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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1888)
SUPPLEMENT. MAKING UP THE HECORD. ' > ' THE HON JAMES LAIRD'S WORK IN CONGRESS. < A Sturdy , Nteadfant antl SucceNHful Champ. Ion or Western Intercut * A Friend of the Farmer , The Defender of tin ) Soldier , a Leader uml u Tower Among the Nation' * Law Maker * . [ From Daily Gazette-Journal , Si t. 20 , 1888. ] It is not an unpleasant task to write the record of one who is able , earnest and who has been unusually successful in public station. In reviewing the congressional work of the Hon. James Laird , for public reading , we can but touch here and there upon the more im portant matters in which he has con cerned himself. All data given below have been verilied by the public records and the writers' intimate acquaintance with the man and his measures enables him to make this review an accurate and a truthful one. HIS WOKK FOR THK FARM Kit * . Taking first the bill making appropri ations for the agricultural department for the year ending June 30th , 1888 ; this bill appropriated 89iH5(580 , to be expended through that department for the benefit of the farmers of Nebraska and the whole country. This appropri ation was voted for and : idvoeated by Mr. Laird. Whether his vote for this expenditure was for the benefit of the farmers of Nebraska can best be judged by a consideration of certain objects of the bill. One of the items of the bill was 8500,000 to be used to prevent th e spread of pleuro-pueumonia and other contagious and communicable diseases among domestic animals. This law authorized the "commissioner of agri culture to employ as many persons as he might deem necessary , and to ex pend any part of this sum in the pur chase and destruction of diseased or ex posed animals , and the quarantine of the same when essential to prevent the spread of the disease. " "When this act was passed there were $1,200,000,000 , worth of cattle endang ered by a disease then raging in ten states and five great cities , namely , New York , New Jersey , Delaware Pennsylvania , Maryland , Virginia , Ohio , Kentucky , Missouri , Illinois and in the cities of New York , Brooklyn , Baltimore , "Washington , D. C. and Chi1 cago. The farmers and stock men of Nebraska had 1,844,5(53 head of cattle ' valued at $47,437,0(53 , exposed to this disease. The danger to Nebraska farmers from the spread of this plaguewhich it was the object of the appropriation to check , and which it did check , may be argued from the loss sustained by the - cattle owners in the states where the out- \ break then existed. The loss sustained by t cattle owners in Ohio was put at + 81,000,000 ; in Missouri at S2.000,000 in { Kentucky at 810,000,000 ; and the loss to \ Illinois no one presumed to estimate. f- The enormity of the danger of this . disease , if it once got into the herds of this country can be better understood , j when it is known that from 1842 to c 18(59 , England lost from the same plague i 5,549,7S0 head of cattle worth 8400,000 , - t 000. In fortv vears the loss of Great t Britain , with oiilv (5,000,000 head of catt tie , ran up to 8500,000,000 ; at this ratio t in the same time , the loss of the United s States with its 45,000,000 head would j have reached the extraordinary total of , 83,500,000,000. | s Unless congress or the states paid for the cattle belonging to private per- sons , and slaughtered to prevent the - spread of the disease , the loss would j- fall upon the farmer owners alone , and c hence the importance of this appropnar tion to every owner of a head of stock. With this money , and the authority of j ongress , and the consent of the states , c this disease is under control and will be p eradicated without ruin to the farmers c of Nebraska or other states. Had the c policy of prolonged investigation been g pursued in this country as it was in England , and the disease been thereby f permitted to spread through the west , „ no limit short of utter ruin of our catj j { , tie ownprs. could be set to its ravages. . j. . The making of this appropriation t was opposed by the democratic party in ' congress and only passed the 48th con- , , gress by a very small majority. The n measure was advocated by the agriculj tural states and it was owing to the en- # ergy , advocacy and votes of western e men. among whom Laird was one of § the foremost , that the law was enacted j and is to-day continued on the statute n books. The appropriation of 8500,000 c for the suppression of this disease was reported for the fiscal year 1SS8-9 by the o , committee on agriculture of which Mr. y Laird is a member , and through his exv ertion a portion of this sum is set apart for the purpose of further investigating sl the hog cholera until lately so destructn ive in Nebraska. f ( In this connection it will be remenip p bered that when the hog cholera broke [ : ] out in Nebraska , Mr. Laird caused v government experts to be sent to Ne- : ] braska to investigate the disease and give what aid it was then in the power : of the department to give. \ The agricultural appropriation bill for the fiscal year ending June 30th , v 1SS9 , reported'by the agricultural com- : mittee , of which Mr. Laird is now a a member , carries 81,555,297. Of this sum c ' over a million dollars is to be expended rj directly for the benefit of the farmers of . c. the United Strtes , Nebraska included. - a- This is the largest annual appropriation j\ ever made for agriculture. And not only did Laird vote for it but was one of its strongest advocates both in the committee and on the floor of the house , tl 8500,000 of this sum goes to the bureau n of animal industry to be used in supc : < pressing diseases of animals , the other tl large item , 8595,000 is to be given equally to aid state agricultural experi ment stations and schools , of which Nebraska of course gets her share. An other item of great importance to Nebraska and the west , carried by the appropriation bill , is one for 8100,000 to be expended by the commissioner of agriculture in completing and perfect ing experiments already made for the manufacture of sugar from sorghum. The first appropriation for this purpose was 850,000 in 1885 and 895,000 for 188(5-7. Mr. Laird was one of the pio neers of this legislation and as such can with reason claim that some por tion of the last appropriation shall be expended in experiments in Nebraska. So far the experiments have been con fined to Kansas and New Jersey. The importance of every practical .step in the direction of the western growth and manufacture of the sugar supply of the United States will be seen from the following facts : In 1887 the sugar consumed by the people of the United States cost 8142,707,103 , and to this the cost of transportation , charges of refiners and profits of jobbers and merchants , probably twenty per cent or over , 828,000,000 , and the aggregate cost to the consumer runs up to 8171,248,523. Of this only 181,123,870 pounds were produced in the United States and 3,13(5,443,240 ( pounds were imported and paid a tax ot about two cents a pound equal to nearly 8(5(5,000,000. ( ( Less than one seventeenth of all the sugar consumed in this country is pro- duced in the United States. If this can be changed , and we successfully make suflicient sugar at home to supply our wants , not only would the price of sugar be made much cheaper to the consumer , but the millions now paid into the pockets of foreigners for sugar would go into the pockets of our own people and to that extent our own country be enriched. The question whether this can be done is now praci tically settled. It can be done , not in the south , but in the west , in Nebraska , Kansas and the states where sorghum can be grown successfully. The pro cess by which commercial sugar can be made from sorghum cane has been dis- covered'experiments made by the government in Kansas and New Jersey , with money appropriated as in this item. "When the further experiments and demonstrations now in progress are made by the government , the money for which is already provided , western enterprise and capital can be trusted to do the rest ; and with the rise of this new industry will rise the value of our farms and the prosperity of the farming classes be greatly promoted. Professor M. Swenson , who has had charge of the Ft. Scott , Kansas , govern- ment sugar experiments , concludes his report with these words , "I say without hesitancy that sugar can be produced as cheaply in Kansas as in Louisiana. " The interest of the Kansas farmer in this production is demonstrated by the following facts : One man and team can care for and harvest fifty acres of cane , the average yield in that state is put an twelve tons per acre , this gives GOO tons of cane which sold last year at two dollars per ton , giving him 81,200 , for the labor of himself and team and the use of fifty acres of ground. The crop can be grown and harvested in four months ; time. Clearly what can be done in Kansas can be duplicated in Nebraska. FIGHTING FOR PURE FOOD. . The evidence taken during the lard investigation before the house agri- cultural committee at the present r session of congress , showed that the t effect of the manufacture of compound lard composed of sixty per cent hog's f lard and forty per cent cotton seed oil , and other cheaper fats , was to lessen t the 1 value of the farmers' hog crop from \ this 1 cause alone from 813,000,000 to 815,000,000 ; per year. Mr. Laird voted to report a bill from that committee to inspect and tax compound lard , and r compel its makers to sell it for what it a really is , and thus protect the producer , t which bill is now on the calender , j ready for the action of the congress. c In this connection it will be borne