Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1876 — CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. [ARTICLE]

CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS.

ffa.tbeMthaeVeral potltku of rtuzeusof Ohio ate., were presented iti ».king for aid 10 the construction of th* Pacific Railroad; aa also were radon* eltlzen* of Wtoconaln asking far au appropriation in behalf of the Wisconsin and Fox Ki&improvement. The report of the Committee of ij 0 Alabama LogMlatnfe, and the te*timony taM* by the Committee In retard to thealeuioaof E™ K Speneer aa United State* Senator, »tAp r wnted aad referred AhUlWMlntroCaa&toeaubiirhntnlnt for the coinage of gold and£*r at Indtanatidlte. ‘ On mottos of Mx.

be the credentials bf Mr. Etistls, of Louisiana, wore referred to the Committee on Privileges aud Elections. The resolution providing for an investigation of the books and accounts of the Treasury Department was taken up, and Mr. Davis spoke in reply to the remarks of Mr. Boutwell on the subject, after which the resolution was amended so as to refer the matter to the Finance Committee, and the reaotation as amended was passed. The bill to provide for a commission on the »nbject of the traffic In alcoholic liqnors was debated.... A large number of bills were Introduced In the House, the more Important of which were the following: To fund the legal-tender debt of the United States; to provide for the cheap transportation of freight between the Atlantic and the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys; preparatory to the redemption of United States notes and the resumption of specie payments; to provide means of cheap transportation on the interior waters. A resolution was adopted directing the Becreta’y of the Treasury to report to the Boise the amount of specie in the Treaanry on theSlstof December, 1875, and the amount of silver purchased under the provisions of the act of Jan. 14, 1875, providing for the resumption of specie payments. Resolutions were adopted—*instructing the Committee ou Civil Service Reform to inquire into any abuses or frauds which may exist lu the administration and execution oi existing laws affecting any branch of the public service; instructing the Judiciary Committee to Inquire whether improper and fraudulent means were resorted to to influence legislation on the Texas Pacific Railroad bill of March 8,1871.

Ok the S>th a petition was presented in the Senate signed by a large number of ladies, asking for the establishment of a government in the District of Columbia which will confer upon women the right to vote. The bill to providgJbr the appointment of a commission on the subject of the manufacture of and traffic ia alcohclic and fermented liquors was amended and passed. A petition was presented from citizens of Wisconsin, asking an amendment to the Constitution of the United States for the abolition of the Senate, and transfer of the powers of that body to the House of Representatives....A bill was passed in the House providing that, except in a case of permanent specific disability, no increase of a pension shall be allowed to commence prior to the date of the Examining Surgeon’s certificate, and repealing the law which makes bounty land warrants personal property. The Centennial Appropriation bill was taken np in Committee of the Whole, and, after debate and the adoption of an amendment requiring the paj ment in full jo the Treasury of any balance that may be left in the hands of the Finance Committee before any dividends or percentage of profits be paid to stockholders, was reported to the House and passed—yeas 146, nays 180. On the aith the Senate passed the House bills transferring the custody of certain Indian trust funds from the Secretary of the Interior to the Treasurer of the United States, and amendatory of the Revised Statutes relating to naturalization. A memorial in behalf of Mr Eustis, claiming the Senatorship from Louisiana, and signed by several members of the Senate of that State, was presented and referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections. The House Centennial bill was referred to the Committee on Appropriations.... Bill a were passed in the House—prohibiting clerks»or employes in any department of the Government prosecuting claims or applications for patents; to amend Sec. 4,896 of thq Revised Statutes in relation to the assignment of patents; providing that <{l third-class matter may bo carried in the mail* in laawiw fair wife TrMigte each, at the rate of one cent for every two ounces or fraction thereof. The Military Academy Appropriation bill ($23',241) was considered In Committee of the Whole.

On the S7th, in the Senate,, Mr. Boutwell presented a report prepared by the Chief Clerk of the Treasury Department, and aubmitted to the Secretary in December, 187 i in regard to erroneous practices In accounting in the Treasury, which have grown up In usage, or have been authorised by law, and moved to have it printed, which waa agreed to. A bill was passed—M to 9—to confirm pre-emption and homestead entries of public lands within the built* of railroad grant* in cases where such entries htd been made under the regulation* of the Land Department....ln the House a Dill was passed prohibiting Government officers, clerk* or employes acting aa counsel, attorney* or agents, or being inter.vsted in any form for prosecuting either claims or pat nts, application for which was pending while they were such clerks or employes; also that any Government officer recognising such person in any such application shall be discharged from service. The Military Academy Appropriation bill waa further considered in Committee of the Whole. ON the 28th a memorial of the Legislative Assembly of New Mexico, asking for the passage of an act to admit that Territory into the Union as a State, on an equal footing with the other States, was presented in the Senate. A majority report waa made from the Committee on Privilege* and Elections in the case of the claim* of J. D. Eustis, of MlrisMma, declaring that, in the opinion of the committee, there is no vacancy in theAenate, B7K 8. PinchbacF laving iieen elected United State* Senator for the term commencing March 4, 1878. A bill was introduced for the establishment of a mint for the coinage of gold and silver at Chicago. As a mark of respect to the memory of the late Representative Starkweather the Senate adjourned to the 81at... .The memorial of th* Territorial Legislature of New Mexic >, asking for admission as a State, wa* prerentedin the House and referred. Bills were iatroduead—to prohibit American citizen* from holding slave* la foreign countlies, and to regulate election* in Utah Territory. The Cowaniar and Diplomatic Appropriation bill (|»22,H17) waa reported from the Committee on Appropriations. Announcement waa made of the death of Representative Starkweather, of Connecticut, (and a committee waa appointed to superintend arrangement* for bi* faneral, the remains to bo taken to Notwalk and the House adjourned to the Slst.