FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1889-1891. 1359 
Senate disagree to the amendments made by the House of Representa- ' 
tives and request a conference on the disagreeing votes of the two 
Houses. : 
Mr. Cuttom. I desire to say a few words which I should like to 
have said a few moments ago, but I did not desire to come in conflict 
with the Senator from Vermont. It seems to me that if the Govern- 
ment is going to have a zoological park, to be of any account it ought 
to be cared for entirely by the Government of the United States, and 
we should not divide responsibilities with the District of Columbia or 
anyone else. It was for that reason that I inquired whether the Sen- 
ator was going to ask for a conference or simply move to agree to the 
amendments of the other House. It seems to me that we ought to 
insist upon our original proposition. | 
Mr. Epmunps. I agree with the Senator from Illinois that this park 
ought to be purely under national control and purely a charge upon 
the nation, for it is of more benefit to the people of the United States 
altogether who come here, and for the uses of general instruction, than 
it is to those inhabitants who happen to live within the boundary of 
this District, just as this Capitol and the other public buildings are. 
But I should not have needed to say that. 
However, I do wish to say in reference to what the Senator from 
Ohio [Mr. Sherman] has said concerning the cruelty, as he thinks, to 
the taxpayers of this District in paying for the expenditure upon that 
tunnel which turned out to be unfortunate, that I do not agree with 
him, and I do not wish what he has said to go as if everybody agreed 
to his proposition. The government of the District, as we all know, 
has for many years been under the regulation of Congress, just as the 
government of a State is under the regulation and authority of its 
legislature. If the legislature of a State, through some mistake or 
misapprehension, passes a law which imposes a tax or a burden upon 
some part of the people of the State and not upon them all, a local 
matter, and it turns out to be unfortunate, I have never heard of a 
case in which it was thought by anybody that those local people had 
any claim in morals or in any way upon the State to be reimbursed for 
the mistake, because mistakes will happen in every government. When 
this District was under the charge of men elected by people here 
things never went more wildly and injuriously to the taxpayers of the 
District than they did then. Therefore I can not see any ground upon 
which the taxpayers of this District have any moral right to complain 
that they have borne a part of the expense of a tunnel that turned 
out to be fraudulently built and of very doubtful expediency if it had 
been a success. 
I only wanted to say that in view of what my friend from Ohio had 
stated. 
Mr. P. B. Prums. Mr. President, 1 want to say a word or two in 
