The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-12-25
SUMMARY OF CONGRESS-


Senate Scs~icnr
FIFTH DAY.-1he chair lnil he'ore the
Senate joint resolution Of IN. legislature OF
Connecticut urging Congress to lass, wi h.
out unnecessary delay q ! i'll tl provid. for
tho Presidential court. Mr. lo1r from the
committee Oh privileges 1nl elections. re
ported favorably an original bill providing
for the performance OF the duties
of President in case of the death resi1nation
or inability o. both the President and Vice
President. He said it was subs antaIly the
same bill that had been acted on last year by
the Senate. The only addition of import
ance is provision for the repeal of sections
numbered from IA to 80, inrlus re- of tho
revised statutes These provide for special
elections i'll case of vacancies in the Office
of President and Vice President. The effect
of their repeal is to continue the
successors to the presidency III Office until
the next general election The ill was
placed on the calendar for early action. Mr.
Mcpherson introduced bil to suspend the
coinage of tho silver dollar After an ex-
ecutve session the Senate io,eived a message
from the President transmitting all the cor
respondence relating to the appointment of
A. M. Kelley as minister to Italy and his
subsequent appointment as minister to Aus
tria
SIXTH DAY.-Mr Edmunds introduced q
Dill granting pension to Mrs Julia d.
Grant and another bill granting her the
franking privilege. Mr.. Edmunds also ia
vorably reported the bill to relieve General
Alexander r. Lawton, of Georgia, of his pc
litcal disabilities At Mr.. Edmunds request
tho biz was Immediately considered and
passed ... Mr.. Hoar discussed his bill provid-
ing for the presidential success on. A dis
cussion took place on Mr.. Frye's report pro-
viding for code of joint rules for both
houses of Congress. Among the rules adopted,
alter considerable debate, was one prohibit
ing the sale of Intoxicating liquor in the cap
itol.
SEVENTH DAY-Discussion of Mr.. Hoar's
residential succession bill was continued.
Mr. Muxey favored. and Mr. Edmunds oppos-
ed the bill Bills introduced: BY Mr..
Teller-Provding for the free and unlimited
coinage of the silver dollar. by Mr. Plumb
Extending the provisions of the bounty act
TO soldiers discharged within two years
from the date of their enlistment on account
OF disability incurred in the line of duty.
BY Mr. ngalls-Iroviding that on the rep
resentatiOn of two heads of departments to
the chief justice of the supreme court of
thu United states, that the President is I'M
able to discharge the duties OF his Office, the
chief justice shall convene the court, and it
shall determine the question of such alleged
inability. BY Mr. anderson-Providing for
the pensioning of all persons who served at
least one year during the war and were either
discharged after such term of service, upon
surgeons certificates of disability as no
lOngerfit for military duty, or who, after
like term of service, were discharged with
re-enlstment clause stricken from their GER
ticate of discharge.
ElGHTH DAY.-rhe feature of the Senate
ON the eighth was the debate between
Messrs Evarts and Edmunds upon the amend
nlent of the latter to the Hoar presidential
succession bill. Mr.. Edmunds desired to
have the iaw left standing as it is now Mr..
Evarts made an elaborate argument to
show that no member of either branch
of Congress was an official of the govern
of bn
ployed in the Constitution and that, there
fore, neither the president of the Senate nor
the speaker of the House would be eligible in
his opinion to succeed to the presidency
through the death or resignation of the
President and Vice President. 1t was Mr.
Evarts' first address in the Senate, and he
was listened to attentively by all the Sena-
tors. At the conclusion of the debate a vote
was taken upon Mr.. Edmunds' amend
ment, and it was lost by 81 yeas
The bill was then put on final passage and
passed, without ivison, in the form reported
from committee. -. Other business transacted
during the day was the swearing in of Mr.
Mitchell as Senator from Oregon, and debate
upon Mr.. Buffers resolution, Mr.. Butler call
ing for a committee to inquire as to the alleged
organization of the Territory of Dakota into
State and the alleged election of United
States Senators
NINTH DAY-Mr Mitchell from the com.
mittee on pensions reported favorably the
bill granting yearly pension of $1,000 tc
the widow Of General Grant. The bill was
at once passed without debate. -. Debate o..
Cured upon Mr. Buffers resolution of in.
quiry relating to the alleged organization OF
Dakota into State, Mr. Vest argued
the question of admission from legal
point of view, and insisted that
under the decisions of the United States su.
preme court in former cases of admission, the
recent action in Dakota was revolutionary.
Mr.. Logan inquired ii it WAS revolutionary
for citizens of a Territory to get together
and present their claims to b. admitted as a
State, they taking care o provide in their new
constitution that they should not be a State
till Congress should approve their consti-
tuition lie thought it unfair for Senators
to regard the action in Dakota as revolution
airy. Until they should set up a State and
undertake to perform the functions OF a
State and the powers of statehood tn " were
not revoutionists. Mr.. Butler said he had
Inexperienced what constituted State ii
the election of Senators and judges was not
exercising statehood After further debate
the subject went over. :. The Senate after
more debate agreed to the joint rules