Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1868-01-14
Congress-.


In the Senate, yesterday, bill was offered
by Mr.. Edmunds, providing Tor the suspension
of officers who are under trial of impeachment.
A petition was presented from W. Scott Smith,
of the Press Association, asking that the charge
brought against him by Mr.. Howard, Of having
violated good faith by publishing an abstract
of the majority report in relation to the dis
missal of Secretary Stanton, be investigated.
Mr.. Davis resolution providing for the ap-
pointment of tribunal to determine Constitu-
tional questions and conflicts of jurisdiction bet
ween the General Government and the several
States, was taken up, and he proceeded to
deliver speech in favor of the resolution. Be-
fore the conclusion of his speech the Senate
went into executive session, and at It's close
adjourned.
In THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the
bill supplementary to the Reconstruction acts,
which was agreed upon on Saturday last by the
Reconstruction Committee, was reported to the
House, and resolution was adopted allowing
debate on it from day to day. until the bill
Judiciary reported the Senate bill making five
judges quorum of the Supreme Court, with
an amendment declaring that no act of Con
gress shall be declared Unconstitutional except by
q concurrence of two-thirds of the members of
the Court. An amendment was offered by Mr.
Williams, of Pa providing that in all cases where
the validity of an act of Congress is brought
into question the case shall be heard before a
full bench of the Supreme Court, and no judg
ment of the unconstitutionality of the act OF
Congress shall be made except by concurrence
of all the judges A long debate eDsued, in
which Mr.. Marshall, of Illinois, denounced the
proposed bill as an unlawful effort to bolster
up bad cause, and an admission that the
reconatruction acts already passed are unconsl-
tutional. The action of the House, he said, in
passing reconstruction bills one day only to
re peal them the next, will be considered as an
evidence of ignorance and unstatesman!ike con-
duct. He was followed by Mr.. Spalding, of
Ohio, who argued in favor of the bin. Mr.
Wilson offered an amendment providing that
| if any Circuit or District Court of the U. S.
shall adjudge an act of Congress to be unconsti-
tutional, and it shall be afterwards brought be-
fore the Supreme Court for review, and two
thirds of the Supreme Court shall not ratify
! the decision of the Court below, then such
decision of the lower Court shall be declared to
be reversed. A number ofspeeches were then
made, after which a vote was taken and Mr..
| Williams amendment was rejected. Mr.. VAL
| sons amendment was agreed to, and the bill,
| as amended, was finally PASSED By vote OF
yeas ll6 to nays 49, The House then ad-
journed.
WASHINGTON ITEAs.-Two of the buildings
at the Kendall Green barracks-used as tene.
| meuts for colored people, rented to them by the
Freedmen Bureau--were burned down yes!er.
day.
A number of Sunday gamblers we're ar.
rested on Sunday.
The Skating Park was opened yesterday.
During the past year large number of fine
buildings have been erected in the city, and nu
merous smaller houses. 9
James Harper, horse thief from Marion
county, West Virginia, has been arrested here.
| The jury to condemn the land through the
Gales estate for the Point Of Rocks railroad,
returned az 9i9quisition for $4,000. The
l. IL