The Evening critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1881-1885, 1884-11-29
THE NEW SESSION
That Begins on Monday Next at
Noon.
OLD FACES AND NEW.
Tho Annual Awakening of Political
and Social Life at the Capital--The
Probable Work of the Coming $685.
sion--Gossip and Prediction.

Tho Congressional mill will be started
next Monday at 10 o'clock. There will be
a large attendance in both houses. Many
Senators and Representatives have already
arrived. Each train brings in more Of
them. They go to hotels or scatter to
clearinghouse. There will be tho usual
crowd at the Capitol on opening day. Aud
the pie woman will smile blandly and tho
cigar man will SEQ shokcls galore. Tho IA
miliar face OF Scott, who for years ran the
cigar stand, will be missed. He has died
since Congress adjourned. OF course but
little business will be transacted on tho first
day.
The Members will gather before midday.
shake bands, exchange greetings and have
the usual social good time. 1t will not be
all congratulations, for number of men
in tho present House have been left be-
hind, and it would not be exactly the cor
rect thing to be warm in c0ngratulatiug
them. But 1t will be n moro joyous gather
ing than IL was two years ago, when so
many men knew when the second session
Of the Forty-seventh Congress met that
other men had been chosen to fill their
places in the Forty eighth House.
The assembling of the Forty seventh
Congress for Its second session forcibly re-
minded ono Of a morgue. This timo, while
there will be political corpses scattered
around on both sides Of the House, there
will be no suggestion OF tho deadhouse.
When Monday night comes Washington can
be said to have taken on its Congressional
clothes.
The hotel corridors especially the cor
ridors of tho uptown hotels-will be filled
with Members of Congress and newspaper
men. The Members will exchange views
and stories and the newspaper mon gather
news. These corridor conclaves arc as much
part of session of Congress as the
Speakers gavel-and they make almost as
much noise.
Judging from the talk of Members who
have arrived, those from tho South will
enter upon the sessions work with moro
oxuberant feelings than those from any
other section. All tho Democrats are Joy
full enough but tho Southern man fairly
runs over with glee. The younger ones
seem to DO as happy as school boys the
older ones scem to have slipped back into
tho thirties. The event of November 4,
1891, is the cause of all this. The South
ern Members say that the people who OK
poet the Hungry South" to como troop
be disappointed.
There will no doubt, they say, be
many Southern people who will apply for
positions under tho new administration,
but they will be not greater in number or
more persistent than have been the people
who were anxious to serve the Government
under Republican administrations. They
are little touchy about reference to Hun
giy Southern Hordes."
AS is always the case at the opening of a
session Of Congress the appropriation bills
There will be no rush at the clese of the
| session."
This promise, though known to have
never been filed, is always taken as mean.
ing something by many people. 1t means nc
more this time than it ever did. There will
NbcSile usual tangle and hurry during the
latter paftsf february and the few days in
March before tnis.I Congress expires. 1t is
no more possible to pfeceut long fights over
the appropriation bills thaHNit-is to keep
Members from printing remarks intfte~Gon.
gressional Record that were never made
This is to be business session." Is on
every Members tongue. That will prob
ably provo to be correct. With the holiday
recess and the proverbal slowness of pro.
gross, Congress can at this session do but
little more than pass the appropriation
bills. There is but little probability Of
tho tariff receiving any considerable at
| tention. Even Senator Beck, confirmed
free.trader as he is, says that there is to be
no fcoling with our system Of imports.
The whisky men will hardly attempt
any legislation that would DO in their favor
for they were very efiectually sat dowr
upon at the last session. There will hardly
be any organized attempt to revise til,
internal revenue.
Mr.. Cox, chairman of the House Commit
tee on Naval Affairs, will probably have In
charge the most important subject of specia
legislation.
He will endeavor to put firmly on 1t
legs movement looking to building up
navy. This will probably be the featur
of the session, which, taken as whole
promises to be rather commonplace one
of course, relieved by the many Congress
sional fights which go far to make Congress
interesting.