Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1873 — General News Summary. [ARTICLE]

General News Summary.

CONGRESS. February 18.— Senate— Petitions were presented—for the passage of the Soldiers’Homestead bill; in favor of the Bounty land hi 11.... Several bills were reported from committees .. A resolution was adopted appropriating SB,OOO to. pay the expenses of the Commftee to Investigate the charges of bribery In the late Senatorial election in Kansas.... A bill was Introduced prohibiting the several Territories of the Union from giving or loanthg their credit to railroad compa.The Naval Appropriation bill was taken up, and several amendments were agreed to. Home —Bills were passed—authorising the construction of a railroad bridge over the Arkansas River at Van Bnren; Senatehlll in relation to mineral lands.... Messrs. Dawes and Beck were appointed as a Committee to notify the President and Vice-Presldentielcct of their election.... Several bills wore reportedf rom committees. February 14.— Senate —A series of resolutions congratulating Spain upon the establishment of a republican ferm of government were offered and laid over.... Several bills were introduced, among them one to declare Inauguration Day a legal holiday... .The Vice-President appointed Messrs. Cragin. Logan and Bayard on the pars of'the'Senate to ma/kethe necessary preparations for the inauguration. ...The House hill to consolidate and amend the pension laws was ' ' amended to limit the compensation 'of claim agents and attorneys, and in several other particulars, and the bill as amended was passed... .The Naval Appropriation bill was taken up and amendment* were agreed to. ... .The Conference report on the Fortification Appropriation hill was concurred in . A message was received from the President calling the attention of Congress to the danger of a conflict between the Federal and the Territorial authorities in Utah. House— Conference reports were made and agreed to on the Fortification and on the Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation hills. . .A resolution was offered relating to the Spanish Republic, bnt objection being mado, it was not entertained... The Sundry Civil Appropriation hill, appropriating $27,958,82u. was considered in Committee of the Wh01e.... The bill for thedistrihutton of the Geneva award was debated, February 15.— Senate —Mr. Sherman, from the committee to notify the President and Vice-President-elect of their election, made a report to the effect that the committee had performed that duty, and had been charged by those gentlemen to report to the two houses their acceptance of the trusts confided Uvthem, and their obligations to the people for that mark of their confidence; also, tho assurance that they would endeavor to discharge faithfully the duties of their offices'....Several amendments were reported to the Post Office Appropriation bill, among which were the following: Prohibiting the transmission of any free matter whatever, not excepting newspaper exchanges; authorizing the employment of an additional Special Agent to detect persons sending obscene matter . A rule was adoptad limiting debate on the Appropriation hills to five minutes to each speaker... The Conference report on (he Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation hill was agreed to ...TheNaval Appropriation bill was considered. House— Mr. Dawes, from the committee to notify the President and Vice-President-elect of their election, made a report similar to that of the committee of the Senate on the same subject. ...Bills-were passed—making unlawful any contract with Indians relative to land or claims, made prior to May SI, 1872. nnless in writing and approved by and entered in the Interior Department; for the distribution of the Geneva award—l 22 to 57 —providing that the fund shall he distributed: 1. To snch citizens and corporations as were actual owners of property destroyed at the time of its destruction, who shall be paid’actual Indemnity where not insured or insurance -was not received. 2. To Indemnify officers and crews captured;, S. Losses to the extent not covered by Insurance paid. 4. To the United States for vessels lost, the same as for private vessels lost. 5. To repay extra premiums paid for war risks hy vessel-owners and._ shippers. 