in t mind that in the Forty-ninth congress o Mr. Laird voted for and was one of the f most active workers for the advocates f of the passage of the Olemargerine bill , > the passage of which by a close vote t opposition mostly southern democrats ) a was the means of saving the dairy ini terests of the United States from loss t and , destruction. On the 25th of August , 1888 , Mr. t Laird from the reported agricultural t committee his bill 11,2(5(5 ( ( for the estabj lishment of a pure food division in + the department of agriculn hire , to provide for the inspecS tion of live stock , about to be slaugh- tered , at slaughter houses , canning , H salting , packing and rendering estab- \ lishments , the carcases or products of ; which , are intended for human con- 0 sumption in any state or territory other than where slaughtered , or for exportad tion to foreign countries , and to pret vent the introduction of adulterated or branded food or drugs , into any state 0 or territory lrom any other state or ter- a ritory , or foreign country. n In his report accompanying this bill , jr it , appears that most of the countries of ; ' continental Europe , have restricted or ) of Ameri- * prohibited the importation - can bacon , hams , and various forms of jc cut meats ; notably , Germany , France , i " Switzerland , Italy , Denmark , Kouma- nia , Turkey and Portugal. The reason for this exclusion is that the American a products are suspected of being un- j healthy , principally because they are ° ? never subjected to competent inspec- J1 tion by disinterested authority at the J1 time of for exty slaughter or preparation ex- port. This embargo , based on suspicion.w lias resulted in a heavy reduction of the y American export trade , which at one time included about one-fourth of the entire swine product of the United ° ' States. The tables of statistic show a uj " " " lecline in the exports of bacon and * tiamsof 340,000,000 pounds or 45 per st ent in the last seven years. In 18S7 the American hog crop fell off 1,474 , - U1 207 in numbers and the decrease in . ° ie value of the product in the last six 0 ! years amounts to S(5(5,97(5,301. e > Unless something can be done to re- j11 store foreign confidence in American la neat products , this country may look [ forward to the destruction of her ex- j11 iort trade in food commodities , and if l his calamity should come it would insl rolve the loss of millions of dollars by P' ' he farmers and producers of the coun-1te Ty. It is to save these markets , and'ai ' hese losses , that this bill prepared by • tx Mr. Laird is presented. | He is endorsed and supported in his 'tl ' . position by thousands of letters , petiiJ ions and memorials from farmer , labor ind trade associations and leading agri-1 - mlture journals all over the union. . . rhe passage of the bill will set at work I J11 auses that will add millions of value | a mnuallyto the meat output of the te farmers of the west. S1 AGRICULTURK IX THE CABINET. Mr. Laird voted for and advocated di he passage of the bill making the Comfe nissioner of Agriculture a cabinet ofiim er , thus giving to any farmer holding hat office as much importance as the oi - secretary of war , state or navy , and tending to give a standing aud conse quence to agriculture as a calling such as it has always deserved , but has never received before. He also voted for and advocated this law in the and Forty-eighth Forty- ninth congress where it was beaten principally by democratic votes. This measure was supported by the officers and representatives of the state grange of Nebraska , and by leading agricul turists and journals generally. Up to the second session of the Forty- ninth congress any creditor not a resi dent of Nebraska holding a claim , note or mortgage against a resident of the state , for 8500 could sue on such claim in the United States courts at Omaha or Lincoln , and thereby put his debtor to an expense sometimes equal to the debt i to defend it. Largely through Mr. Laird's bill , and instrumentality , a law was passed in the second session of the Forty-ninth congress , providing that no action should be brought by a non resident of Nebraska against a resident , in the United States courts , unless the debt i sued on was 82,000 or more. The effect i of this will be to save thousands of dollars taxed against farmers on mortgage suits made doubly expensive by being brought in a distant and ex pensive court. And further the pas sage i of Mr. Laird's bill to establish a term of the United States court at Hastings and Norfolk , Nebraska , will be of advantage in saving expense to litigants i by bringing the court hun dreds ' of miles nearer to them. PRIVATE RELIEF BILLS. Our representee , among other things of < local interest , introduced and proj cured < the passage of a bill for the re- lief 1 of Wesley Montgomery of J Tastings , Nebraska , allowing him