Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 December 1882 — DOINGS OF CONGRESS. [ARTICLE]

DOINGS OF CONGRESS.

Both houses of Congress Went into sessloti without formality on Monday, Deb. 4. Nb opening of that body ih late years has been attended with leks interest or excitement, the attendance at the Capitol being about what would be found there on any ordinary day in the middle of a session. Piesideht pro tern Davis cal ed the Senate to order, and after the introduction of a few bills o minor importance the annual message of President Arthur was received and read Then Mr. I rown, of Georgia, announced the death ot Senator Hill, and offered a resolution of regret, wh ch was unanimously agreed to, whereupon, as a token of respect to the deceased, the Se ate adjourn- d for the day. Speaker Kelfer called the House to ord r at 11 o’clock. Rollcall d.sclosed the presence of 202 members. The report of the Tariff Com-ml-sion and the Indian Appropriation bill were I resented and referred. Bills were introduced by .Mr. Herbert, of Alabama, prohibiting pol.tical a- sessinentß of Government employes; by Mr. Ka“son, of lowa, for the better regulation of the civil service; by Mr. Anderson, of Kansas, to create an Agricultural Commission; and by Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, abolishing the offices of Assistant Secretary of War arid the Assistant Berre ary Of tfie NaVy. Mr. Cox, of New York, offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of War for information as to the amounts of appropriations under the River and Harbor bills of 18U and DB2, withheld, ami under what provision of law. Mr. Kasson offered a resolution granting the Committee on Civil Service Reform leave to report at any time. Mr. Cox favored the re olution; asked what quickened the conscience of his friends; made some jocular remarks as to his candidacy for Speakership, and yielded to Mr. Springer, who twltte l his friends on the other side upon the failure of the assessment policv. The death of Mr. Lowe, of Alabama, and of Mr. Updegraff, of Ohio, were announced respectively by Messrs. Herbert and Saylor, the President's message was read, and the House adjourned. Mr. Beck offered a long resolution in the Senate on the sth inst., reciting the fact that the National Republican Committee levied assessments for political purposes and. ordering the Committee on Judiciary to Investigate. Mr. Barrow was sworn in as Senator from Georgia, to fill the tlnexpired term ot' Benj. H. Hill, deceased. Mr. Platt introduced a resolution calling for information as to the number df pensioners on the rolls, aiAount of pensions, number of pending applications, etc. After debate, the resolution went over. A long debate took place oh the prop sition to change the hour of mcetihg of the Senate Iron? noon to 11 o'clock A bill to amend section 1,860 of the R vised Statutes, so as not to exclude :e----tired army officers from holding civil offices in the Territories, passed. In the House the Committee on Ways and Means reported favorably on Mr. Kellogg’s bill to abolish into, nal revenue taxes on tobacco, snuff, cigars and ■ igaj cites. The bill provides for the unconditional repeal of all internal taxes on all kinds of manufactured and raw tobacco. Eleven members of the committee were present when the vote was taken tor the reported bill, six voting for and five against favorable action. Mr. Springer offered a resolution to print 2,000 copies < f the rules of the House, remarking that the new members of the next Congress would need them to study up in preparing for the session. Mr. Holman objected and the resolution was lost. The House took up and passed the bill pertaining to tlie discharge of American seamen abroad. It repeals the law which requires the payment of three months’ wages on such discharge and simply requires shipowners to furnish discharged men employment on other vessels or pay their passage home. There was little business transacted in Congress on the 6th Inst., the sessions of both houses being exceedingly brief. lirthe Senate’ petitions were presented from citizens of Ohio and Kansas for an increase of pensions to those who lost an arm or a leg in the war. The Commissioner of Pensions was ins’.ructed to furnish a list of such sufferers. Mr. Anthony introduced a bill to prohibit the use of tlie Capitol for other than its legitimate and Air Chilcott an act for the erection of a' public building at Pueblo, Col. Mr. ngalls explained the provisions of the bill to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy. In the House, Mr. Willis offered a resolution for an inquiry into the assessment of Government employes for political purp srs. Mr. Caswell offered a resolution, which was adopted, authorizing a clause in the Pe stotl ce bill reducing letter postage to cents. A bid was passed to relund to the State of Georgia $35,000 expended by the State for the common defense in 1777. A bill to authorize the extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio road over military lands at Fortress Monroe was referred. Air. Kasson and others made a minor tv report against tlie abolition of the tolxicco tax, on the ground of uncertainty as to the amount of money required for pensions. The President sent to the Senate, in executive session, quite a batch of appointments, including the following: George E. Waring, Jr., of Rhode Island, to lie a member of the National Board of Health; Henry 11. Morgan, qf Louisiana, to be Secretary of the Legaton of the United States to Mexico: Vac Randa, of Nebraska,to be Receiver of Public Aloneys at Niobrara; James P. Luse, of Indiana, to be Register of the Land Office at Deadwood. Indian Arents: William O Connell, of Onio, at Umatilla agency, Oregon; D. M. Riordan, of Arizona, at the Navajo agency, New Alexico; John Clark, of Michigan, at the Colorado River agency, Arizona; A. H. Jackson, of Nebraska, at Pima agency, Arizona; Biig Gen. John Pope, to be Alajor General; Col. R. S. Mac--1: enzie of the Fourth cavalry, to be Brigadier (■ eneral; Maj. William A. Rucker, Paymaster, to be Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Paymaster General; Maj. George H. Elliott, of the corps of engineers, to be Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers; Commodore Earl English to be Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recrut ini’, Department of the Navy; also a large number of army promotions.

