Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1881-12-21
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent

/" ~. O'1 D>NNAAA">A -
Under the rules Of the House Of Rep
resentatives Monday is the day on
which the States are called, during the
morning hour, and members from the
States reached in order before the time
expires have an opportunity to present
any bills, resolutions or petitions they
may have prepared. Sometimes they
come in SO thick and fast that the hour
is consumed before the States have
been half called, and on the following
Monday the call is resumed where it
left off before To introduce matters of
this nature on any other day requires
unanimous consent or suspension of
the rules by two-thirds vote. From
this practice, Monday has been called
"bill day." and it is the day on which
most of the sensations and s'fieid eXer-
cises" occur; because, if a member has
anything of a red-hot nature to offer,
for which he has at all other times been
unable to catch that treacherous thing,
the "speaker's eye" he can, if the
State is reached, shoot it off on Monday
in spite of all opposition. This much
by way of introduction to ga few feeble
remarks" about bills and things.
Thousands of bills are introduced at
every Congress which ought not to be,
and which accomplish nothing but to
take up time, cumber the records, and
clog the committees. Over 5000 bills
were dumped into the hopper of the
last Congress, yet not one out of hun
dred of them were or ever will be heard
of again. Already the sluice gates are
opened in the present Congress, and the
flood of measures will continue to flow
in every Monday down to the very last
week of the session. In the Senate
alone, $50 bills have been introduced in
less than week after Congress assem-
bled. One Senator alone offered thirty
three bills. In the whole batch there
are scarcely a score that can be said to
have any public interest. And SO it al
ways is. A large majority of the bills
offered in every Congress either relate
to some trifling, impractical matter, or
to some small private grievance which
the Court of Claims was especially Gre
ated to consider. The vanity and
of all this might be
overlooked if it were not for its injur
ious effect, first, in preventing the con-
sideration of necessary business, and
second, in occasionally facilitating the
passage of highly Objectionable meas
ures. All the important measures de-
manding action by Congress at the
present time can be told off on the fin
gers of one hand, and, as Senator Ed
munds recently said, adjournment
might be reached by the middle Of
May; but between idle measures and
idle Congressman we shall find that it
will be nearer August.
None of the new members attract
more attention in Washington than the
preacher Congressman from Brooklyn,
Rev. J. Hyatt Smith. In personal APP
oearanee he is not remarkable, the most
striking feature being the short, cork
screw curls in which his hair is worn. {
But he appears to be very active man. s
Besides his Congressional duties he has |
Ilready been both lecturins and preach
ng here, with plenty of hearers, all of
whom express themselves pleased.
That is more than some Of his constit-
tents appear to be, for several of the
abor organizations that contributed to
lis election as an Independent have
een telegraphing their indignation at {
lis course in entering the Republican
amp. The good -natured political di-
TiRe, however, expresses the opinion
hat he knew on which side his bread
vas buttered when he located himself
ear the loaves and fishes. That he
i'd not mean to 'sgot left" is evidenced >
n the fact that Mr.. Randall held his
lodge to vote with the Democrats if
is vote would elect, and the Green