without set- tlement j 1(50 acres of land in lieu of the like ] amount entered by him in Illinois in i 1874 , the title of which failed , be- cause < of a prior entry of it by another , which entry did not appear on the rec- ords < when Montgomery took it. He also introduced and procured the passage ] of a bill for the relief of W. II. Tibbits of Crab Orchard , Nebraska , who entered and lived on land that af1 terwards 1 proved to have been patented to 1 the railroad. Bills for the payment of losses sustained by Indian depreda tions 1 by James Painter of Spring Banche ; , Clay County , Nebraska , and by l John M. Comstock of Elkton , Nuck- oils county , Nebraska , and several others ( amounting to some 835,000 , were introduced j by Mr. Laird and favorable reports ] procured by him , each congress , from 1 the committee on Indian affairs. He also voted for and actively sup- ported ] the "Witthorne bill providing for the 1 reference of these claims to the court of claims and the payment of all sums found to be due by such court. The men who will get the benefit of this work are Nebraska farmers and pioneers. Among many other private bills in- troduced and passed through the house for the benefit of Nebraska applicants for pension , by Mr. Laird , was one for Mrs. Juliet G. Howe of York. Nebras- ka , and also for Mrs. E. Painter of Linj coin , each of whom had rendered long and valuable service without pay , as nurses m the field during the war , and | had contracted disability in such ser-1 vice , These bills fortunately escaped the veto. Speaking of pension matters the amount of this work done by your representative is extraordinary. Taking the requests of applicants for pensions , for pay , bounty , remuster , land entries and contests , and other subjects of in- , terest to soldiers and settlers , he has i made over ten thousand personal calls | for action in the departments and has | written over twelve thousand letters. this year , and for that matter , for each | year during his service. 11 THE KNEVALS BILL. S In the second session of the Forty- . ninth congress , Mr. Laird introduced ] and procured the passage of an act for j ; the relief of settlers and purchasers of 11 public lands in Nebraska and Kansas , j j commonly known as the Knevals bill , j -y the effect of this law was to pay 8250 , - D00 to some three hundred settlers and , a farmers in Clay , Nuckolls , Thayer , Jef-11 ferson , Fillmore and Adams counties , ' i Nebraska , who had lost their homes , r through conllict between their patents ( t and a prior grant of the same lands to ( the state of Kansas for the benefit of d the St. Joe & Denver railroad. 0 The bill , II. K. 7,901 , repealing the g timber culture and pre-emption laws of t the United States , recently considered v in the housewas , amended in some parn ticular , by Mr. Laird , and other amend- tnents of great importance to western ii settlers ( , offered , by him were defeated a jy a democratic house. He offered an o imendment to allow any entryman who t ookland { by homestead entry under tl his bill , to pay out on the same after me year of settlement and compliance bvitli the law. This was opposed by the lemocrats and defeated , so that now if a he ] bill passes the senate no title can je obtained to government land short tl f a continuous residence of five years , P condition of things that will make it " learly impossible for poor men to get a and at all. Had such a law as this re-1 v ently passed by the democratic house , ' a revailed prior to the settlement of the | J iountry west of the Missouri river , it i P s highly probably that we would have ( P md no west as we know it to-day. i a To the same bill Mr. Laird offered an ' ; ( imendment allowing any honorably ' lischarged union soldier the right to i f leduct his service in the army from the i ive vears'settlement ' required to obtain , itle to a homestead. He also offered'r r ( wo other amendments to this bill , that vere debated at great length , and in ' tl he course of his remarks on which , Mr. i liaird took occasion to review the' ' [ , sparks land policy , and point out the • ' mtrages perpetrated by that officer , ipon the long-suffering settlers of the'r ' vest , the amendments were in sub- { u tance as follows : , "And no settlers on the public domain , , inder the provisions of this act , shall deprived of his title to any lands u ] lased upon a receiver's final receipt b ] xcept upon an open and public trial cc inder and according to the forms of w aw relating to contest cases. " be ' • That after final proof is made and a it inal receipt issued to the settlers by tli he local land officers , such receipt oi hall be proof of title , and all innocent ai mrchases thereunder , shall be proai ected. And the burden of proof in tl ny action or proceeding to vacate such T itle shall be upon the government. " fc These amendments were