The Portland daily press., 1866-05-17
s5Y TELEGRAPH,
TO THE DAILY PRESS.
Thursday Morning. May II, 1866.
xxx CONGRESS---First Session.

WASHINGTON, May 16.
SENATE.
The veto message was read and ordered to
be printed
A bill fixing the military peace establish
ment of the United States was introduced
and referred. 1t provides that the army shall
consist of the five artillery and six cavalry reg
lments now in the service, and thirty-seven
infantry regiments. The professors and ca
diets of the Military Academy companies shall
consist of sixty-tour privates as a minimum
and eighty two as maximum, to be enlisted
for five years.
Mr.. Grimes, from the Naval Committee, re-
ported a joint resolution for the appointment
OF a board to examine site Tor fresh water
basin for an iron clad navy at Portland, Me.
Mr.. Stewart offered bill to transfer Indian
Bureau from the Interior to War Department.
Referred. t-.,s
The Senate passed the House bill repeating
the act of Thirty-seventh Congress, in relation
to passports, with an amendment that hereat-
ter passports shall be granted only to citizens
of tine United States.
The consular and diplomatic appropriation
bill was taken up Amendments were adopted
that all fees OF cOnsuls or commercial agents,
not mentioned in schedule d and C., be ac-
counted for to the Secretary of the Treasury,
and that all fees of any consul or commercial
agents, exceeding $1,000 in any one year be
paid to the Secretary Of the Treasury, and
that titles OF diplomatic representatives in
Hayti, Liberia and Dominica, shall be minis
tiers resident and consuls general without an
increase in salary, and apportioning 81 500 for
the repair of the fence Of the United States
cemetery in the city OF Mexico.
MIR. Sumner offered an amendment to in
crease the salary of the clerks of State Depart
ment twenty per cent, but subsequently with
drew it and offered instead, a proposition to
increase the salary of Mr.. Hunter, Chief clerk
of Department of State, to $500, annually.
Pending its consideration, the Senate adjourn
ed.
HOUSE.
Unanimous consent was given to the Com
mitlee on Commerce to report bill providing
for the further safety of passengers on steam
ships. 1t excludes nitro glycerine, and modi-
fies the construction of the existing law rea-
tive to crude petroleum, by which the latter
can be more generally shipped.
The bill prohibits nitro gycerine from be-
ing transported on any ships, steamers, cars
or any other mode from foreign countries into
or from one point to another of the United
States, under penalty of $1,000. In cases of
death, persons offending may be convicted of
murder and punished accordingly. Crude Pc
troleum can be transported on decks of vessels,
or in open holds, where there is free venti-
lation of air. The bill passed.
bill was passed extending for seven years
from next December, the patent of Thos. D..
Burnell for improvement in a corn shelter
The House then went into Committee of the
Whole on the tax bill.
Amendments were adopted striking out the
allowance of half the penalty to the nformer !;
for assessment monthly of all sales of whole
sale dealers within the year above $4,000;
increasing the tax of wholesale dealers whose
sales do not exceed $4,000, from $50 to $1OO;
fixing the tax of distillers of apples, grapes or
peaches manufacturing 80 and less than 15O
barrels per annum $50, and those distilling
less than fifty barrels, S20.
The House now concurred in the Senate
amendment to the act regulating the place for
holding the Circuit Court of the United States
within the district Of Virginia, and asked a
Committee of Conference. -
On motion of Mr.. Banks, the Military Com
mittee were instructed to report what meas
ures were necessary for further protection of
dead soldiers of the United States, buried
within the limits of the United States;
Adjourned. ex