Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-26
FRITTERING AWAY TIME.

The Senate Whipping Dead Horses 1 Talking Bills Theadbare That Have | No Chance of Passage-The House l Tied Up By the Irrepressibles-An Extra Session the Inevitable.
 | WASHINGTON, Jan. 25.-The Senate de- voted the greater part of it's time during the past week to whipping two dead horses-the Nicaragua treaty and the Senate interstate commerce bill They remain before it as unfinished business for the coming week Neither can by any possibility become law during this session. Even if the Senate should ratify the Nicaragua treaty by the | necessary two-thirds vote, which is more than doubtful with strong man as Sher- man, and Morrill, aiding him, opposing it, and many Democratic Senators averse to adopting such an important line ofpolicy on the verge of change of administration, the measure, like the Mexican treaty ratified over year ago, would fail to be supported by the neces- sary legislation in the House and so would "die a borning." The Senate's interstate commerce bill IS still more certain of reiec- ton by the House should it pass the Senate Three of the fourteen or fifteen regular ap- proprlatlon bills have reached the Senate but the first one has not yet been reported back by the Appropriations committee. It contains legislative provisions The Senate ha 8 rule prohibiting any committee from report Ing an appropriation bill with legislative provisions. An attempt was made week be- fore last to tide over this difficulty with re- gard to this particular bill (the pension bill> by reporting the legislative proceedings in troduced by the House as a separate meas ure, but no effort has since been made to reach vote on this question. Mir. Bayard's resolution denouncing the London dynamite outrages, which comes up tomorrow, may possibly give rise to an interesting debate as to how far the United States is willing to hold itself responsible for these occurrences
 Two appropriation bills, the Indian and agricultural, are to be scored to the credit of the House as the sum total of last weeks work. The rest of the week has been spent on matters that brought practical result in the way of legislation. There is appa- rently strong disposition on the part of majority of the House to pass the Mexi- large minority sufficient to sustain any fiji
 
 the friends of the measure attempt to pass it. deadlock must inevitably result On Fri- day and on Saturday the opponents of the bill failed to adjourn the House on the first effort, but by persistence and dilatory mo- tions finally accomplished their object arrived. On the latter day an even vote was decided by the Speaker voting to adjourn. It is quite possible this bill will be pushed enough to make a record for members and occupy considerable time this week, but it does not seem likely that it will pass Tomorrow after 2:30 is assigned for eulogies of the late Representative Dun can, of Pennsylvania. On Tuesday the Dis trict of Columbia appropriation bill may come up. This may be followed by the river and harbor or postoffice appropriation bill. The for mer was recommitted and the latter is still in the hands of the Appropriation com mittee about ready to be reported and print ed. If two of the three are acted upon dur ing the coming week the House will have made rather more than an average record Still with the deadlock in the Senate an ex- tra session of both houses grows daily more probable. The disposition to talk seems to increase as the time before final adjournment decreases-and yet this is confined to a few members. One of the best and really efficient members of the House recent ly made careful analysis of the roll on this point. lie found that sixty per cent. were what he termed "silent members that is, speaking only on matters in their charge as members of committees or on matters di- rectly pertaining to their constituents and then only to the point; thirty-three per cent. were 'tgeneral debaters," and but seven per cent. ''irrepressibles," ready to speak at all times and ali subjects from a re- view of decision of the Supreme court to point of order on pension claim. He estimates that more than one-half of the term of the House of actual session is con- sumed by this seven per cent. of the mem be1s. There are quite a number of measures that have active and earnest supporters, but the present rules of the House are so framed that they cannot be brought up and they are forced to await the last six days of the ses- sion and try their chances of two-thirds vote under suspension. Without desiring in the remotest manner to intimate any log rolling it is plain that this mode of legis- lation invites combinations of the friends of measures forced to this ordeal and makes the six closing days the most dangerous of tie session, for bad bill may in this way secure votes it could not secure if its friends were not wanted to assist in passing more worthy bills.