Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1879 — NEWS OF IHE WEEK. [ARTICLE]

NEWS OF IHE WEEK.

SENATE COMMITTEES. The Chairmanships of the leading committees of the United States Senate, ae reconstructed under Democratic auspices, are distributed as follows: STANDING COMMITTEES. The Democratic members of the five principal committees are: Finance—Bayard (Chairman), Wallace, Kernan, Voorhees, Beck. Appropriations—Davis (W. Va.) (Chairman), Withers, Beck, Wallace, Eaton. Foreign Relations—Eaton (Chairman), Johnston, Morgan, Hill, Pendleton. Commerce —Gordon (Chairman), Ransom, Randolph, Hereford. Judiciary—Thurman (Chairman), McDonald, Bayard, Garland, Lamar, Davis (111.). Other Chairmanships are distributed as follows : Privileges and Elections, Saulsbury; Military Affairs, Randolph; Naval Affairs, McPherson; Postoffices and Post-Roads, Maxey; Public Lands, McDonald; Indian Affaire, Coke; Pensions, Withers; Claims, Cockrell; Manufact urea, Grover; Agriculture, Johnston; Jpistrict of Columbia, Harris; Patents, Kernan; Public Buildings and Grounds, Jones, of Florida; Territories, Garland; Railroads, Ransom; Mines and Mining, Hereford; Revision of the Laws, Wallace; Education and Labor, Bailey; Civil Service and Retrenchment, Butler; Printing, Whyte; Library, Voorhees; Contingent Expenses, Hill; Rules, Morgan; Enrolled Bills, Vance. SEI.ECT COMMITTEES. On Transportation Houk'S to the Seaboard— Senator Beck. To Examine the Several Branches of the Civil Service—Senator Vest To Take into Consideration the State of the Law Concerning Electoral Votes for President, etc.—Senator Morgan. To Investigate the Treasury Department Accounts—Senator Davis (W. Va.). On Census—Senator Pendleton. On Epidemic Diseases—Senator Harris. On Mississippi river—Senator Ijamar. [Note. —This replaces the select committee on “Levees of the Mississippi river. ”J REORGANIZED. The select committee into the alleged frauds in the late elections, commonly known as the “ Teller Committee, is reojganized, with Wallace as Chairman, and Bailey, Garland, McDonald, and Kernan as the other Democratic members. The select committees on the subject of the removal of the Northern Cheyennes to the in dian Territory, and to inquire into all claims of .United States citizens against Nicaragua, are to ho continued with the same memberships as at present, their respective Chairmen being Senators Kirkwood and Hamlin. The caucus loft three Chairmanships of standing committees to bo filled by the Republicans, viz: those of the Committees on Public-Laud ■Claims, on Revolutionary Claims, and on Engrossed Bills. •

FOREIGN NEWS. There was an exciting discussion in the German Reichstag the other day. Herr Liebknecht,Socialist, declared that his party was the party of reform, not revolution. He defended the course of the Socialist Deputies in not rising from their seats when cheers were given for the Emperor. The President of the Reichstag, amid cheers, remarked that this conduct offended the moral sense of the Chamber. Herr Liebknecht continued: “If a republic is established in Germany—” He was unable to finish the sentence in consequence of the uproar which the words occasioned. The President threatened to deprive him of his Tight of speech. At the close of Herr Liebknecht's speech, the President of the Reichstag threatened him with forcible removal from tho tribunal. The tumult at the time was indescribable. Ex-President Grant is traveling in India. Many avalanches have recently occurred in the Austrian Tyrol. At Bleiburg ten houses were crushed, forty persons killed, eighteen seriously injured, and fifteen missing. A cable dispatch from Pesth, in Hungary, says that 120,000 persons were rendered homeless by the recent overflow of the river Theiss, that 8,200 houses were swept away, and 1,900 persons drowned. A dispatch from Kingston, Jamaica, reports that the British steamer Bolivar, plying between Liverpool and St. Thomas, came in collision with the Haytien steamer Michael The latter sank, and sixty persons were drowned. Herr Anderson, the celebrated chess player, is dead.

