FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS, 1889-1891. 1479 
Mr. McApoo. I do not want to be misunderstood in my question. 
But it has always been to me a very grave question whether under 
general parliamentary law as laid down in other countries, outside of 
this Chamber, a member of either House would have a right to vote on 
such a question. In May’s Parliamentary Law it is laid down clearly, 
as an axiom, that a member having such a property interest would not 
be eligible to vote on such a question. 
Mr. F. B. Sprnoia. Well, his modesty should prev brit him. 
Mr. Hearp. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman from Georgia yield 
to me for just a moment? 
Mr. Ciements. I yield to my friend from Missouri if he thinks the 
suggestion of the gentleman from New Jersey needs any other answer. 
Mr. Hearp. I desire to ask the gentleman from New Jersey, as the 
gentleman from Georgia and myself were conducting the colloquy, if 
his question was intended to contain any reference to either the gentle- 
man from Georgia or myself; and if so, to. which one? 
Mr. McApoo. I had no personal reference whatever in the question. 
It was solely a question as to the interpretation of the parliamentary 
law on the subject. . 
Mr. Hearp. I put the question because I am a member of the Dis- 
trict Committee, but am not a property holder here. I did not know © 
to what the gentleman alluded in his remark, whether it was personal 
or not. 
Mr. McAvoo. The remark was entir ely impersonal, including no 
one either in the House or in the Senate, and had “afhenst solely to 
the general principle involved. 
Mr. Ciements. In regard to that, Mr. Chairman, it would seem to 
me to be a very indelicate thing for a gentleman to vote public money 
to improve the street in front of his own house, for instance. But 
that is a matter of propriety that he must decide for himself as to 
what he will do in any such case. I would not undertake to determine 
it for him. 
Now the expense of marshals, jurors, and witnesses, including the 
support of prisoners in this District, amounts to $120,000, every dol- 
lar of which is paid out of the Federal Treasury exclusively, except 
for the last year and this one, one-half of the item for the support of 
prisoners, which is about $19,000, was excepted. Not only that, but 
there is appropriated annually some $100,000 for the care and lighting 
of the public reservations in this city. Every dollar of that is borne 
by the people of the United States. It is their property, but is inter- 
spersed amongst the residence streets of the city in such a way that, 
without expense to the people here, they get the benefit of the appro- 
priation; and it is as much at their use as though they owned these 
reservations absolutely. These are lighted, cared for, and preserved 