6. To insurance companies having paid losses whose war losses paid exceeded their war premiums. February 17. — Senate —A majority of the Caldwell Investigation Committee favored declaring his election to the Senate from Kansas invalid, and Mr. Morton reported the evidence in the case and offered a resolution that “Mr. Caldwell is nol duly and legally elected to a seat in the United States Senate hv the Legislature of Kansas." Messrs. Logan and Anthony dissented from the majority report Tho Committee think that Mr. Caldwell wns as much sipned against as sinning; that he was a novice in politics, and In the hands of men who encouraged the practice of carrying elections hy money....A resolution was reported favorably to rescind the Twenty-second Joint rule, which prescribes the method of determining disputes arising during the counting of the Electoral votes for President, and Vice-President . .“The Ilonse bill was reported, withont amendment, declaring it to have been the true intent and meaning of the act of June 8, 1872, amendatory of the Bankrnpt law, that the exemptions allowed a, bankrupt by the said amendatory act should he the amount allowed by_ the. Constitution and laws of each State respectively, as existing in the year 1871; and that such exemptions he valid against debts contracted before the adoption and passage of such State Constitution and laws, as well as afterwards; and against liens by decree of any State Court, notwithstanding any decisions since rendered.. ..A bill was introduced granting the State of Nevada 1,000.000 acres of public lands for common school purposes. to bo selected by the 1 State, and disposed of to actual settlers In lien of the sixteenth and thirty-second sections heretofore authorized to be selected for the same pnrposeS ....A bill was passed to. authorize pre-emptors or settlers upon homesteads to alienate their pre-emptions or homesteads for certain public purposes. House —Among the bills Introduced were—to enable the people of the Territories to elect Governors and all other Territorial officers; relat'ng to tho height off railroad bridges across the Mississippi... .Bills were passed —to reimburse the College of William and Mary. Virginia, $65,000, for the destruction of property during the war—ill to 75; to encourage 'and promote telegraphic communication between America and Asia; for the support of Agricultural Colleges, with a proviso that for every SSOO of annual income accruing to any college there shall be one free scholarship, and that when the annual income shall reach $50,000 a year, all tnitlona of that college shall be free. February 18. — Senate— House bills were passed—declaring the exemptions to be allowed by the Bankrnpt law; for the relief of settlers on the Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota.... A petition was presented for the enlargement of the subject matter of Inquiry of the Pomeroy Investigating Committee, and after considerable debate a resolttlioa was adopted thgfl the com mittec be directed to Inquire * Into any allegations of bribery or corruption by said Pomeroy in the. recent election of United States Senator by the Legislature of Kahsas. Home— The Polajd Credlt-Mohilier Committee made a lengthy report, submitting the evidence taken before them, and recommended the expulsion of Messrs. Ames and Brooks. Af'er remarks by several members, farther proceedings under the report were postponed to the 26th. .. The Sundry Civil Appropriation bill was coneid ered in Committee of the Whole. February 19 —Senate— House bill removing the disabilities of Ex-Governor Smith, of Virginia, Was passed. ...Several House bills were reported from committees .‘A bill’' was* Introduced and referred to the Judiciary Committee authorizing the President to appoint three Commissioners to revise the bankrupt laws. Home— Bills were passed—to give the reporting and nubllshing of the debates tc Mr. Murtagh, of the Washington Republican; to extend for one year, till February i, 1874, the time for filing claims for additional bounty under the act of July 28,1866: to provide for headstones in the National Military Cemeteries; t» confirm the purchase, by the proper Executive Depart- | ment, of a certain tract of land at Omaha, j Neb ; to authorize the Secretary of War to ascertain the amount of expense incurred by the Territorial authorities of Dakota in arming, equipping and supplying the volunteer force* tn the Indian war of 1862; to provide that no person shall be promoted tn the army who Is addicted to the Intemperate use of Intoxicating liquors or drugs. THU OLD WORLD. On the 18th the two houses of the Spanish Cortes convened In Joint session as the-Na-tional Assembly of Spaitj, and proceeded to effect a permanent organization. Sen or E. Martos, late'Mlnlster of Foreign Affairs, was elected President of the Assembly in place of Senor Figucro, the Chairman pro ton., receiving 222 votes. Senor Martos, on taking the chair, delivered a patriotic speech, which was loudly cheered from all , parts of the house. All the civil and and military- authorities of'the provinces, as fat as heard froth, have given in their adhesion to the new regime. The city and country, with the exception of the district* where CarlUt hand* are present, eontltae tranquil. :