The Emperor of Germany has just celebrated his 82d birthday. One hundred and twenty more French Communists are to be pardoned. The Swiss State Council, by a vote of twenty-seven to fifteen, has resolved to restore capital punishment in Switzerland. A cable dispatch reports that the French floating battery Arroganto sunk off tho Mediterranean coast of France. Forty-seven of her crew were lost The expenses of tho French International Exposition were 55,000,000 francs; the receipts amounted to 30,000,000 francs. By a vote of 320 to 131, the French Chamber of Deputies has resolved in favor of an amendment to the constitution providing for the transfer of the seat of Government from Versailles to Paris.

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Mast. It is reported from New York that Gov. Robinson has decided to remove the Coroners of the city, and that Mayor Cooper will prefer charges against Comptroller Kelly for irregularities in his office. West It is reported, at Omaha, that Indians from Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies are slaughtering a great number of cattle along the Niobrara river in Northern Nebraska, and sellng them to purchasers r.t the agencies. The Indians are also setting numerous prairie fires, and trouble is anticipated. Rev. Dr. James De Koven, for the past twenty years Dean, of Racine (Wis.) College, died at that place last week, aged about 50 years. A State convention of colored men of Wisconsin is to bo held at Milwaukee, in May, to discuss plans for colonizing themselves in the far West. A committee has been appointed by he lower house of the Legislature of Missouri to frame articles of impeachment against State Treasurer Gates. A letter to the public from Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, explanatory of his financial difficulties, has been published. He relates the causes that led to his present pecuniary embarrassment, gives in detail his expenditures on behalf of the diocese, which he says should have been borne by the members of the churches; recognizes the sympathy shown him by both Cn tholics and Protestants,

and appeals for aid to “those who feel for others’ woes.” An Omaha dispatch says “another terrible prairie fire has occurred in Lincoln county, Kan., burning the house and all the property of Mr. Montgomery, living on Bitter creek, and doing much other damage. A little son of Mr. Montgomery, 12 years old, perished in the flames, and Mr. Montgomery and Isaac Pfaff, a neighbor who attempted to save Montgomery, were badly burned and died in a few hours.” Soutn. A fire on Dryades street, New * Orleans, burned >50,000 worth of property. Hon. George Goldthwaite, formerly United States Senator from Alabama, is dead. Twelve persons, convicted of counterfeiting, were last week sentenced to various (terms in the penitentiary at Joliet, HL, by Judge Ballard, of the United States Court at Louisville, Ky. At Vicksburg, Miss., a bloody shooting affray occurred between Capt W. F. Fitz gerald, Capt W. H. Andrews and W. L. Greene. Andrews and Greene were killed almost instantly, and Fitzgerald dangerously wounded. Dispatches from Lynchburg, Va., state the Grand Jury of United States, Judge Reeves’ Court, has indicted the followingnamed County Judges for refusing to recog nize colored men in impaneling juries: Hay the, of Campbell; Henry, of Amherst; Simmons, of Bobtown; Brown, of Nelson; Wharton, of Bedford; Griffin, of Roanoke; Parish, of Buckingham; Bowles, of Fluvanna. At the recent election in Louisiana, for members of the Constitutional Convention, about 100 Democrats and 34 Republicans and Independents were chosen. At Marshall, Texas, a few nights ago, after the Warde and Barrymore combination had finished the play of “ Diplomacy,” the company repaired to the depot to await the train. Maurice Barrymore, B. 'C. Porter and a female attache of the combination were in the lunch room, eating a lunch, when James Currie, a detective, entered the saloon attached to the lunch room. He made some slight remarks about the lady, when he was told by one of the men that she wr.s a lady, and under their charge, and should not be insulted. After some more words Currie drew his pistol and shot Porter in the abdomen, killing him almost instantly, and, turning, shot Barrymore through the left arm near the elbow, the ball coming out under the left shoulder, making a very severe if not dangerous wound. Porter and Barrymore were unarmed. Currie is in jail. A largo cotton and woolen mill at Memphis, Tenn., was struck by lightning and entirely consumed by fire a few days ago. Loss estimated at 890,000.

