Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1898 — CONGRESS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CONGRESS

The Senate on Tuesday passed the bill for the allotment in severalty of certain lands to the Indians of Indian Territory, the payment of interest claims to the Chickasaw Indians, and the ratification of the agreement effected with the Indians by the Dawes commission. Section 26, which provided for the segregation of 157,600 acres of land purchased by the Delawares from the Cherokees, 100 acres of the land to be allotted to each registered Delaware, and the remainder reserved to the descendants of deceased registered Delawares, was stricken from the bill. Consideration was resumed of the measure providing for the taking of the twelfth census. After disposing of the urgent war deficiency bill, as passed, with amendments by the Senate, the House considered the conference report upon the sundry civil bill. The report, so far as'it embodies agreements, was adopted, and the House then began voting severally upon the Senate amendments, upon which no agreement had been reached in conference. Of these there are forty-five. The House considered eight of these, acting favorably upon three and rejecting the remainder. The House adjourned pending disposition of a measure to enable volunteer soldiers to vote at congressional elections during the war. It involved constitutional questions. The Senate resolution was passed authorizing the President to waive the one-year supension from promotion and order re-examination in the army in certain corps during the existing war. A bill providing for the taking of the twelfth census was passed by the Senate on Wednesday after a debate which occupied the greater part of three days. The House disposed cjt the Senate amendments of the sundry civil bill and agreed to further conference. The conference report upon the postoffice appropriation bill was adopted without debate. A bill was passed authorizing the construction of a high bridge across Rock river on the Illinois and Mississippi Canal in Illinois, After five hours devoted to the consideration of the bill to enable volunteer soldiers to vote in congressional elections, the conference report upon the war revenue bill was presented to the House on Thursday. Consideration was interrupted by a recess to 8 o’clock in the evening, when the report was taken up again, and after three hours’ debate, involving a wide range of subjects and some sensational features, it was voted upon and adopted—--154 to 107. The Senate passed without division a bill providing American registry for the steamers Olympia, Victoria, Tacoma, Columbia, Arizona and Argyle of the Northern Pacific Steamship Company. The “omnibus claim bill,’’ carrying over $9,000,000, forty private-pension bills and several measures from the general calendar, were passed. Bills were passed as follows: Permitting Col. Anson Mills, Third United States cavalry, to accept, and exercise the office of boundary commissioner between the United States and Mexico; to amend an act establishing a court of private land claims, requiring claims to be filed before March 3, 1901; to amend an act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota.

Shortly after 4 o’clock Friday afternoon the conference report on the war revenue bill was agreed to by the Senate, after a! discussion lasting four hours. The debate' upon the measure was without special incident and was entirely'devoid of acrimonious features. It was a foregone con-, elusion that the report would be agreed to' and the only question of interest involved was how soon a vote could be reached. The report was agreed to by the decisive vote of 43 to 22. The feature'of the day’s session of the house was the securing of, an agreement to consider and vote upon the Newlands resolution to annex Hawaii; The bill to enable volunteer soldiers to, vote at Congressional elections was passed, and a number of minor measures, chiefly of a private nature, were considered. The session of the House on Saturday was devoted to debate upon the Hawaiian resolutions. The Senate amendments to the bill organizing the naval hospital corps was concurred in. In the House on Monday the annexation of Hawaii to the United States was under; discussion. Mr. Newlands (silverite, Nev.) introduced the debate with a speech in support of his resolution for annexation. For nearly two hours the Senate had under discussion the resolution of Mr. Lodge (Mass.), directing the Claims Committee to make an inquiry as to the disposition of the money appropriated by Congress to pay the claim of the book concern of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. A heated colloquy between Mr. Chandler (N. H.) and Mr. Pasco was the feature of the discussion. A bill granting to the Cripple Creek Railroad Company of Colorado a right of way through the Pike’s Peak timber land reserve was passed. An act authorizing the appointment of a nonpartisan commission to collate information and to consider and recommend legisnation to meet the problems presented by labor, agriculture and capital was passed.