Daily Republican., 1884-01-28
Washington Letter.
From ourRegular Correspondent.

week. II has done various importaD
work. The HOuse of course Ii the NOR,
interest ng end Of the Capitol at The
present time. Among the ii gst items on
its record is the repeal of the iron-clad
oath, relic of war legislation. Tht
action was proposed by Mr.. Cox of Ne~
York. 1t was passed by a practically
unanimous vote, and 1t Is probable Con.
gressmen will all swear alike at the
opening Of the next session.
The House passed, by what was
substantiallya unanimous vote, there
being but eighteen disssntants, Mr.. Hol.
mans resolutions regarding land grants
the purp0rt of which WAS that Congress
thought all unearned land grants shall
be declared forfeited. To these was adj
ded declaration that all laws facilitat.
ing speculation In public lands, OF
their accumulation In large amounts
In the hands of a few owners, should be
repealed, and every effort made to se.
cure as many treeholders a. possible
for agricultural land.
Another notable move was an attemp
to reduce the swarm Of lobbyists that
infest the fsor of the House under the
title Of ex.memb bers Of Congress. Rule
thirty-four of the House admits TO the
privileges OF the floor ex.members who
are not Interested In any claim or di.
rectly in any bill pending before Con-
gress. This puts the ex-member on his
honor, and experience proves, sad to say,
that the honor of an ex.Congressman
turned lobbyist 10 not TO be trusted. 1t
Is even alleged that men have sought
an election to Congress for the sake of
the superior footing which brief ser.
vice In the House would subsequently,
givo them az attorneys" for claims,
claimants, and special interests. Mr..
Anderson, of Kansas, offered this bill,
and II provides for formal declaration
by the ex-memb ber Of his freedom from
lobbying schemes before the Speaker
can issue him pass to the floor.
Another severe blow TO pension claim
agents was dealt by Mr.. Morgan, of
Missouri, in bill to prohibit the col.
lection of any part OF their ten dollar
fee before the final settlement of the
claim. Recent exposures of the meth
DDS have seriously curtailed their busi-
ness, and ii this provision becomes q
law II will embarrass them still further.
Under existing regulations, many dis
honest claim agents cOntrive to get their
fee In advance and then let the claim
take care of itself.
Among q number of measures on the
calendar that were disposed Of by the
House was a bill passed for the relief of
Lieutenant Greely's Arctic expedition,
. I., .V,f .,f, t,n "A
being left to the discretion OF the Presi-
dent. Committees discussed banking
and currency, pensions, railroad grants,
territories, Interstate commerce, andthe
pork question.
The Mexican treaty, which the Sem
ate failed to ratify last Friday, came up
again briefly, by a proposition from
Senator Van Wyck, that any further
consideration of the subject be- had In
open session, on the ground that the
people had a right to know all about
the business transacted in Congress, and
that secret sessions for treaties was an
old fogy idea This created quite a
hutter Of disapprobation and the Kan.
sas Senator was compelled to withdraw
his appeal. The time for ratification of
the treaty has been extended to May,
and the matter will be thoroughly dis.
, Il ussed in the meantime.
Ia spite Of the meal y.mouthed peace
makers the differences in the Demo.
cratic party are daily becoming more
pronounced. The majority of the
Ways and Means Com mmittee insist that
the Democrats must put themselves on
record az favoring a general reduction
of tariff. The Democratic protection
lists insist that the tariff must he let
alone. On the eve of a Presidential
sk'', W IUu'o ''o III I'n Vi an