The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-12-25
CONGRESS.

! OF last week, the senate to elect a presiden
OF that body, who in case of the death or re
mova OF President Grant would take hi.
place; and the house 10 give Mr.. Speaker
Kerr an opportunity to announce his stand
ing committees. .r
The senate had hardly been called To order
before Mr.. Edmunds offered resolution tc
defer the election of president of that body
until Thursday, Jan. eth, at O'Clock p. NJ
After some debate the resolution was referred
to the committee on elections.
Then Morton got up his resolution Sor an
investigation of the Mississippi election, and
was about to make speech on it, but being
reminded that within couple of hours all
the members would be on the road to Phila-
delphia on centennial spree, he concluded
to defer his speech to another time, and the
senate adjourned to Monday.
In the House the speaker was not ready TO
announce his committees. and the hour or
two before the starting of the Philadelphia
train were devoted to general business Sew.
eral unImportant bills were passed, and a
number of new bills introduced. Mr.. Page,
of California with view to breaking the
force of the anti-third term resolution adopt.
ed the other day, introduced a resolution de-
claring that it was unwise to attempt TO place
any limits beyond those in the constitution
upon the perfect freedom of the people 10
name whom they pleased for presidential can.
Iilatnc Tho ,ao,lp,s..p Oh Iar oh
ter, but the house refused 10 order the previ.
Gus question and come TO q vote upon ii.
The House also adjourned over to Monday.
On Monday, in the Senate, Mr.. Edmunds
stated that while the resolution to proceed to
the election of president of the senate on
the eth OF January was pending, there ought
in the meantime to be no doubt as 20 who
was the president Of the senate between the
present time and that date. lie therefore
moved that in the meantime Senator Ferry
be declared the president. IL seems Ed.
munds, in his haste to have the resolution
adopted, had forgotten to count noses and
that, in fact, at The time there was majority
of democratic senators present. Mr., Bayard,
aware OF the fact, moved to substitute the
name OF A. G. Thurman for that of Ferry !.
The republicans saw the point, and mmed-
ately there was desperate rush for absen.
tees, and enough were finally logged IN to
pass the resolution with Ferry's name in it
by majority. Morton concluded not to
make his threatened speech on the Missis-
sippi question at present, and so, after some
unimportant business, the senate adjourned
to Jan 9TH.
In the house the only business was TO hear
the announcement by the speaker of the
standing committees. While, as announced,
they caused a good deal of surprise ard some
disappointment and indignation, IN the main
IT is believed sc speaker has done as well as
could be eypar.ed of him, under all the diff
culties of tx case Following are few Of
The leading COMMITTEES:
Elections--H Harris (Va.,) Thompson, Black.
burn, Beebe, House, Deboit, Poppleton, Ioar,
Wells Miss Baker (Ind,j and Brown
(Kan.)
Ways and Means Morrison, Wood, Han
cock, Thomas, Hill, ChapiH, Tucker, Blaine
hclIcS, oai ohu AAii'l
ropria,ions-Randall, Holman, Wells
Mo- Atkins, Hamilton On. J.,) Blount, SIN
gleton, Wheeler. Hale, Foster and Walron.
Banking and Currency-Cox, Payne,
Goode, Gibson, Raymond, Burchard Wis, }
Wike, Townsend (Pa.,) Kasson, Eames, ..and
Hubbell.
Pacific Railroad-Lamar, Atkins, Luttrell,
Walker (Va.,) Lynde. Throckmorton, Thorn
as Md Phillips No. kassoD, Piau,
O'Neill, and Blair.
Judiciary-Knott uuntOn, Ashe, Lynde,
Lord, Hurd. Caulfeld, McCrary, Lawrence,
FRYE and Starkweather.
Public Lands-Sayer, Goodin, Fuller, Nc
Farland, Walling, Ganse, Lane, Hathorne,
McDill, Morey and Crounse.
Foreign Afairs-Swann, Faulkner, Banks,
Barnum, Ely Hamilton (Ind.J Springer,
Forney, Monroe, " illiams wis., and Packer.
The name of our member, Mr.. Campbell,
occurs on but two committees Mining and
Public Expenditures.
The speaker, it will be seen, has been re-
markedly liberal towards the republicans
giving them four or five out Of the II on each
of the important committees, the republicans
being their ablest men,
Immediately after the announcement OF
the committees, the house adjourned until
Wednesday, the 9th of January.