beaten by w he democrats under the lead of Mr. ; ti < lolman of Indiana. Two other amendments offered by Mr. si jaird to this bill were adopted , namely. ' m ( In an action between a settler claimoi tig title to land through any existing gi and law and a railroad or its guarantli ees , claiming the same land through a b\ rant congress , to allow the settler to tli efend on the ground that such raile oad had not complied with the conm itions of the grant , or make any de a ence which the United States might a aake. , te Allowing settlers to purchase withse ut settlement fractional pieces of land > gc laying in streams abutting on their claim. THE SCHOOL LANDS. It is claimed that the state of Ne braska is short from 30 to 40 thousand acres in her quota of school lands and that she cannot make this good under existing i law , which requires indemnity land to be selected in the same land dis trict where the shortage occurred. This rule would defeat the claim of the state , and therefore Mr. Laird offered a bill to allow the state to select any unoccu pied government land within its limits. This bill is hung up in the democratic committee ' on public lands. MORE WORK FOR SETTLKIW. In the course of the consideration of the sundry civil bill Honorable Mr. McShane , democratic M. C. from Ne braska , moved to amend the bill by striking , out an item of 893,000 for the pay of special land agents , engaged un der , this administration in hunting down , honest settlers on the public do main. The McShane amendment was beaten by the vote of the democrats after ; several hours of vigorous and bit ter debate participated in by both Mc Shane j and Laird. In the recently considered bill for the organization , of the territory of Okla- hama , Mr. Laird advocated and voted for two amendments of great impor tance to every person contemplating settlement in this new territory. The bill as presented , proposed to compel all settlers to live on the land three years and then pay 81.23 per acre for it , the 81 23 per acre being the estimated amount ; of the Indian claim to the land. Air. Payson of Illinois offered an amendment ; to compel the United States j to buy in the Indian title and allow the land to be taken by settlers under , the homestead law without other costs ( than the fees now charged , this having ] been the hitherto settled policy of the government under the republi can , party. The amendment was op posed j by the democrats and beaten ; 57 for ] to 107 .against. The other amendment was to allow honorably 1 discharged union soldiers the 1 benefit of their service in making settlements on this land , and to relieve them 1 from the payment of the 81.25 per ] acre. This amendment was also opposed by the democrats and beaten. DISABLED SOLDIERS' HOMES. Early in the session Mr.Laird offered a bill to pay to the states and territories maintaining homes for disabled soldiers 8100 per annum for each soldier cared for. This bill was referred to the com mittee , on military affairs , and there re ferred to Mr. Laird , and by him favor ably \ reported to the house , where he afterwards called it up , had charge of it in the debate in the house where it was passed , had charge of it afterwards in the conference , and followed it through until it became a law. This act will relieve the farmers of Nebraska of J one-half of the tax necessary to main tain a disabled union soldier , will se cure homes and comfort for the dis abled veterans of Nebraska , many of them farmers , and its passage ought to be a source of congratulation to every lover of the country , who believes in protecting for life the men who pro tected the life of the republic. The money carried by Mr. Laird's bill is 8230,000 , but it commits the nation to the policy of aiding the states to care for their broken down veterans , and will involve between this time and the death of the last helpless defender of the nation the expenditure of millions. "Who < objects ? They loyally gave their lives. Shall we less loyally and liberally give our money ? Speaking of the soldiers , Mr. Laird also introduced , reported from his com- ' mittee , and caused to be passed , a bill , giving 8150,000 to enlarge the accom-1 modation of the existing United States [ homes for the care of disabled exunioni soldiers and sailors. "When the urgent deficiency bill was under consideration in the house , Mr. Laird offered an amendment appropri- ating , 81,320,000 to pay the claims al lowed to soldiers and sailors for back pay and bounty , &c , during the inter- val in the passage of these appropria tions. Under the present system the accounting officers will allow a claim , but as there is no money for payment until : congress appropriates it , the man who has waited nearly a genera- tion already for his two or three hun- ] dred dollars of bounty , or forty or fifty dollars of pay , has to wait another year " or