breasted Sacks, high-class tailor-made garments. Anniversary Week price, --$9.00-- While we state it will be An- | niversary Week price, we do not | guarantee to be able to show a | large assortment other than that | from day to day, as the big store has been crowded ever since it inaugurated the Challenge Sale, and we deem it our duty to show you our appreciation of the trade given us in the last four years, so therefore, would advise of you to call early. RAPHAEL’S INCORPORATED). TWO ENTIRE BUILDINGS. The figure 9 has played an important part in the year ’96 with us. The most phenomenal February business ever done ; remarked and talked of in the club, in the drawing-room, in the household, at the fireside, wherever people congregate, the $9 sale is the topic of conver- sation. Above we show the clever Overcoat that’s made such a hit during this sale. It's made from those fine in English Kerseys, blues, blacks, browns, tans; clever garments ; also some very clever Spring weight Overcoats, in the English Top Coat style; all clever garments; their equal cannot be produced in this town under $18. Tailors can’t make ’em better. Anniversary Week price, --$9.00-~ RAPHAEL’S (INCORPORATED). 9, 11, 13, 15 KEARNY STREET