The Portland daily press., 1885-12-16

holiday recess from Tuesday, December %, until
Tuesday January 8. 1t was laid over one day.
Mr.. Morrison then called up the report of the
committee on rules, which was presented yester-
day, and proposed a new code of rules, which
was read at length.
A general debate was opened by Mr. Morrison
with a short explanation of the proposed revision.
Mr.. Randall briefly expressed his opposition to
the rules on the ground that the distribution OF
bills would result in increased expenditures He
sent to the clerks desk and had read an extract
from the annual message OF President Arthur to
the 47th Congress recommending that no appfo-
priatiOn be made for internal Improvement, and
informing it that sufficient amount remained
from the appropriations OF tne previous year 70
Yet in the face of this message and in the lace OF
the further fact that no estimates had been sub
mitted the 47th Congress had demanded estimates
and had actually passed bill involving an expen.
diture Of nearly SO 100000. With this statement
of fact he was quite content to leave to the House
and country the question whether there had not
been tendency to increased expenditures under
this plan of distributoniary appropriation bill
Mr.. Hammond of Georgia, submitted a strong
argument in antagonism to the scheme OF distrl-
buting the appropriationbills and pointing out tn
dangers which would result therefrom. He was
not ready to try the experiment that so many
great men and so many serious votes had pro
nounced against. The Democratic party had just
come into the ascendancy and was on trial. He
was afraid to try this experiment when the Demo-
cratic party had been posing for years as the par
ty of reform and economy.
Mr.. Reed of Maine spoke in favor Of the prOpOs-
representative of the people of the United States
had been nlirons. They had been allowed to trans,
act public business except at the dictation and
by the permission of a small c0terie OF gentlemen
who while they possessed individually more wis
dom than the rest of the members did not possess
all the wisdom of this world. (Laughter) He
for one believed the safety of the country was not
in the hands of any one man, but i'll the general
virtue of the representatives of the people backed
and watched by the people. His experience was
that the expenditures of the United States were
made in obedience to the wishes of the people,
and he believed the largest publicity and widest
discussion should be given to all measures, and
that the first preliminary was to place the exam
nation of the accounts of the country on the
broadest possible basis. He gave a description of
the new method pursued by the appropriation
committee in drafting various bills, stating that
each bill was referred to a sub committee for pre-
paration, and that the other members of the COM
mittee gave 1t but a cursOry examination. Thus
the committee on appropriations did the very
thing which they thought the House could not be
trusted to do, namely, the parcelling out OF the
bills to the various committees. What he spec
tally congratulated the House on was that 1t had
at last secured a unanimous voice in favor OF
transacting some other business than the noble
and lofty business of the committee on appropria-
tions, for since the 46th Congress that was the
only business which the House had been allowed
to transact.
Mr. Morrison gave notice that he would en-
deavor to close the general debate tomorrow af-
ternoon, and the House adjourned.