Morning journal and courier., 1886-04-06
FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS-.

| WASHINGTON, April D. 1886.
 SENATE.-After routine business to-da
 MT. Cameron offered a reso lution, which wa
 agreed to, appointing MT. Sherman chai1
 man of the Committee on Foreign Relation and MT. Harrison member of the sam
 committed; also Mir. Spooner a member 0 the District committee, MT. Stanford member of the Civil Service committee an, MT. Mitchell of Oregon member of tn committee on additional accommodation fo | the library.
 MT. Platt submitted an amendment to hi l resolution relating to open executive ses l sions. It went over. Tt simply specific l MT. Platt said he hoped to address the Sen l ate on the question on Wednesday or Thurs 1 day next.
 The army efficiency bill was then placed before the Senate and MT. Plumb took th, floor in opposition to the bill.
 Mir. Frye ipterjected some remarks re specting his resolution about the fisheries He thought it very important that that ques tion should be settled. It involved a matte that looked to war. He understood that tht Canadian government fitted their cruisers tc prevent American fishing vessels from enter ing Canadian waters. Reviewing th' treaties and laws bearing on tn. question, MT. Frye claims that American vessels had a perfect right to enter Canadian
  and commerce. MT. Frye was only waiting for a single vessel to be seized when h, | would introduce bill of less than ten line closing the ports of the United States agains all British colonial fishing, freighting ant passenger vessels, and we would then SC, how long Canada would carry on this schem that she had entered upon.
 Mir. Morgan expressed surprise that dis cussion of the fisheries should be interjectet into discussion of the army bill. The fish cries question involved grave quest tions O. international law. His Views on the genera topic coincided with those of MT. Frye What was needed was serious consideration after all information which we did not have now.
 MT. Cockrell then took the floor in opposi tion to the army bill. MT. Logan, MT. Sew ell and others also took part in the debate
 At 4:45 MT. Logan yielded for motion by MT. Allison that the Senate go into executive session. The motion was agreed to and the Senate went into executive session. At 5:3( p. m. the doors were reopened and the Sen ate adjourned.
 Before adjournment Mir Sewell gave notice that on Monday, the 9th of April, he would call up the Fitz John Porter bill.
 HoUsE-Chaplain Milburn in his prayer this morning in the House referred to the de. plorable degenerncy of the times as evinced by the masses drifting farther from the church. when educated men were asking 'Ts life worth living !" and teaching the doc. trines of despair, pessimism and atheism when leaders in great cities were putting up their votes for sale to the highest bidder and bartering the franchises of the people, and when our boasted civilization was stained with blots as dark as death.
 Under the call of States bills were intro. duced as follows: Ky Mir. Butterworth for the appointment of n special committee of three Senators and five Representatives to consider the subject of celebration in 1889 at Washington of Il centennial anniversary of the formation of the government under the constitution.
 By Mr. Belmont, of New York, n resolu- tion directing the Committee on Ways and Means to report bill for the creation of a board of three experts to be appointed by the President, to whom shall be referred by the Secretary of the Treasury all questions porters against the liquidation of entries or the levy of duties on fees. It provides that two members of the board shall be mer- chants of experience in the importation of merchandise and one a skilled lawyer. Also directing the Committee W avs and Means to report bill to create for the port of New York a reappraising board as recom- mended by Secretary Manning. It pro- vides that the board shall consist of three general appraisers.
 The House then, by vote yeas 159, nays 65, under suspension of the rules passed the Mexican pension bill. The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to place the names of all surviving officers, soldiers and sailors who enlisted and served in the Mexi- can war for any period during 1S45, 1846, 1S47 and 194S and were honorably discharged and their surviving widows on the pension rolls from and after the passage of this act. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry the act into effect, provided that where it shall appear that discharge is lost secondary evidence may be permitted, and where it shall appear that an applicant has received land warrant that shall be suffi- cient evidence of an honorable discharge unless the evidence shows that he procured it by fraud. It is provided further that this act shall not apply to persons under political disabilities.
 Mr. Laird, of Nebraska, moved a suspen- sion of the rules to pass the Van Wyck bill recently passed by the Senate for the relief of settlers and purchase of lands in the public domain of Nebraska and Kansas; agreed to. TThe bill reimburses settlers upon, or who purchased lands within the grant to aid in the construction of the Northern Kansas rail road against whom decrees have been, or may be rendered on account of the priority of said grant made in the railroad act.
 The rules were also suspended for the pas sage of the following among other bills: For the erection of public building at Duluth, Minn, at a cost of $10O,000; for the pur- chase of an additional strip of ground for the public building at Fort Wayne, Ind. :; for the erection of congressional library building on the site east of the Capitol. The bill creates a commission consisting of the Secretary of the Interior, the architect of the Capitol and the librarian of Congress, who shall make contracts, etc., and appropriates $500.0U0 to begin the construction of the building. further appropriation is made for the purchase of the land.
 Also Senate bill for the erection of pub lie building at San Antonio.
 The House at 4:3O p. m. adjourned.