Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1886 — CONGRESSIONAL [ARTICLE]

CONGRESSIONAL

Tha Work of the Senate and House of Representatives A bill appropriating <150,000 for the erection of a branch home for disabled volunteer soldiers west of the Rocky Mountains was passed by the Senate on the Sth. A bill was passed providing fora commission of three persons, to be appointed by the President, to investigate the truth of alleged discoveries of the specific cause of yellow fever. In the House of Representatives,, in moving to expunge from the Hecord a speech By Mr. Wheeler, of Alabama, Mr. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, read a private letter written in the spring of 1862 by Secretary Stanton, frankly defining his attitude toward General McClellan. The resolution offered by Mr. Kelley was referred to the Committee on Rules. An effort in the House, to §et unanimous consent to report the amended enate anti-polygamy bill was defeated by the objection of Caine, the Mormon delegate from Utah. The incident served to show the watchfulness of the Mopnon lobby and its determination to throw every obstruction in the way of adverse legislation, The House spent some hours In committee of, the whole (Mr. Blount, of Georgia, in the chair) on. the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill. A measure was favorably reported to the Senate, on the 9th inst., prohibiting the transmission of lottery circulars through the mails. Bills were reported favorably appropriating tne following-named sums for public buildings: Duluth, Minn., <100,000; El Paso, Texas, #150,000; for repairs and enlargement of the public building at Des Moines, lowa, <153.000; increasing the limit of cost of the public building at Peoria, 111., from <225,000 to <275,000, and making an additional appropriation of <25,000 for the public building at Keokuk, lowa. Bills were passed, . providing for a portrait of Gen. George H. Thomas; to establish two additional land districts in Dakota; to legalize the incorporation of trades unions ; referringtothe Court.Of Claims for examination and report to Congress certain claims for property seized by General Albert Sydney Johnston in the Utah expedition of 1857. The oleomargarine bill was considered by the Senate. Senator Butler read a telegram from the Mayor and a large number of citizens of Spartanburg, S. C., urging the Senators from that State to use their influence in defeating the oleomargarine bill; which the signers declare the worst form of protection. “Let people buy oleomargarine," they say, “as they would any other article of food. ” In the House of Representatives, while the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bill was under consideration, Mr. Hitt, of Hlinois, commented on what he termed the extraordinary provision (that requiring the certification of the entire list of applicants from each State who passed the examination) which had been forced upon an appropriation bill to nullify the civil-service law. Mr. Cox, of North Carolina, Chairman of the Committee en Civil-Service Reform, Mr. Compton and Mr. Shaw, of Maryland, boldly attacked the law witfiout any disguise, while Mr. Springer, Mr. McAdoo, and Mr. Randall advocated the modifications proposed by the Appropriation Committee. Mr Hitt, of, Illinois, Mr. Burterworth, of Ohio, and Mr. Bayne, of Pennsylvania, Republicans argued in favor of the principle of civil-service reform. Mr. Hitt charged the Appropriation Committee with having gone out of its province to insidiously attack civil-service reform. Mr. Randall declared that the regulations enacted had cheated the representatives of the people out of rights which they should have stood up and defended in behalf of their constituents. Mr. Beck’s bill to prohibit members of Congress from accepting retainers from subsidized railroads passed the Senate, on the 10th inst., by a vote of 31 to 11, but Mr. Hawley secured a ■reconsideration of the matter. The Senate also passed the agricultural appropriation bill, with items of 817,000 for the encouragement of silkculture, $5,001 to bore artesian wells in Oregon or Washington Territory, and 491,000 for sor-ghum-making with American machinery. On motion of Senator Allison, the" Senate passed a bill appropriating <150,000 as an additional sum to complete the Des Moines (Iowa) public building. 'Senator Riddleberger insisted upon the consideration by the Senate of the resolution providing for open executive sessions, nnd the Senate refused to take it up by a vote of 32 to 8. A bill wait introduced by Senator McPherson to increase the nav.al establishment. It appropriates 86,445,000. The Senate in secret session rejected the nomination of Posey S. Wilson to be assay or of the mint at Denver, Colo. Among the nominations for postmasters sent to the Senate were the following: Reuben Stahley, Crestline, O.; John D. ThompsomMt. Vernon, O.; Samuel S. Clayton, Ada, O.; u] A. Gallagher, Cheboygan, Mich.; Prior B. Mayo, North Springfield, Mo. The repost of the House Judiciary Committee on the Edmunds anti-polygamy bill was presented to the House. The committee expresses its dissent from the twelfth section of the Senate bill, the effect of which would be that the conduct of the corporate “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’’ would be controlled by trustees of the church in conjunction with trustees appointed by the President. This Union of trustees of the church and those of the government could not be distinguished from-a union of the church and state and a law respecting the establishment of religion. Nor could it be other than a limitation on the free eccercise of religion where a majority who control in matters of faith and discipline are appointed by the President. The committee recommends a revocation of the charter aqd a dissolution of the corporation as in the line of public policy, if it can constitutionally be done. ~ Dußisa a debate in - the Senate on the Northern Pacific forfeiture bill on the 4th inst. Mr. George stated that an area larger than France or Germany had been donated by Congress to corporations between 1860 and 1875. Mr. Sherman remarked that all the stock issued by the Northern Pacific Company would not sell for the 830,601,000 cash put into the road, and that the passage of the pending bill would simply relieve the corporation of the'task of tunneling the Cascade range. The House of Representatives passed the Senate bill to legalize the incorporation of trades unions. During the consideration of the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill, Messrs. Morrison and Holman engaged in a colloquy which amused the members, and upon Mr. Randall attempting to answer a question propounded by Mr. Morrison the latter gentleman exclaimed; “I was not asking you ; you are not' an economist up to the standard of the gentleman from. Indiana.” A petition from the Chamber of Commerce of New York for an appropriation of $1,009,000 with which to commerce the work of permanently deepening the water on Sandy Hook bW’was presented in the Senate by Mr. Miller on the 12th inst. The army appropriation bill was passed as it came from the Senate Committee. A bill was passed authorizing the removal of the Southern Ute Indians in Colorado to Utah Territory. In the House of Representatives Mr. Holman’s ciyil service rider to the legislative, executive ahd judicial appi'qpriaticn. bill was ruled out of order. 'TTie only btber liusTuess accomplished by the House was' the passage of several pension bills ..