two , on the doubtful action of con- , gress. Under the old republican rule , j these appropriations were made in ad vance , and Mr. Laird sought by this means to save his old comrades the agony of longer delay. His effort was ] in vain. The amendment after a day's 1 argument was beaten on a point of i order made by a democrat and susc tained ; against a fair construction ' of c the rules by a democratic speaker. j ( GOVERNMENT SUPPLIES. P I T During the consideration of the [ c army appropriation bill in the house , j Mr. Laird added an amendment to 'j that bill , of great importance to the r farmers of Nebraska namely requir- that the for the ng supplies bought s irmy be purchased in the district r .vhere the stationed cost troops are , r md quantity of course considered. Heretofore the practice has been to i nirchase these supplies near some sup-1 ly depot , such as Jeffersonville , Indij j ina , otfjNew York and then ship them i o the troops. The adoption of this imendment is in the interest of econoj : j ny to the government and prosperity . or Nebraska ' t Another effort of this gentleman for t lis constituents and comrades will be e emembered favorably. At the request i f various sufferers from deafness con- ' racted in the service , Mr. Laird drew . md introduced a bill increasing the ' ate of pension allowed for total deaf- , less ( ; this bill was favorably considered y the committee on invalid pensions , t eported , passed the house , and is now : law. t : BELIEF OF SETTLERS. A bill for the relief of such settlers r < ipon the public domain as took lands , f < iy homestead entry and afterwards fi ommutted. the same to a cash entry , h ras introduced by Mr. Laird for the ri lenefit of western settler , the result of a ts : passage would have been to secure ti ; he repayment of those who had paid tl ut on homestead entries provided they h fterwards continued their residence ci nd complied with the homestead law h he same as if they had not commutted. a 'his bill was argued by its author bew ore the democratic land committee , tl ; diere it is pigeon-holed for future actl ion. h One of the most vexatious and expenri ive incidents of settlement on governtl lent land in the west , is the liability tl the settler to be contested on the s < round of alleged failure to comply with w lie law. but often in reality inspired ' o ; y anger or the hope of gain. The fact j tl fiat the contestant risks nothing , not | tl ven the costs of the contest , tends to f < aultiply these expensive suits. To put' b ; check on this business. Mr. Laird has ' d : bill pending before the land commit- ' ee , requiring contestants to pay or give u ecurity to pay all the costs if the case ' fi oes against them. If the democratic I c < house will pass this bill , there will bo an end to fraudulent contests. Some years ago the supreme court of Nebraska decided that a contract in a note or mortgage to pay an attorney's fee. in addition to the debt in case of its collection by suit , was illegal and could not be enforced. The united States courts allow judgments for attorneys' fees in addition to the debt , which is manifestly a great burden to debtors owing mortgages that are large enough to be brought bo- fore the federal court. To remedy this Mr. Laird early in the present session , introduced a bill providing that no judgment shall hereafter bo given for attorney fees in suits for the fore closure of mortgage on real or personal estate , or for the collection of money on promissory notes or other contracts in writing , lie is promised the favor able consideration of this bill by the judiciary committee and will no doubt be able to secure its passage to the great relief of litigants now compelled to pay certain of the expenses ot both sides. The sale of land , in the foreclosure of mortgages in the United States court is not under existing law and the rules of the court , required to be advertised in the county where the land is situated an advertisement where the court is held being sufficient. As a conse quence of this practice several in stances or great hardship and ex pense , have happened in the district represented by Mr. Laird. To remedy this evil , he has a bill now pending requiring sales to be so advertised as to give the owner and those interested knowledge of the fact , so that they can come in and protect themselves , if they desire. As it is now , their land may he sold and deeded away before they know it. This bill is pending before a sub committee of the judiciary committee , they having agreed to a favorable re port. FOR THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. There is a sum variously estimated from 83,000,000 to 815 , < * XMXX ' ) claimed to be due to them from the Tinted States by men employed by the govern ment under the eight hour law. Dur ing the entire term of Mr. Laird's service representatives of the Knights