Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1884-01-18
CONGRESS-
An rIrr,ornI Couni mn.

form in WhlChlt was reported 10 llt oNuhlo W ]
a special committee in 1871 It passed the
Senate after debate April G, 1852, without a
division. The bill requires the electors to
meet in each state and give their votes the
second Monday in January instead OF the
first Wednesday Of December. Before that
date, each state may, pursuant to its laws,
determine any controversy arising % to the
appointment Of such electors, and such de.
termination shall be conclusive evidence OF
lawfulness, and shall govern in the counting
of the electoral vote. Tho executive OF each
state shall issue three lists of certificates OF
electors Congress shall be in session on the
second Wednesday in February, succeeding
every meeting Of the electors. The two
houses shall meet Mt | o'clock in the House
and the president Of the Senate shall preside.
Telers shall be previously appointed, to
whom the president shall hand the certil.
Gates The votes shall be counted lists shall
be made and the president of the Senate
shall declare the vote, which shall be deemed
a sufficient declaration Of the persons elected
Upon reading certificates the president shall
call for objections which shall be made IN
writing il there are any. When all objec
tons to any certificate have been entered, the
Senate shall withdraw, and the two houses
shall vote separately. II there be more than
one return those votes only shall be counted
which have had the previous adjudication
and sanction of the state. But if the ques-
ton arises, which of two state tribunals is
the lawful one those votes shall be counted
which the two houses acting separately shall
concurrently accept The same rule shall be
observed in case there is more than one re-
turn and there has been no determination by
the state tribunal. During Joint session no
debate shall be in order and no motion ex-
ceptto Withdraw. In separate session speeches
are limited to five minutes and debate to two
hours. The last session regulates the seating
of the hall and provides that after the fifth
calendar day no recess in the session for the
count shall be taken. This bill is drawn
from a standpoint of constitutional law and
provides as far as is possible by human fore
sight for the settlement Of such vexatious
disputes az arose in 1877. There is not the
slightest ground for partisan division upon it
and it ought to promptly pass the House.
The Postal Telegraph.
Considerable interest has been shown this
winter by members of both branches Of Con
gress in regard to the establishment of a pos
tai telegraph system in the United States,
and several bills providing for such systems
have already been introduced in the Senate
and House of Representatives They are ex
Dected to provoke good deal of debate later
in the session, and some interesting speeches
will be heard. Mr. Edmunds and Mr.. Hill of
Colorado each has in the Sena,e an elaborate
bill to provide for postal telegraph On
Monday Mr.. Hill delivered an earnest argu-
ment in support of the measure introduced
by him. He related the history Of the orig
inal telegraph line in this country, which for
three years had been maintained by the gov
eminent and then sold to private parties. 1t
might be doubted, he said, whether the stat
ute books contain piece of more ill-advised
legislation than this act of lSlG-sn act which
has already cost the people 500, 600, 900 in
the excessive cost of kilograms; whi3h has
produced the most serious evils in the past,
and which, unless its consequences can now
be checked, may be fraught with yet more
serious evils in the future Referring to the
British telegraph system, he set forth the
reasons which led to its transfer from private
to public control, describing "a legislative
blunder by reason of which the government
was made to pay e., 600, 900, when only 49,
[ OOO, 600 had been estimated as necessary for
the purchase of private rights, and showed
that notwithstanding this the investment had
proved profitable one. He traced the his
tory of the telegraph in this country refer.
ring to the absorption Of small companies in.
to one general system, ending in 1866 in the
consolidation of the Western Union and the
American by reason of which, he said, the
Western Union company stood without an
I
the country with a capital stock Of S4l0O
and total nominal Investment Of S47, ST.
/ $50, of which S22, 47j, 900 represented moth
| ing but pure water and -. Gl5 600 property
almost worthless. The remaining SO, 49,
! $50 was an exaggeratiou of probably 100 per
cent OF the cost of the plant which it repre-
scented. Since that time he said and by
processes similar to those above described,
the stock of the Western Union company had
been Increased from Sil 900, 900 to $50, 000,-
O0O OF this increase, $l5, 52G, $50 repre-
scented a stock dividend declared two years
ago, and the greater part of the remainder
| the purchase of lines of various COM
peting companies Other competing lines
| are now starting, but they will be short
| lived, no matter how able their promoters
may be to carry them on. Where combina-
| ton is possible competition is impossible,
and in the nature of things capitalists will
not carry their schemes beyond the point at
which they become Improbable He said
that frequent complaints had been made of
the manner in which the telegraph business
of the country WAS transacted by private com
panies, and claimed that all who had investi-
| gated this subject impartially concede that the
remedy must come in some form of action by
| the national government. In conclusion he
said THE use of the telegraph is now re-
strcted by its cost to extraordinary commun-
! icatious and by its nature to messages which
/ do not need to be in the handwriting of the
sender. Under these conditions the proper
tons of kilograms to letters is about / to 30,
but who shall say how soon some great dis
covery, no more wonderful than the tele-
phone, may enable fac simile messages to be
sent instantaneously and cheaply over the
wires, instead of by the slow and costly
process by which they are now transmitted
in Europe? If that result shall be accom-
plished (and it is being earnestly sought by
inventory the post office will be stripped of
its most important business Every letter
which does not require absolute secrecy, or
which can be written in cipher, will be taken
from the mails and sent by electricity. Drafts
will be drawn and balances settled daily by
telegraph, and the monopoly which shall
have grown up in the control of this business
will overshadow not only the post office de-
partment, but the government itself" Sen
ator Hill opposes the purchase of the lines of
the existing companies unless they are offer
ed to the government at price exceeding
the cost of construction only by a moderate
percentage. His bill provides for the con-
struction of lines to be used as an added ia.
clity to the postal system, and fixes uniform
rates for their use. He believes that 1t would
very largely increase the use of the telegraph
by the people, and not necessarily crush out
the business in the hands of corporations.
various Matters.
There was another flood of bills in the
House last Monday, when nearly 500 meas
ures were introduced. The session is less
than six weeks old. None of the prominent
committees have done anything yet. No sp-
preparation bill has been reported. The
Ways and Means committee has only just
been organized into subcommittee, and has
not begun the consideration of any subject,
and yet the number of bills and resolutions
referred to committees already approaches
1000, number greater than Congress could
dispose of in four years it were to sit every
day and attend faithfully to its business.
Mr.. Beck introduced in the Senate, Mon.
day, bill to prevent the secretary of the
treasury from purchasing at a premium any
United States bonds in advance of maturity.
Senator Hale introduced a bill to provide
for the increase of pensions of soldiers who
have lost the sight Of both eyes, or the hear
ing of both ears to S25 per month
More than twenty bills relating to the tar.
III are now before the committee on Ways
and Means.
The sanitary condition of American cattle
and swine and the healthfulness of American
swine products are subjects of lively interest
in COnpregg now In the HOuaa four coun