Show CAPITAL GHATTEE A Misinterpretation of the 4 Spaulding Act SENTENCING OF STRIKERS A illecellaneon Batch of Interesting Interest-ing Telegrams from Various localities Capital Clatter WASIILiaTOJl r April 17The Post masterGeneral has written to a member mem-ber of the House committee on post offices and post roads a letter urging I that Congress definitely and unmistakably unmis-takably declare the purpose and intent I of the so called Spalding act for the readjustment of the salaries of postmasters post-masters who served between IBM and 1B74 When this act was passed in 1883 its true inxnt and meaning was a matter of great doubt and perplexity Postmaster General Gresham studied it carefully and wrote an elaborate opinion upon it He also called upon AttorneyGeneral Brewster for a construction of the law The interpretation placed upon the law by the AttorneyGeneral formed the basis of a mode of readjustment adopted by the department This mode has given great dissatisfaction to most of the 29000 > expostmasters who supposed sup-posed the law to mean one thing while the officials construed it to mean another an-other They are pouring complaints into Congress and demanding that the method of readjustment be chaned J PostmasterGeneral Vilas has thus far I pursued the method adopted by his predecessor He did not feel authorized to change the rue in view of the fact that the Forty eighth Congress appropriated nearly a quarter of a million to pay the readjustments under the rule adopted Up to March 19thsome 2t8i5 cases had been reviewed Of this number 9353 claims were allowed the aggregate of the allowances being 513874 The I claims disallowed are 15518 and the claimants mostly claim that under their interpretation of the act something would be found due them Claims numbering 3823 calling for an appropriation appro-priation of 291232 had been reported to Congress to be provided for in the deficiency bill It IS suggested that if Congress does not ratify the present method of readjustment it should suspend sus-pend action on an appropriation for these claims as change of the rule ot readjustment will work great confusion and compel a review and readjustment of the claims I already allowed as an expenditure of over three fourths of amillion under the construction of the law now followed is Jot likely to put a quietus to those claims The department Is desirous that Congress make plain the very complicated and perplexing piece of legislation A resolution is pending before be-fore Congress declaring the postmasters view of this law as the true construction construc-tion A bill is also pending ratifying the action taken under Attorney General Brewsters interpretation of the Spalding act and instructing the I department to continue to follow it All of the members of the j select committee on labor troubles except Mr Stewart of Vermont who is on a leave of absence were present at this afternoons meeting meet-ing After a short discussion of the best means of pursuing the inquiry the committee resolved to subpoena i 0 Messrs Gould Hopkins Powderly and McDowell The committee is anxious to secure all correspondence passing between these entlemen in relation to i the western strike and will begin its investigation fl 4 in-vestigation here on Tuesday with the 1 examination of Messrs Powderlv and 1 McDowell who will be followed on Wednesday and Thursday by Mr Jay Gould and Mr A L Hopkins The committee is disposed to report at an I early day but is determined make the investigation thorough and impartial I impart-ial j |