Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1890 — THE SENATE AND HOUSE. [ARTICLE]

THE SENATE AND HOUSE.

NATIONAL LAW-MAKERS AND WHAT THEY AKE DOING. r Proceedings of the Senate and Representatives Discussed and Acted On Gist of the Business. .... In the Senate on the 13th inet. bills were reported for public buildings in St. Paul, Mian. ($1,500,000); Sfowx City, lowa ($500,0)0); awl Cedar Rapids, lowa (8200,000). The biM to aathorize a railroad bridge across the MissouA River at a point between the County of Douglas, or of Sarpy, in Nebraska, and the County of Pottawatomie, in lowa, was amended and passed. The resolution heretofore offered by Mr. Plumb; respecting the lease of the islands of St. Paul and St. George to the Alaska Conrmercial Company, and for an investigation of the sealing business was taken up,, and Mr. Plumb spoke in its favor. Messrs. Dawes, McPherson, and Stewart defended the Alaska company, and the resolution was referred* to the Committee on Finance. Action of the House upon- the death of Representative Kelley was announced, whereupon the Senate adjourned. In the House Mr. Adams of Illinois, Chairman of the Silcott Investigation Committee, submitted a report, accompanied by a bill appropriating $75,009 for the purpose of supplying a deficiency in the appropriation for the pay and mileage of members and delegates, occasioned by the recent defatoation in the office of the Sergeant-at-arms. Messrs. Hemphill, of South Carolina, and Holman, of Indiana, submitted minority reports. They were all ordered printed in the record and recommitted. Accompanying Mr. Hemphill's report is a bill authorizing members who suffered by the defalcation to bring, suit against the Government in. the Court of Claims. The States were called, and a number of bills introduced and referred. The House then proceeded in committee of the whole (Mr. Burrows, of Michigan, ifa the chair) to the consideration of the bill to provide for town-site entry of lands in Oklahoma. Mr. Culberson, of Texas, gave notice of a proposed amendment providing that the claim of any person for any town site or town lot shall be deemed invalid if such person' entered the territory or took possession of .such town'site or town lot in advance of tne date fixed by the President’s proclamation for entering the territory. No action was taken, the committee rose, and the House adjourned.

In the Senate on the 14th Inst, the Finance Committee reported favorably Mr. Sherman’s anti-trust bill. The morning hour was consumed in the introduction of unimportant measures, most of them relating to pensions. At the close of the morning hour Senator Call called up his resolution with reference to the Florida swamp-land frauds, upon which he proceeded to speak at some length. His remarks caused something of a sensation. He assailed the Senate Committee on and claimed that thousands of acres had been patented as swamp lands that were capable of cultivation. His attack on the committee arousel Senator Plumb, who made a scathing reply. He said that Congress had given these lands to Florida as a trust, and that if there were any frauds the State alone was responsible for them, and every word spoken by Mr. Call was in denunciation of his own State. At some length he answered the charges against the committee and in round terms denounced Mr. Call’s action in placing his own State in such a light before the Senate. Mr. Call replied in equally bitter terms, styling Mr. Plumb’s remarks as the contemptible utterances of the gentleman from Kansas. Mr. Dolph also replied in a few words to the charges against the Senate sub-committee. The Senate then went into executive session and adjourned at 4 o’clock. The House spent the day in discussing the bill to refund to members the amount stolen from them by Silcott. At4:3J the House adjourned without action. In the Senate on the 15th Mr. Sherman introduced a concurrent resolution providing for the settlement of disputes between nations by arbitration. After the introduction of a few measures the resolution to recognize the republic of Brazil was read. Mr. Turpie proceeded to make a few remarks on the subject. Mr. Turpie criticised severely the tardiness of the administration in recognizing tho republic. He quoted the action of former Presidents in similar cases, espec’ally that of Grant in regard to France, and closed by saying: “The delay of our recognition has already been misconstrued.* I hope it may come soon enough to prevent further mistakes?’ The Senate went into executive session at 2:40, and adjourned at 4:30. In the House, consideration of the bill providing for an appropriation of §75,000 to cover the individual losses sustained by members by Silcott’s defalcation was resumed, and the debate continued throughout the afternoon. On Mr. Hemphill’s substitute, which proposed sending the entire question to the Court of Claims, the vote was 136 yeas and 138 nays. On Mr. Adams’ bill, which appropriates the money for the repayment to members of the amount stolen, the vote was 126 yeas and 142 nays. The bill being thus defeated, a. motion was made to reconsider. Pending a vote on this the House adjourned. At the opening of the session Mr. Hitt, of Illinois, rising to a question of privilege, denied the charge that he introduced a bill for the abolition of the tax on oleomargarine. In the Senate, on the 16th, after the introduction of miscellaneous business, Mr. Butler began a speech on his bill to provide for the emigration of the negroes of the South, at Government expense, under the direction of the Quartermaster General of the army, and appropriating §5,000,061 to carry out the purpose of the bill. At the conclusion of Senator Butler's remarks, Senator Pasco gave notice that he would at an early day address the Senate upon the question of Federal control of Presidential elections, and then Senator Hoar addressed the Senate in response to Mr. Butler. The Senate on the conclusion of Mr. Hoar’s speech went into executive session and adjourned. In the House, Mr. McKinley, of Ohio, from the Committee on Rules, reported a resolution for the appointment of a committee on the world’s fair, to consist of thirteen members, which committee shall within three days, report a plan, by which the House can determine the site of the proposed fair, and subsequently report a bill providing for the fair. Mr. Cannon, of Illinois, as the minority of the committee, reported a substitute resolution that the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to report a resolution providing a method of selecting the locality of the World’s Fair of 1892, by a vote of the House of Repretatives. An exciting discussion ensued in which Messrs. Hitt,,of Illinois ; Morrow, of California; Springer, of Illinois; McCreary, of Kentucky; Chipman, of Michigan ; and Hooker, of Mississippi, spoke, in favor of Mr. •> Cannon’s, amendment, while Messrs. Hatch, of Missouri ; Frank, of Maine; and Payne, of New York, spoke in favor of the majority report. Mr. Butterworth, of Ohio, sided with Chicago. At 4:15 p. m. Mr. Cannon, having inodifie.l his resolution., offered it as a substitute for the resolution reported by Mr. McKinley, and it was adopted by 137 yeas to 134 navs. On the main question, whether the substitute should pass the vote stood 134 to 134, when Mr. Springer of Illinois changed his vote to no for the purpose of moving for a reconsideration, wnich motion was pending when the House adjourned. In the House, on the 17th, Mr. McKinley called up life, motion to table Ms. Springer’s motion to reccaasider the vote by which the House the previous day refused to substitute the resolution reported by the Committee on Rules (as amended by the adoption of the Cannon resolution) for the original resolution referred to the committee. The motion to table the motion to reconsider was agreed to—yeas, 144; nays, 142, • The question then recurred on the adoption of the original resolution, as follows: “Resolved, That a committee of nine members be appointed by the Speaker, to be called the world’s fair committee, to which shall be referred all matters relating to the proposed celebra ion of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America, or the World’s Fair of 1832." The resolution was adopted—yeas, 141; nays, 136. Mr. Flower, of New Y’ork, introduced the New York World's Fair bill and it was referred to the special committee appointed. Mr. Raines, of New York, offered a resolution increasing the membership of that committee from nine to thirteen. Referred to Committee on Rules. Tha House then went into committee of whole, Mr. Burrows, of Michigan, in the chair, on the bill to provide for town-site entries of lend in Oklahoma. The bill was debated throughout the afternoon and ths House adjourned without action, The Senate was not in session.