Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1884 — THE WORK OF CONGRESS. [ARTICLE]

THE WORK OF CONGRESS.

What Is Being Done by the Nation*! Legislature. A resolution was offered in the Senate. May 90, asking by what authority Commissioners had examined sections of the Northern Pacific Road constructed subsequent to the time specified by law. The Senate passed the agricultural appropriation kill, with clauses setting aside s2u,oou to sink artesian wells on the plains and $15,000 to encourage silk culture. Bills were also passed to bridze the Missouri River from Douglas County, Nebraska, and lor the construction ol a public building at Detroit at a cost of $900,000: Tbe House debated the report ol the Elections Committee In the contested election case ol English vs. Peelle, ol the Indianapolis district. Mr. Converse (Ohio) and Mr.'Lowry, Chairman of the Elections Commi tee, spoke in favor of the adoption of the report. In the coarse-of bis remarks Lowry reflected seriously on Congressman J. 8. Wise (Readjuster), from Virginia, intimating that he was a lower animal than a mule. Mr. Rosecrans offered a resolution for an inquiry by the Judiciary Committee into the facts of the survey of public lands belonging to Ban Francisco. Mr. Hewitt made a statement that a published letter on the tariff bill to Henry W. Oliver, Jr., bearing his signature, was a fabrication by a Pittsburgh journalist. The House refused to ooncnr in the Senate amendments to the Dingley shipping bill. Messrs. Ellis, Holman, and Ryan were appointed a committee of the House to confer wi h » committee of the Senate on the Indian appropriation bill in tbe matter of the Senate amendments to the House bill. Bills for tbe erection of publio buildings at Portland, Oregon, to cost $250,000, at Sacramento, Cal., to cost SIOO,OOO, at Dayton, Ohio, to cost $150,000, were passed by the Senate, May 21. and also bills for public buildings at ’Washington, D. 0., and Opelousas La. Bills w re passed to authorize the bridging of the Mississippi at Sibley, Missouri, and at some point between St Paul and Natchez; to bridge the Missouri at Rulo and White Cloud, Kan., and at the mouth of t e Dacotah, unci to bridge the Illinois between its month and Peoria. Mr. Wheeler was confirmed as Internal Revenue Collector for North Carolina. There w?s an exciting time in the House over the Engllsh-Peelle contested seat from the Indianapolis district The minority report declaring that Peelle (Rep.) was elected and entl--tied io retain the seat was adopted by a vote of 121 to 117. Mr. Springer, of Illinois, changed his vote, In the nick of time, in order to move a reconsideration, and pending a division on the motion an adjournment was carr ed by a majority of one. The Democrats who voted with the Republicans to retain Peelle in his seat were: Aiken, Beach, B-yle, Budd, Connolly, Dargan, Findlay, Greenleaf, Hardeman, Herbert, Hewdtt (Ala.), Hunt, Jones (Wis.), Lore, Mills, Morgan, Neese, Peel (Ark.), Potter, Stevens, Bumner (Cal.), Throckmorton, Tillman, Turner (Ga), Woodward, Worthington, and Yaple.

