Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-12
THE WORK OFF CONGRESS.

Legislation in Appropriation Bills
An Effort to Bridge Over the Differ
ence Between the Two Houses
Sherman's Controversy with JEFF
Davis.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1.-THE Senate Com
mittee on Appropriations, aided by unani-
nous report of the Committee on Pensions,
will on Monday make an attempt to bridge
over the differences between the two houses
on the subject of including Legislative provi-
sions in general appropriation bills by re-
porting and probably passing as subsequent
measure all the legislative provisions inserted
by the House in the pending pension bill to
prevent extortion by claim agents and send
ing that bill to the House for it's concurrence
before striking the provisions out of the pen
sion bill proper. The Senate is by it's rules
prohibited from considering Legislative pro-
visions in appropriation bills. The House
persists in inserting them and will doubtless
continue to insert them in other appropria-
ton bills still to be presented A serious
deadlock involving an extra session is immi-
nent unless some mutual understanding is
reached. Mr.. Reagan's bill regulating inter
State commerce is before the Senate for its
concurrence, but the Senate prefers to take
bushel of birthstone and box of matches
and proceed with the construction of little
pandemonium of its own by continuing the
discussion of its own bill. There is not the
remotest chance that the House will adopt
the Senate's bill and the Senate declines to
consider the House bill. Concurrent action
of the two houses to curb the railroad mo-
nopolists is probable when two parallel lines
meet-not before. About the same time
also a bill will reach the President for his
signature FORGETTING some of the railroad
land grants so much talked Of The
bill which passed the House forfeit
ing the land grants of the Atlantic
and Pacific railroad is hopelessly tied up in
conference on-a Senate amendment referring
the rights of third parties to the courts for
adjudication. The House bill FORGETTING the
lands Of the Oregon Central railroad passed
by the Senate has been amended by them so
that the forfeiture will only. apply to the
seventy miles of road which the company
has not built land does not intend to build)
and will not apply to the lands
alongside the forty miles of road which it
has built. If the House should agree to the
bill in its present shape the company would
probably be pleased rather than otherwise,
since the bill amended amounts to con-
frmation of title to the best part of the grant
and might enable it if so disposed to play off
the forfeited land against the claims of its
European mortgage bondholders. There
two other land grab forfeiture bills on the
Senate calendar special orders and over
due, but they are likely to
be productive of nothing but talk-possibly
not even that with the Nicaragua treaty in
secret session.
The National Republican to morrow will
publish in full the accounts filed by
General Sherman with the War department
in justification of his assertion at recent re-
union of G. A. R. post in St. Louis that
Mr.. Davis during the progress of the war
changed his States rights doctrines and
threatened to use force should any State of
the confederacy attempt to secede from the
government. General Shermans letter was
published by certain papers this morning in
violation of a pledge $50 Secretary Lincoln
says that the whole correspondence should
be published or none. The omitted documents
on which General Sherman based his
charges contained in his speech and reiter-
ated in his letter establish these points:
Extracts from contemporaneous encyclopedia
set forth that in North Carolina two parties
existed; one headed by Holden, who con-
tended that the State alone had the right to
negotiate peace with the general govern
ment; the other headed by Governor NOW
Senator) Vance insisted that the State could
only act in cooperation with other States
engaged with her in the war.
Quotation is made from speech of Gov
ernor Vance's in which he declared: "Seces-
sion from the confederacy will involve us in
a new war, bloodier conflict than that which
we now deplore. So soon as you announce
to the world that you sovereign and
nation, as matter of course
the confederate government has right to
declare war against you and President Davis
will make the whole State field of battle