POLITICAL POINTS. The Republican Representatives in Congress, at a caucus held March 17, unanimously nominated the following candidates for the various elective offices of the House : For Speaker, Gon. Garfield; Clerk of the House, ex-Congressman Rainey, of South Carolina; Sorgeant-at-Arms, Jeremiah M. Rusk, Wisconsin; Doorkeeper, James Melton, Tennessee ; Postmaster, Gen. Harry Sherwood, Michigan; Chaplain, Dr. Naylor, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington. The following resolution was adopted: “Resolved, That it is the sense of this caucus that no legislation shall be entered upon during this session of Congress other than that for which the session was specially called. ” The Democratic caucus met at about the same hour, and renominated Mr. Randall for Speaker, he receiving 75 votes, to 57 for J. C. Blackburn, 4for Cox 3 for MacMahon, and 2 for Morrison. Messrs. Adams, Thompson, Field and Harrison were renominated by acclamation for their‘old positions of Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper and Chaplain. The Greenbackers also held a caucus, and decided to support Hendrick B. Wright, of Pennsylvania, for Speaker. Ex-Congressmau Carter Harrison has been nominated by the Democrats for Mayor of Chicago. A new Democratic morning paper, called the Herald, has been started in Chicago. It is an eight-column folio, and is sold at 2 cents a copy. The three Chairmanships of standing committees accorded to the Republicans, viz : Revolutionary Claims, Private Land Claims and Engrossed Bills, have been assigned, in accordance with the decision of tho Republican Senatorial caucus, to Messrs. Anthony, Edmunds and Conkling, respectively. Western Republican Senators complain very much because all of the Chairmanships to which they were entitled were given to the East The Rhode Island Republicans held their State Convention last week. All of the present State officers were nominated for reelection. The Democrats also met in convention and nominated Thomas W. Logan for Governor, J. D. Bailey for Lieutenant Governor, D. 8. Baker, Jr., for Secretary of State, and C. H. Page for Attorney General. The National Executive Committee of the National Greenback party has issued an address to the people of the United States, in which they state that no dependence is to be placed on the professions of the avowed friends to the cause; that the hope for financial relief within old party lines has been extinguished, and that they have been, in several instances, misled by nominees of the party and others who obtained its support. It is only possible through a new organization to found a party which shall accomplish the desired end. To succeed, a uniform effort must be made, and a position bold, aggressive, independent, and uncompromising must be taken.

WASHINGTON NOTES. John M. Morton, son of the late Senator Morton, who has been special agent in charge of Government interests in Alaska, has been appointed Consul at Honolulu, Sandwich islands. The President has appointed Clarence King Director of the Geological and Geographical Survey, and Gen. Francis A. Walker Superintendent of tho forthcoming census. It is said that the Southern members of Congress will insist on the passage of a bill providing for a national quarantine, some such bill as that which passed the Senate last session, and was defeated in the House.

Bull has 2,000 warriors well armed and equipped, and that an ugly and insubordinate disposition is manifest among them.

DOINGS OF CONGRESS. The Forty-sixth Congress assembled in special session at Washington on Tuesday, March 18. The Senate was called to order by the Vice President. After prayer, the President’* proclamation waa read, and then the roll was called, and the new Senator* and those who were re-elected were sworn in. Clerk Adams called the House to order, and read the proclamation of the President convening Congress in extra session. The roll was called, after which the election of officers was proceeded with. All the nominees of the Democratic caucus were elected. The vote for Speaker was: Randall. 144; Garfield, 125; Wright, 18; Kelley, 1. Neither House transacted any business beyond organizing. The Senate, on the second day of the session, 19th, went to work as if it meant business. Numerous bills were introduced: One, by Mr. Eaton, to revive the Court of Commissioness of the Alabama Claims: by Mr. Burnside, to reorganize the army, and ny Mr. Beck,to remove all political disa bilities imposed by the Fourteenth article of the constitution; also, a bill to repeal the act of July. 1862, requiring the test oath. Mr. Edmunds offeied a preamble and resolution, with a view to confining the business of the extra session to the objects for which it was called. The President’s message was received, read and referred. It is as follows : Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and FTouse of Representatives: The failure of the last Congress to make the requisite appropriations for legislative and judicial purposes, for the expenses of the several executive departments of the Government, and for the support of the army, has made it necessary to call a session of the Forty-sixfh Congress. The estimates of tho appropriations needed, which were sent to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury at the opening of last session, are renewed, and are herewith transmitted to both the Senate and House of Representatives. Regretting the emer.-i ncy which requires a special session of Congress at a time when it is the general judgment of the country that the public welfare will be best promoted by permanency in our legislation, and by peace and rest, I commend these few necessary measures to your considerate attention. (Signed] Rutherford B. Hayes. Washington, March 19.1879. The Vice President laid before the Senate a memorial signed by a number of members of the Legislature in Kansas, asserting that the election of Senator Ingalls was seeured by bribery and corruption, and asking the Senate to give them a full opportunity to offer proof of these assertions. Referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections. The House occupied the day in discussing the disputed case from the Second Coneressional Dis trict of Florida. Bisbee vs. Hull, which was decided in favor of Hull, the Democratic claimant. Very little business was transacted by either house on the 20th. The Senate was in session but a few minutes, and did nothing. After adjournment the Democratic Senators met in caucus. John C. Burch, of Tennessee, was nominated for Secretary; Richard J. Bright, of Indiana, for Sergeant at-Arms; ex-Congressman Schrober, of North Carolina, for Chief Clerk; Col. Sexton, of Virginia, for Executive Clerk, and Rev. J. G. Bullock, of Virginia, for Chaplain. In the House, Mr. McMahon called up the petition of citizens of Cincinnati in relation to the election of Messrs. Butterworth and Young, and the whole matter was referred to a select committee, with leave to sit during the recess. The committee were also directed to inquire into the operation of the Supervisors’ law in Cincinnati at the last election. A caucus of Democratic members of the House was held immediately after adjournment, for tho purpose of considering the order of business, and measures to be taken during tho present extra session of Congress. After considerable discussion it was decided to refer the whole matter to a joint committee of the Senate and House.

