Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-08-09
RUTLAND HERALD.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 1866.
What was done by Congress,

great inject az reconstruction is
well XII wn TO our readers The pas
sage anC veto OF the Freedmen's Bureau
bill, the passage, veto and passage over
the veto of the Civil Rights bill, the
passage veto and passage over the veto
of another Freedmen's Bureau bill, the
passage Of the Constitutional amend
ment, and the admission of the Tonnes
see Congressman upon the ratification OF
that amendment blythe Tennessee Legis-
lature, were the chief results of the
Congressional investigation and discus
sion Of the great subject.
Upon the subject of the Tariff there
was much debate and the consumption
of much time, with small results The
tariff bill which passed the House by a
vote Of "a TO SO was postponed by the
Senate ill December next. A revised
bill was passed by the House, which the
Senate adopted with amendments. The
House refused to concur in the amend
ments and a Committee Of Conference
was appointed, whose report was finally
adopted by both Houses. A separate
bill to increase the duty on imported
wool passed the House just before the
adjournment, but was laid on the table
by the Senate. The result Of the legis-
lation on this subject was to effect but
little change in the tariff as it previously
existed.
The following in relation to the dis
posal Of other important measures we
condense from Congressional review
in the Tribune. The Loan bill was con-
sidered in the House, and in it's original
shape defeated March 16. On the 23d it
passed by So to So, and April 8 was
adopted in the Senate by large ma
jority. The Committee of Ways and
Means, February l, reported bill to
Fund the National Debt, which was sub
sequently cut down and changed so that
it was necessary to change the very
title. The Bankrupt bill, a very i'm
portant measure, which, if passed,
would have been Of Unreasonable ben
eft to the country, was approved by the
House as early as May, but the Senate
postponed it till December. A mole
gratifying feature of the financial action
of Congress was the passage Of the In
ternal Revenue bill in June, by which at
least s1O0,000,000 Of taxes per annum
were repealed. A stronger evidence of
the wealth and resources of the country
could not be given than that this was
accomplished little more than year
after the end Of the war; and with q
debt Of thousands of millions unpaid.
July is, the Senate resolved to increase
the pay o. it's officers and employees,
while, May Is, the bill to equalize SOL
diers' bounties passed the House by a
nearly unanimous vote. The Senate de-
3eated the Bounty bill, July "A, and the
House, two days after, refused to concur
in the bill to increase salaries. On the
last day OF the session, a Conference
Committee tackled both Of these propo.
sitions to the Civil Appropriation bill
and in this shape they passed both
Houses.
Congress, May 80, finally passed the
bill to facilitate commercial, postal and
military communication between the
several States-a wise and important
measure, which ought to do much to
destroy the monopolies that rob the peo-
PIE. A bill 10 reorganize the judiciary
of the United States was adopted. The
Army bill giving US a large military
force, was adopted at the end of the ses-
sion. River and Harbor improvements
were authorized, but the measure to
protect the banks of the Mississippi
from iDundation was defeated. The
Neutrality bill, which repealed the old
laws by which the United States bound
herself to an extreme neutrality, which
no rival nation observed, was passed in
the House, but in the Senate consigned
to Committee, and sent over till De-
cember. The spirit of this bill was car
ried out in other resolutions by Con-
gress, requesting the President to report
if any American citizens in Ireland were
held illegally imprisoned, asking him to
interfere in behalf of the Fenians in Can
ada, and recommending that all prose.
cutiens in the United States Courts
against Fenians should be stopped.
Congress voted to admit two new
States to the Union. The bill to admit
Colorado was vetoed by the President
May 25th. July 9th, Nebraska was de-
clared State by Congress, but the
President has thus far withheld his APP
proval. April 10th, the House adopted
a resolution of inquiry whether Jeffer-
son Davis was guilty of melting assas-
sination, as charged by President john
son: The report of the Special Commit
tee on the subject was made July 9th,
and has been noticed in our columns.
What may be called the personal bust
ness OF Congress has several interesting
y,o;nta When the session began. both