A dispatch from Paris says that the payment of the second fifty million installment of the fourth milliard of the war indemnity was completed on the Bth Instant. It is stated in a dispatch from Rome, that “the Pope on the 19th gave audience to akvefal officers of the United States navy who are now' in Rome. In the course of conversation his holiness asked how he would be received in America. The officers replied that the country would regard his taking up his residence among them a great honor.” Madrid advices of the 14th, state that the National Assembly had elected Perales, Sevane, Gomez, and Chao, Vice Presidents. An address in reply to the King’s message of abdication was adopted. It concludes with the declaration that when the present perils, conspiracies and abstacles are overcome, the Spaniards will not be able to offer Amadeus a crown, but they will offer him another dignity, that of being a citzen of a free and independent country. General Yarla has been appointed to the chief command of the troops in Catalonia. The Spanish banks have offered financial aid to the Ministry. Ex-King Amadeus had arrived at Lisbon. A dispatch from Vienna; 14th, says that the grand international exhibition palace in that city is now completed, and goods are being received. On the 15th, at Madrid, Minister Sickles waited upon Senor Figueras, and made a brief address, congratulating his excellency upon the establishment of a republic in Spain. Senor Figueras replied, concluding with these words: “If the United States is indebted to Spain for the discoverer | American continent, Spain is indebted to the United States for the founder of the new social order. Spain will remember the worthy example set her by the United States.” A dispatch from London, 17th, says that fourthousand of the striking miners in Wales have resumed work. A Madrid dispatch of the 17th, says that a majority of the conservative Generals of the Spanish army had assured the Government that they would not oppose the Republic. A decree had been issued abolishing the regulation, requiring officers of the army to take political oaths. Ou the 18th, an explosion occurred in a coal mine at “Talk o’ the Hill,” Staffordshire, England, while the men were at work. Between thlrty and forty miners were reported killed. A fire, which broke out after the explosion, was with difficulty extinguished. A Madrid dispatch of the 19th says that a meeting of the leading members of the Conservative party had been held, at which it was decided not to oppose the present Gov ernmeht, but to press for a dissolution of the Assembly and a convocation of the constituent Cortes. A dispatch from Dublin, 19th, says that Bishop Duggan, of Clonfert, and Rev. Mr. Quinn, had been acquitted of using spiritual Influence to Intimidate voters In the Galway, Parliamentary election. THE NEW WORLD. Gold closed in New York on the 19th at -TH9S@U4S£.- • At Richmond, Va., on the 13th, a grand celebration was held in honor of the arrival of the first through freight train from the Ohio River over the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. The newly completed census of Brazil shows a total population of 10,000,000, including 2,000,000 slaves and 250,000 aborigines.™: 1 = ™' ■■r-'-ur-The next Ohio Republican Btate Convention will be held May 21. The Jury in the case of George Driver, on trial in Chicago for the murder of his wife, brought in a verdict of guilty, with hanging as the penalty. Governor Osborn, of Kansas, has been notified by General Pope that President Grant has ordered the removal of the troops from the Cherokee neutral lands in that State. The Grand Jury of Jacksonville, Oregon, on the 14th, indicted seven of Captain Jack’s Indian band of Modocs for murder in the first degree. At New York on the 14th, Judge Boardman denied the application for a new trial for Stokes. • The Alabama Legislature, by two majority in the House, and the casting vote of the Lieutenant-Governor in the Senate, has. passed a resolution declaring valid, all the acts of the so-called Legislature in the Court House. These acts include the $2,000,000 bond issue, placed with Henry Clews, and the election of Spencer to the United States Senate. Judge Davis, on the 15th, granted a stay of proceedings in the case of Stokes, an an exception taken by Stokes’ counsel to the charge of Judge Boardman. Judge Davie, in granting the stay, said “I reach this conclusion with regTet, but having reached it, I shall perform the duty that springs from it with no hesitation.” , ‘ The jury in