The Labor Bureau bill was debated ha the Senate May 22. It was supported by Messrs* Van Wyck and Blair, and opposed by Mr. Ingalls, of Kansas. The Senate sent to the foot of the calendar the bill prohibiting the mailing of newspapers containing lottery advertisements. Bi Is were passed to permit the bridging of the Mississippi at St. Paul; to provide for holding terms of court at El Paso, Texas, and to appropriate $25,000 to compensate the officers and men of the Government steamer J. Don Cameron for damages Incurred by her loss in the Mi-sours River seven years ago. The House of Representatives reconsidered its action giving the contested seat to Mr. Peelle, and voted to seat William English, who appeared and took the oath of office. Mr. Horr ma e the charge that the father of the newly admitted member had abused the privileges of the House by attempting to influence votes in the case. A special debate ensued, and a resolution was adopted that the charge be Investigated by a select committee of seven members. Bills were passed authorizing the construction of bridges across the Missouri at Rulo and Decatur, Neb. The Speaker presented a draft of a bill by the Secretary of the Treasury to permit the exportation of spirits to adjacent foreign territory, with a drawback for internal revenue taxes paid thereon. A bill authorizing - the construction of a lailroad from Sioux City, lowa, westward via the Nebraska Valley to some point on the Union Pacific west of the 100th meridian, and not west of Granger, Wyo., was reported to the Home by the Committee on Pacific Railroads. The new road, it is said, would open upa territory as large as Illinois and Indiana together, would shorten the rente to San Francisco 300 miles, and it is claimed that its cons ruction would benefit Northern Illinois, lowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Southern Dakota. The bill proposes to confer advantages on the new r ad similar to those conferred on the Union Pacific, with the important exception that* there shall be no land-grant. Mr. Aldrich's substitute for the House labor bnreau bill was passed by the Senate, May 23. It provides for the establishment of a labor bureau In the Department of the Interior, which shall be under charge of a Commissioner, to hold office fonr years, who shall collect data relating to capital and labor, and make an annu 1 report to the Secretary of the Interior. Senator Harrison reported lavor.ibly from the Committee on Territories the bill which provide! that the Dakota Legislature shall consist of forty-four members of the Connell and eightyeight members of the House, and that at the next general election there shall be elected twomembers of the Council and four member! of the House in each legislative district. In a debate on the bill to provide for protecting; the interests of the United States in respect to incumbrances, Mr. Beck said that under tho letter of the act the President could pay off the Union Pacific Railroad mortgage. Mr. Slater stated that on the maturity of the Union Bnd Central Pacific mortgages, in 1835, these roads would owe the Government SIBB,000,000. The pension appropriation bill was passed. In the Hou e, Mr. Weller denied that he had been solicited byWilliam H. English to absent himself on the occasion of the unseating of Mr. Peelle, and he expressed the hope that the investigating committee would Inquire into the matter. Mr. Kellogg; called for an inquiry into his alleged connection with the star-route frauds, and the matter was r ferred to the Judiciary Committee. A bill was passed appropriating $300,000 to Day certain quartermaster claims, one-half of which is due to citizens of Ten- essee. In committee of the whole, a favorable recommendation was made on the bill to retire Henry J. Hunt as a Major General. At the evening session forty-two pension bills were pass ;d. Including one giving SSO per month to the widow of Gen. Ord. The bill restoring Alfred Hopkins to the rank of captain in the navy gave rise to a long debate in the House on May 24. Hopkins is the officer who left Pensacola without leave when the yellow fever prevailed there, and was dismissed from the service. The bill was finally passed. Mr. Hatch, of Missouri, presented the conference report on the bill to establ.sh a Bnreau of Animal Industry—the House conferrees recommend concurrence In ali the Senateamendments. The amount of the appropriation is SIOO,OOO, and the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Agiicnlture is limited to such investigation and such disinfection and quavantne measures as may be necessary to prevent the spread of contagions and infectious disease! from one State or Territory Into another. The Commissioner is prohibited from ap lying any money toward paying for the animals it was found necessary to slaughter in order to prevent the spread of disease. The report was agreed to. A bill was passed to permit Lieut. Reynolds, of the navy, to accept a decoration, from the Emperor of Austria for saving eleven lives. The Senate was not in sessi n.

Don’t sell your S2O watch for sls, young man. Put it up at a chaiity fair raffle, 100 chances, $1 a chance, and give the poor twenty chances and the fair twenty, and youTl make a decent profit on the watch yourself.—Burlington Hawkexje . “I beg a thousand pardons for coming so late.” “My dear sir,” replied the lady, graciously, “no pardons are needed. You can never come tuo late. n In the man whose childhood has known tender caresses, there is a fiber of memory which can be touched to gentle issues. —Marian Evans. The firm without pliancy, and the pliant without firmness, resemble vessels without water and water Avithout vessels. —L a va, ter. May I always have a heart superior with economy suitable to my fortune.— Bhens tone. Charles Reade's Avill gives a portrait of himself to the Harpers' editorial room.