The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-12-01
The Coming Session of Congress.

lie NuHIHS StSSiOu VI OOuS ItSSs
The closing session of the forty-ninth
congress begins on Monday next, and
interest in its legislation is revived.
There are already ten thousand indie
pendent measures awaiting considera-
ton as unfinished business. The great
majority are of a private nature, there
being of pension bills nearly four
thousand and of southern claims about
three thousand. There are, however,
a number of matters of Importance
which have passed the initial stage of
legislation. The most important are
thus summarized by Washington cor
respondent. A bill for the erection and
completion of monument to the men,
DRY of the late General L. S. Grant in
the city of New York; to provide for
the issue of circulation notes to national
banking associations; amending the
laws granting pensions to soldiers and
sailors of the war of 1912; to authorize
survey for ship canal to connect the
Delaware river with the Atlantic ocean;
to provide for the location and erection
of a branch home for disabled soldiers
west of the Rocky mountains; granting
an increase of the rate of pension now
provided for deafness; to incorporate
the Atlantic & Pacific ship railway
company; to establish experiment sta
tons; providing for an assistant secre-
tary of war; providing for the adjust
ment of accounts of laborers and me-
chanics arising under the eight-hour
law; granting pension to the soldiers
and sailors of the Mexican war; placing
unserviceable ordnance issued to the
militia of the states and territories; to
establish a uniform system of bank
ruptcy; to establish national livestock
highway; for the special and uniform
instructions of state militia; to CONSOLE
date certain bureaus of the navy de-
partment; to reimburse the several
states for interest on war loans; the
Morrison tariff reduction bill; for the
relief of telegraph operators during the
war; for the organization of the terri
tory of Oklahama; authorizing an in
vestigation of books and accounts of
the Union Pacific railroad; fixing the
salaries of the judges of the United
States district courts at $4,000 per an
mum; for pensioning prisoners of war;
to regulate the salaries of the consular
service; to provide for the payment of
female nurses during the war; to aid in
the establishment and temporary sup
port of common schools; to reduce the
number of internal revenue officers
to indemnify certain Chinese subjects
for losses sustained; to extend the free
delivery system.
AT the first session there was almost
total failure to accomplish important
legislation. The democrats, having a
large majority in the house of represent
atives and possessing the executive
branch of the government, had virtual
control of legislation; but there was a
lamentable lack of democratic leader
ship and capacity, and the only meas
ures of any great importance that be-
came laws Except the oleomarearine
billy appear to have originated in the
senate. 1t is true that the great mass
of private business is great drawback
to more rapid and efficient work by con-
gress. The record of each successive
session adds cumulative proof of the
unftness of congressional machinery
to deal with public business I'M
der modern conditions. Too many
of the important public questions are
delayed to await the consideration of
private matters. There are no indca-
tons at present that the coming session
will be more usefully spent than the
last, or that its record will be in any
respect more creditable to the demo-
cratic majority in the house. The
democratic reverses in the fall elections
may induce the few democratic leaders
to formulate new policy and attempt
to carry it through congress, but this is
a mere conjecture.