The following
dispatch from Washington shows how little the people’s interests are considered
by the lawmakers at Washington and how well they look after their own
conveniences at the people’s expense. The Senate refuses $150,000 for the
reclamation of 50,000,000 acres of land, but appropriates $3,600,000 to give
its members a better view of a railroad depot:
“An amendment
carrying in appropriation $150,000 to show the people of the South how to drain
and reclaim 50,000,000 acres of the most valuable land in the United States was
kept out of the sundry civil bill by reason of the opposition of Senator Hale
of Maine. The amendment was one introduced in the Senate by Senator Foscer of
Louisiana and endorsed by Southern Senators. With the elimination of the
drainage amendment, there was incorporated in the same bill by the same Senator
from Maine an amendment appropriating $3,600,000 for the purchase of 11 city
blocks to afford a better view of the new Union station from the Capitol and
office building occupied by Senators. The amendment that was eliminated from
the bill by the Senator from main would have resulted in the development of
50,000,000 acres of the richest and most productive land in the entire country,
thus adding hundreds of millions in dollars to the wealth of the nation. The
amendment incorporated in the bill at the instance of Senator Hale satisfied
the whim of a few Senators. The first amendment endorsed by the farmers of the
country, three large delegations having come to Washington from the South and
Southwest and appeared before committees of Congress to urge the importance of
the appropriation for a survey with the object of proving how this waste land
may be drained for settlers and home seekers. The 2nd amendment is
endorsed largely by people who live in Washington City.”
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