the case of John Marion Osborn , on trial at Galesburg, 111., for the murder of Mrs. Matthews at Yates City in August last, on the 15th brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, with hanging as the penalty. The steamboat Henry A. Jones, from Houston,, for Galveston, with a cargo of 422 bales of cotton, was destroyed by fire in Galveston Bay, on the 15th. Twenty-one lives were lost. Among them were Captain J. Price v first clerk, and James B. Hogan, second clerk, both well-known steamboat men. The result of the Electoral vote, as'declared'by Congress, is as follows; For President—U. 8. Grant, 286; Thomas A. Hendricks, 42; B. Gratz Brown, 18; C. J. Jenkins, 2; David Davis, 1. Total, 349. Rejected— Arkansas,' 6; Louisiana, 8, and 3 votes in Georgia for Horace Greeley, deceased. For Vice-President —Henry Wilson, 286; B. Gratz Brown, 47; George W. Julian, 5; Alexander H. Colquit, 5; John M. Palmer, 3; Thomas E. Bramlette, 8; Nathaniel P. Banks, 1; William 8. Groesbeck, 1; Wjllis B. Machen, I. Total, 353. Rejected—Arkansas and Louisiana. The vote of Btates is: For Grant and Wilson, 29 ;. Opposition, 6 ; Rejected, 8. Advices from various portions of the country, 17th, bring information of severe freshets caused by the recent heavy rains, The Monongahela, Susquehanna, Lehigh, Alabama and Potomac were all very high, and considerable damage was dons' W vessels and other property. It is stated that the . coming inauguration ceremony at Washington will be contacted to an Imposing manner, and that

the display will be the finest ever witnessed i on a similar occasion. A call has been issued for a State TemperanceOonventlon to be held at Springfield, IIL, on the 25th of February. President Grant contemplates starting oh his Southern tour on the 20th of March, and expects to be accompanied hy nearly all of his Cabinet, besides many distinguished gentlemen—-Senators, members of Congress and others. Richmond, Va., will be the first stopping place. mh 1 Dr. Charles Peters, of Clinton, N. Y., on the night of the 17th, discovered a new planet at ten hours no minutes right ascensioiij and north thirteen degrees forty minutes declination; rapid motion north; eleventh magnitude. The President has approved the act providing for the erection of a public building for the use of the Government, at Covington, Ky. A serious accident occurred on the Hudson River Railroad near Yonkers, on the 18th, caused by a runaway locomotive overtaking and running into the rear end of a passenger train. The rear car at the time of the accident fortunately contained only one passenger besides the assistant conductor and a brakeman. The passenger was unhurt, but the two latter were fatally injured. A dispatch from New York, 18th, says that in addition to the vessel American Congress, which has already been reported as probably lost, it is stated that two other ships, the Liucoln and the Sterling Castle, both British, have probably met the same fate. Tne Sterling Castle sailed from New York on December 10 for London, and sailed on December 11, and had a crew of twenty-three men. A fire at Shreveport, La., on the morning of the 18tb, destroyed business propeity to the amount sf about half a million of dollars. , Judge Green, of the Franklin County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas, has rendered a decision regarding the temperance law of the State. Some of its provisions he declares to be unconstitutional and void, and so limits the remainder that it would be difflcnlt to obtain a verdict against a liquor seller. A serious accident occurred on the 19th, on the Fort Smith Railroad. While rounding a Curve near Pinmer’s Station (fiftytwo mites from Little Rock), the rear -ear —of .the—mall —train, ' containing thirty-two passengers, was turned over down an embankment and dragged some 900 yards before the train was stopped. Twenty-four of the passengers were more or less injured, and one was instantly killed. At Brooklyn, N. Y., recently, a mother locked her two children up in a room while she went out, and while absent the house took fire and the children were burned to death. A Mrs. Sarah Taylor was fatally injured in jumping from one of the windows. Horace Greeley’s daughters, it la said, will each have SIOO,OOO, after his liabilities are paid. A system of ticket swindling has recently been discovered on the Pan-Handle loute, “between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati,- and several of the conductors and ticket-agents have been arrested for being implicated therein. It is said that the conductors failed to punch many of the tickets taken up by them, and: handed them over to the agents, who re-sold them and then divided the profits. . .