Seven members presented petitions in the Senate, on the 7th inst., for an increase of pensions to one-armed and one-lec ged soldiers. The Bankruptcy bill was discussed and amended Mr. Beck called up his resolution in reference to political assessments during the late campaign, and Mr. Hale offered a substitute calling lor an investigation into levies upon liquor-dealers by the Democratic Congressional Committee. ’f he House passed a joint resolution to 'print. 20,MH) copies of the Tariff Commission’s report; passed > lie Indian Appropriation bill, which sets aside $5,2 >B,999; killed the bill authorizing the building of a horn? for indigent sailors and soldiers at Erie. Ba., and adjourned. The President nominated to the ‘ cnate, in executive session, Edmund li. Calhoun to be Rear Admiral in the Navy, together with a long list of minor Postmasters. Several petitions were presented in the Senate, at its session on the Bth inst., asking action on the tobacco tax and urging the passage of a bill to increase the pensions of soldiers who have suffered the loss of an arm or a leg. A bill was passed to establish title to the site of the military post at El Paso. There was •'prolonged debate on the resolution as to political assessments and on the Bankruptcy bib. An attempt to strike from the bill all provisio#f >r involuntary bankruptcy was defeated, but Mr. Morgan secured an amendment to Include option trading in st-i< ks, grain, <tc., in acts of bankruptcy. On motion of Mr. Morrill, th? internal revenue bill, with its pending amendments, was recommitted to the Committee on Finance. In the House. Mr. Burrows reported the consu'ar appropri itioi', which se s aside sl/58,255. in com- >: it ee of the whole, the bill for the re’ief of he officers and men of the monitor which fougi.t tee Merrimac was defeated. Mr. Binghanj repor.cd a bill to reduce letter postage to 2 cents.

Josh Billings says: “Humor must be based ou truth. It is because a thing is ludicrous and at the same time true to nature that people laugh at it. Now. Artemus Ward was not a humorist, but he was the drollest man the country has ever produced. Writers who make their effects by hyperbole are not humorists. Genuine humor lasts forever, because it is true. You soon tire of hearing a man tell stupendous lies.” The Boston Globe has this wicked reference to Troy i “When a Troy raan disappears mysteriously, his wife sends around among the neighbors to find out whose wife is unaccounted for. A woman hag a curiosity about such matters.”