The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-04-07
Especial Correspondence Of the Press.i

Passed in -Four Months Plain Evidence
of the Incompetence Of she Democratic
Congress.
Especial Correspondence Of the Press.l
WASHINGTON, Apr. 2.
Congress has now been in session four
months. Its record cannot be counted an envi-
able one. 1t had promised tariff reform, but
instead of that we find its leaders at the House
end hesitating, and with tariff measures very
little nearer to action than they were four
months ago. Indeed, the opposition to tariff
reform is much stronger In the House to-day
than IL was when Carlisle assumed the chair.
1t has been eminently Congress Of words and
not OF actions. A study of the House and Sem
ate calendars just now reveals that fact IN
most striking manner, In the House nearly
$500 bills have been introduced, and between
two and three hundred joint resolutions which
have the force of bills. In the Senate the num-
Der of bills and joint resolutions is beyond
1000, making total OF nearly 5000 bills and
joint resolutions introduced in both bodies dur
ing the four months of this session. No Con-
gress has ever made such a record in this re-
gard. The number of bills introduced in Con-
gress has seldom run In both sessions above
10000. At the present rate 1t Will PROBABLY
run to at least IL, 0C0 and perhaps 2O,OO0. In
this respect this Congress has made an heroic
record.
But here ia shown clearly the fact Of the abil-
ity to talk rather than TO act. Although 5000
measures have been introduced, sent to COM
mitteee, and many of them reported for action,
only twenty-five have become laws. One hum
dred and twelve bills have passed the House
and one hundred and seventy have passed the
Senate, but II is one thing to get bill through
the House or Senate, and another thing to get
1t through the House and Senate. On the
H. 49, fol.
been passed by the Senate, and been sent to
the House for its action. About 100 bills have
passed the House, and been sent to the Senate
for its action. Out of this number one-hah
are private bills granting pensions or relief, or
matters only Of interest to one or Two or q hall
dozen persons. or the twenty-five that have
become laws, not five are bills OF any impor-
tance.
None of the appropriation bills, except the
little deficiency bill, and that providing for
Notifications, have become laws. The "Fitz-
John Porter bill, )" which was passed by both
House and Senate, is not yet law, because 1t
was amended in the Senate and must be again
acted upon in the House. The Senate has de-
cided to add q large sum to the House naval
bill, which will probably cause another long
debate over the bill when 1t comes back to the
House. The Post-ofice appropriation bill when
1t gets to the Senate will probably be largely
increased, and will naturally be further dis
cussed when brought back for concurrence in
the House. The programme OF the House ap-
preparations committee appears to have been
! to make the appropriation bills very small,
with the expectation that they would be in
creased by the Senate, the object being to cast
upon that Republican body the onus Of making
| large, rather than small, appropriations for
governmental services.
What the record of the next four months
l will be Is hard to predict There are a good
many important bills on the calendar. OF
course members will go on introducing bills
| and committees will go on reporting them. A
larger number Of private bills have been re-
ported this year than in any former Congress
| for some time. On any day in which there il
a morning hour in the House large numbers OF
private bills, granting pensions and relief, war
claims and the like, are favorably reported.
There seems to be an inclination on the part Of
/ the committees to beat the record Of any Re-
| publican House In granting pensions. Twenty
| pages Of the House calendar are already filed
| with these private bills, or about half OF the
| entire calendar.
OF the II regular appropriation bills only
I three have been acted on in the House, and
| only one aside from the Little Deficiency
1 Bill" has become law. The three acted on
/ in the House are the Naval Appropriation bill,
/ which appropriated S14, 1884 695, when it left
1 the House, but has been augmented six mill
/ lions by the Senate committee; the Post Of1ca
bill, which appropriates $45,225, 800; and the
4 Military Academy bill, which appropriates
| 1914 563 10 addition to these there are pend.
ing the Honaa vaadv fe- Sta ostisn, the xndiAr
1 Appropriation bill and Pension bill, the for
mer appropriating S5,347 SAB, the latter $50,
684, 400. At this date two years ago the Mill
tary Academy, Notifications, Consular and
Diplomatic, Army, Indian, Agricultural and
1 Pension bills had been passed BY the House