The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-01-18
From Washington.

The business days of congress were again
cut down to three or four for the week on &C
count of the death of members and their fun.
erals. The last death was that of Gustav
Schleicher, of Texas, which occurred on the
ll;h. HIS funeral took place on Monday. lie
was the It'll member of the present congress
| that has died. 1t is also stated that two others
Finley of Ohio and Thornburgh of Tennes-
see-arc lying at the point of death with no
hope of recovery,
The house did good job on the 10Th in dis
posing of the bill to pay for the destruction
during the war OF William and Mary College.
| The bill had stood at the head of the private
calendar since the middle of last winter, and
no other bill on it could be reached until this
was disposed Of Conger, of Michigan, opened
the debate by Il furious bloody-shirt assault on
the bill Unexpectedly Judge l.oring, rep. of
Mass, made an earnest and eloquent speech in
favor of the bill The debate lasted until INTO
the night when Il vote was reached and the
bill defeated by 81 to 1873 Three Illinois
democrats, Morrison, Sparks and Townshcnd,
voted with the republicans against the bill,
while Cox OF Ohio and Loring of Mass repub-
Leans, voted for il.
The house on Wednesday passed two i'm
portant bills, reported by the ways and means
committee, The first was bill to authorize
the secretary of the treasury to issue certificates
of depositc in sums of $40 ana up, to bear 3
per cent interest and to be convertible into !
per cent bonds. The object Of the bill is to
provide means for the safe investment OF
small savings and also to facilitate the process
of converting L, $ ) and per cent, bonds in
to 4 per cents. The other bill makes green
backs receivable for custom dues the same as
gold and silver.
But the most important bill passed at this
session thus far was the arrcarage pension bill
which passed the senate on Thursday ltpro-
vldes that all pensions on account of wounds
or death IN the army shall commence from the
| time ofsuch death or receiving such wound.
The bill, it is estimated will take $50000,000
from the treasury 1t had passed the house at
the last session and is therefore law.
The bill to grant IA pension to soldiers of the
Mexican war and Indian wars before 1916
passed in committee of the whole in the house
on Tuesday but SO loaded down with amend
mcnts that its final passage in its present shape
is impossible The great clog on the passage
of this bill is, that Il number of southern men,
who were rebels during the rebellion, will be
benefited by it.
Mr. Voorhees, offered a resolution in the SEN
ate on Wednesday tor an investigation INTO the
cause of the escape Of the Cheyenne Indians
from Fort Sill, IN the Indian territory last fall,
and of lhcr recent butchery at Fort Robinson.
The resolution ought to be adopted at once.
The republican senator's held Il solemn eau
Gus last Saturday, at which it was agreed to
prepare a resolution and pass it through the
senate, declaring that not to President Hayes
and John Sherman belongs the credit for the
success of resumption, but to the republi-
can party at large, which originated and passed
through the house and senate the law by
which alone resumption has been achieved
| The Potter committee agreed on Saturday
to investigate the cypher dispatches provided
the house voted the necessary money to defray
the expense Of witnesses, etc. The subcom-
mittee at New Orleans having examined one
| st. Martin, who swore that the aifidavlts prov
ing intimidation at the Louisiana election in
| 1876 were manufactured in the custom house
and were periuries. John Sherman now asks
| the committee to receive an affidavit from the
same St Martin swearing that he was Drlbed
to rive his evidence at New Orleans, and that
there was no truth in it. The committee tell
Sherman they arc willing to examine St. Mar
tin again, but mc not willing to put on their
record us evidence the affidavit of Il man who
acknowledges himself a perjurer. The same
committee on Monday examined one Kelly,
yellow boy who was amessengcr OF Kellogg
IN 1876 and says the cxtlfica'c OF Jeffrlon to
| the Louisiana electoral certificate was torg-
cry, and the implication was strong that the
forgery was committed by Kelly himself by
| Kcll0gg's order.