of Labor and other labor organizations have attended the sessions of congress and asked consideration of the bill for the payment of this sum. They have found in Mr. Laird an able , loyal and active friend. He has always spoken and voted for justice in their behalf and for that reason is regarded by the labor representatives here as one of their truest and strongest friends. The reason why ac tion is not had on the claims of these laborers is not the fault of the republi can party. The non-action is charge able to the democratic committee on rules , which refuses to give the labor man a day for the consideration of their matter , because the committee on rules fear that if they report any rule allowing time to any measure , they will have to allow the consideration of the disability < pension bill also. For this reason , the laborer and the soldier suf fer together. The democratic party in the house stands in this position : They will not do justice to the laboring man , because 1 they are afraid to do justice to the soldiers. They dare not consider one i of these bills without the other , and they i dare not consider both , because Cleveland < would veto the pension bill. THE POSTAL TELEGRAPH BILL. Over six months ago the committee . on ( commerce of the house reported fa vorably a bill for the construction of a postal ' telegraph by the government. From the day the bill went on the house j calendar , March 8th , to Septem ber ] , not an effort was made by the democratic . majority to get the bill up for consideration. September 3d Mr. Laird offered a resolution demanding ; that some action be taken on this meas ure. His resolution was referred to the committee . on rules controlled by ( lem ocrats , where it will be strangled to death , as the laborer and soldiers bills are , and with it will die the last hope of ] legislation on these subjects for this congress. The postd telegraph bill dies because the democratic party is too cowardly to attack the great corpora tion that stands behind the present sys tem , and whose manager contributes 810,000 to the Cleveland campaign fund. The labor and dependent pen sion bills are doomed , because , in the one instance the democrats dare not trust the liberality , and in the other.the loyalty of Mr. Cleveland. RAILROAD LAND FORFEITURE. On the 9th of January , 1888 , Mr. Laird introduced a bill to forfeit all lands granted by congress in aid of rail road and telegraph lines wherein the conditions of the grant had not been complied with , and upon which , the cost of surveying , selecting and con veying , has not been paid , and also providing for the protection ot pur chasers in good faith of such railroad , prior to the forfeiture of the grant. This bill with others went to the com mittee on public lands and was consid ered , reported in substance , in the sub stitute of Mr. Stone of Missouri , which received the support and vote of your representative. HIS WORK M'MMARI/.ED. In looking up this record we find that . Mr. Laird has been one of the hardest workers in congress , that he is recog nized as a power in the important com mittees on which he serves and in the liouse ; that he has voted for and ad . vocated every bill offered in behalf of the settlers of the west , standing up for their interest and honor , without refer ence to party , under all circumstances and 'igainst all comers and that in the iffort to secure them , he has presented md procured the passage of manv measures of great importance ; that he aas been the firm friend of the farmers yf the country and particularly so of hoseof ] Nebraska ; that he has voted tor and advocated every bill introduced o aid them generally with others , or to ldvance their interest as a class , being recognized as a pioneer of legislation for their benefit ; that he has been a faithful friend of the labor interests , las voted for and advocated their ights whenever opportunity offered , md is recognized by their representa- ives on the ground , as an advocate of he labor cause on its merits ; that he ms toiled early and late working to se- ure justice for the high and the low of lis comrades : that there has never been task imposed by a sense of duty to- vards the ex-soldiers of the country hat he has not done , or tried to do " ; hat his hand , his voice and his heart lave been felt in every contest for their ights during his service ; and generally , he writer of this article , has found hat this member has modestly , con- icientiously and fearlessly done his vork and done it welltliathe has been me of the most radical supporters of he right to reclaim for the benefit of he whole country , the grants of land or railroads that have not been earned y a clear compliance with the con- litions of their grants. That in these vays his public career proves him an intiring worker for and an unchanging xiend of the people of his state ana iountry.
