Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1902 — CONGRESS. [ARTICLE]

CONGRESS.

, Congress .convened for the short session at noon on Monday. The Senate was in session only twelve minutes, adjournment being voted ont of respect to memory of Senator McMillan of Michigan. No business was transacted beyond passing customary resolution that Senate vras ready to begin business and fixing daily hour for convening at noon. In the House a prayer, the calling of the roll, the swearing in of members elected to fill vacancies created by death or resignation during the recess, the adoption of the customary resolutions that the House was ready to transact business and fixing noon as the daily hour of meeting summarizes what was done. Adjournment was then voted out of respect' to the memory of Representative Charles G. Russell of Connecticut. The session lasted less than an hour. On Tuesday there were two events of interest in the Senate, the swearing in of Gen. Russell A. Alger as Senator from Michigan and the presentation of the President’s annual message. Upon -he conclusion of the reading of the message, which occupied one hour and fifteen minutes, it was ordered to lie on the table and be printed. A concurrent resolution offered by Mr. Morgan (Ala.) providing for the printing of a compilation of bills and debates' in Congress relating to trusts was referred to the committee on printing. A number of bills and resolutions were introduced following a brief executive session. The resignation of Rev. W. H. Milbum, the blind chaplain of the Senate, was received, but no action was taken on it. At 1:50 p. m. the Senate adjourned out of respect to the memory of the late Charles H. Russell, Representative from Connecticut. In the House the session lasted one hour and forty minutes. One hour was consumed in reading the President’s message, which was referred without objection to the committee of the whole House on the state of the Union. The deaths of Representatives De Graffenreid and Sheppard of Texas, which occurred during the recess, were announced, and after adopting the customary resolutions of regret the House adjourned as a further mark of respect to their memories. The Senate on Wednesday began the real work of disposing of the business before it. When an adjournment was taken at 1:30 o’clock out of respect to the memory of Representatives De Graffeureid and Sheppard of Texas the bill to amend the immigration laws was under discussion. Early in the day Mr. Nelson, from the committee on territories, reported a substitute for the omnibus statehood bill with the recommendation that Oklahoma and Indian Territory be admitted into the Union as one State under the name of Oklahoma. When the immigration bill was brought up Mr. Quay precipitated a discussion over the status of the statehood bill, which was terminated by a ruling from the chair that Dec. 10 it would be the unfinished business and that at the closing hour each day it would be laid before the Senate unless displaced by a vote of that body. The House passed the bill to appropriate $50,000 to defray the expenses of the anthracite coal strike commission and then adjourned until Friday. There were two hours of discussion on the commission bill, during which the President’s course in creating tho commission was highly commended < cx - cept by Mr. Burton, a Missouri Democrat, who contended that the commission was created without authority of law ox constitution. There was some criticism of the feature of the bill allowing double salaries to members of the commission now in government employ and also because the bill left the amount of the compensation of the members to the President, but all amendments were voted down. The bill was passed without division. The Senate was in session Thursday one hour and-five minutes, most of which time was spent behind closed doors. After the reception of a number of bills and petitions and the adoption of a concurrent resolution calling on the President for the papers in the Pious fund case, recently arbitrated before The Hague tribunal, Mr. Beveridge had read the resolutions adopted by the delegates to the Oklahoma non-partisan convention favoring the admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one State and opposing the House omnibus statehood bill. The Senate then went into executive session, and at 1:50 adjourned until Monday. The House was not in session.