Roseburg review. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 1885-1920, 1886-09-10
WORK OF THE SESSION.
4 List of the Important Measures that tres'
Enacted into La,rs.

WASHINGTON. Aug. 5.-The first
session of the forty ninth congress,
which ended to day, began on Mon1ay:
December 7th, 1885, and covered .
period of seven months and twenty
eight days, or 24l days exclusive Of
OF this time tue senate was
in session 164 days and the house 1S5
days. During that time there were in.
troduced in the two houses Ia, ,209
measures, Of which 1904 were house
bills and 2l4 house joint resolutions,
and 1881 bills and eighty-three join!
resolutions Of the senate. Measures
prepared for enactment into laws ex
ceeded in number by 2,949 NOSE intro
duced at the first session of the forty
eighth congress, which set for seven
months and four days, or I65 days Of
actual working time. They covered all
sorts of subjects, from the patient la
borer at the capitol for extra services
to the complex question of tariff legis.
lation and legislation with respect to
national finance. OF the entire num-
Der comparatively few were Of what
may be termed of national Importance.
The greater number were measures Of
a private nature or of merely local i'm
portance, such as relief and pension
bills, bills for erection of public build
ings, for bridging rivers, for granting
right of way to railroads through mil
itary or Indian reservations, for re-
moval of political disabilities, for
changing judicial districts, for estab.
fishing new land offices, for changing
names of location or increasing capital
stock of national banks, for printing
public documents, etc., ETC.
A very small PERCENTAGE of The whole
number of bills introduced, of either a
general or private nature, became laws.
A comparatively small number sue.
ceeded in getting through the commit.
tees to which they were referred and
reaching the calendars of their respec
tive houses Some secured passage by
the house in which they originated, bu,
failed of action in the other brancl
and very large number still remain
unconsidered by the committees t.
which they were referred.
MEASURES THAT Passed.
The total number of bills that passed
both houses was 1101; 241 senate bill
and $50 bills which originated in thu
house, OF this total SOC became law
with the presidents approval. Isl be
came laws by limitation, the president
failing either to approve or disapprove
them within ten davs after their pre-
sentatioa to him, 1l3 were vetoed and
one failed by reason Of adjournment
without action by the president.
Of the new laws, TAG were house
measures and 241 senate measures
Laws that became such by limitation
were, with two exceptions private pen
sion and relief bills. The exception.
were the bill to authorize the Kansa.
City, Fort Scott & Gulf railway to con
struct a railroad through Indian natiol
and that to retire Lieutenant Randall
Of measures vetoed by the presiden
thirty-six were senate bills and sevent,
seven bills of the house. Twenty
eight of the senate bills vetoed wer,
private pension bills, three were fo
the erection of public buildings a
Dayton, Sioux City Iowa, and Zanes
vile, Ohio, one was to grant to RAILROAD
the right Of way through Inaian res
ervation in Northern Montana, one t,
make Springfield, Mass, a port o
delivery, one to provide that the bodie
of paupers and criminals and stranger
dying within the District Of Columbia
unclaimed within a specified time afte
death, be turned over to medical co
leges, one to quiet titles to settlers OF
the Dss Moines river lands, and one t.
provide for the construction of a bridg
across Lako Champlain. OF the hous
bills disapproved by the presiden
seyenty-four were private pension bill
| and three were fer erection of publ
buildings. The proposed public bull
inss were for Asheville, N. c., Dulutl
Mimi, and Springfield, Mo. Th
number of measures vetoed durin
the session were four more than has
been vetoed from the Foundation
the government to the beginning of tt
session just closed. While nearly a
of the vetoed bills of the senate wei
reported back from committee vii
recommendation that they pass notwitl
standing the presidents objection
and while similar action was taken {
some of the house bills, only one, th
granting pension to Jacob Romizs
was passed by the two houses over q
veto. The Des Moines river bill pass
the senate over the veto, but failed
receive the requisite two-thirds vote
the house. Motions to pass bills
grant pensions to Mary Anderson a
! Andrew j. Wilson over the presiden
veto were defeated in th, house. CT
sideration Of the other veto measul
has been postponed until next sessit