A large number of bills were introduced in the Senate on the 21st. Mr. Beck introduced a bill to repeal that section of the Revised Statutes which provides that no person who 1 eld any position in tho Confederate service shall ever be appointed to any position in the army or navy of the United States. Mr. Beck also introduced a bill to call in the trade-dollars and reeoin them into standard dollars. Mr. Wirtdom introduced a bill to extend tho time for the completion of the Northern Pacific railroad. Mr. Edmunds called up his resolution providing that all bills and resolutions other than appropriation bills should bo referred to appropriate committees, and not be acted on until the meeting of Congress in regular session. On motion of Mr. Wallace it was laid on the table by a strict party vote. Mr. Hoar introduced a resolution that the action of one branch of Congress, in refusing to pass the necessary Appropriation bills, is revolutionary, and, if persisted in, will endanger the national life. Mr. Wallace objected, and the resolution went over. There was a sharp debate over Mr. Wallace’s resolution directing Secretary Sherman to inform the Senate as to the amount of salary paid to Deputy Marshals employed in the States of Ohio, Pennsylvania. New Y’ork and Maryland, in October and November, 1876. Mr. Conkling moved to amend the resolution so as to include Deputy Marshals in all the States, instead of in the four named, which was rejected. Mr. Conkling then offered his amendment as an additional resolution, but providing that the information called for be distinct from that called for in Mr. Wallace’s resolution, which was agreed to. Mr. McMillan submitted a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution of the United States giving the President power to except, in his approval of bills, other items of appiopriation or special legislation, giving his reasons to Congress, the item so disapproved to be treated as in the case of a veto. Mr. Logan introduced a bill to equalize the bounties of soldiers, sailors and marines of the late war for the Union; also a bill for the relief of the Chicago Soldiers? and Citizens’Colony. Referred. The Senate until the 25th. The House was in session but a short time, and transacted no business. Adjourned till the 25th. Neither house of Congress was in session on the 22d, but tho committees of the House and Senate Democratic caucus to make recommendations concerning the order of business for tho extra session held a joint meeting. The first question discussed was whether the political legislation desired by tho dominant party in Congress should be effected by the passage of a separate measure or by the incorporation of tho repealing clauses in Appropriation bills. It was determined, after a discussion, that the latter course would bo the most expedient. The next question considered was whether tho political portions of the Appropriation bills should now bo passed in the same terms in which tney were passed at the last session, or whether.the repealing clauses in regard to the Federal Election laws should bo modified so as to repeal only those sections which authorize the appointment of Chief Supervisors and Deputy Marshals tor elections, together with the sections conferring police powers on Supervisors, thus continuing the authorization for the appointment of two Supervisors of different politics.to serve in a testimonial capacity at each poll as witnesses of tho count of votes. After an exhaustive discussion, it was decided to recommend tho adoption of a modified proposition. Tho joint meeting also considered whether tho legislation of tho present session be strictly confined to the Appropriation bills, including the measures above indicated, or whether general business should be transacted by either house when not engaged on an Appropriation bill. A decided majority favored the restriction to the Appropriation bills, and the enactment of what is known as tho “ Yellow Fever bill.”