The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1882-02-25

previous Congress for some year
past. Five of the appropriation
bills have been considered, am,
one passed. Tho apportionmen
bill has been disposed of by til,
House. During the session, nearly
five Thousand bills and resolutions
have been offered in the House
This is more than twice as MANY
as were ever before filed SO early
in the session. The committee are
very industriously at work, and
since Lent will begin ON the 22d
inst, and put a stop to fashiona-
BILE nocturnal gayety, Congress
will be able tt give less divided
attention to public business. Many
members think Congress will adj
journ as soon as the first of June,
but the majority are of opinion
that the session will continue until
the middle of July.
A large majority of the thou
sands of bills that have been in
troducod are of petty private
character, and it is ridiculous that
our flaws furnish no other court
than an unwieldy and expensive
national Legislature for their ad
Indication. There appears to be
an absolute necessity for some
measure to relieve Congress from
the burden of private Legislation in
the form Of petitions and bills for
the relief of individuals. The sin
gle Committee on Claims, of the
House, has already had nesrly a
thousand bills referred to it, and
the Committee ON Invalid Pen
sions is still worse off. 1t is said
that there is not standing com
mittee of the House which has not
more or less private business OH
its calendar.
Among the bills providing for
the relief of the Supreme Court,
one was introduced in the Senate
by Mr.. Pugh which proposes to
divide the Court into three divi-
sions, with three Justices in each,
to be known as the Federal, Equity |
and Admiralty Law divisions.
These divisions are empowered to
sit separately, and all causes are
to be heard in the first instance
by one of the divisions, except
causes in which a jury is required;
these are to be heard by the court
in bane.
Mr.. Cox, from the committee to
audit the expenses growing out of
the death and burial of the late
President James A. Garfield, re-
ported a bill granting a pension
of 81, 900 to Mrs. Lucretia r. Gar
field. Mr.. Atkins, of Tennessee,
said he would not object to the
bill, but he thought that a similar
measure should be adopted to pen
sion the widow of any other Presi-
dent. The bill was then passed.
The subcommittee of the House
Committee on Territories has unan-
imously agreed Oh bill to provide
for the admission into the Union
of all that part of Dakota Terri
tory south of the forty-sixth par
allel.
a bill has been introduced to
make the Bureau of Agriculture
al executive department, placing
it on an equality with the Postof-
fee Department, the Department
of War, and the other executive
branches of the Government that
have a Cabinet officer at their
head. The chief of the Bureau
would then be a member of the
with the title, perhaps,
OF Secretary of Agriculture. The
representatives from non-agricul-
tural States have, heretofore, OPP
posed a bill of this character, on
the grounds that agriculture has
no more right to executive consid.
Grafton than any other industrial
interest, and one member, some
years ago, derisiyely proposed an
amendment that the interests Of
boots and shoes should also have 4
a place in the Cabinet. But there
is growing sentiment in favor of
adding this department to the Cab
met, and of following the preee-
dents of other civilized nations in
this respect. The United States
has only seven CABINET places.
France has twelve, and ] think
the other first-class European pow
ers hare as many.