Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1888-11-01
"A Re,narkable session,

Saturday at oclock the first session Of
the Fiftieth ended the longest continuous
session in nearly century of congress,
having lasted 32l days. The longest previ-
GUS session ran 302 days, ending Septem-
Der 3d. Apart from protracted but in
teresting discussion of the tariff question
in both houses, and the unparalleled dead
lock III the consideration Of the bill to re-
fund the direct tax, the session has been
remarkable in several ways, but in none
more than in the enormous number of
measures introduced in both branches of
congress.
In the senate 3,64 bills and 116 Joint
resolutions were presented, and in the
house the record ran up to the unequalled
figures of II ,598 bills and $50 joint resolu-
tions, making a grand total of 1856
measures introduced in one session. In
the senate 1884 measures were reported
back from committees and placed on the
calendar, u much larger proportion than in
the house, where 8,305 measures Of the
total number of II, 1923 introduced still
slumber in committee rooms.
Among the measures of public interest
that have become laws are the following:
Relating to permissible marks on mail
matter; for division of the Sioux reserva-
ton; for conference with the South and
Central American nations; limiting the
hours of letter carriers; making Lieutenant
General Sheridan general of the army; to
establish department of labor; for an in
ternational maritime conference; requiring
the Pacific railroad companies to maintain
telegraph lines; to prohibit the crossing of
Chinese laborers to the United States; for
the establishment of rules in respect to the
st. Maria and other canals; to create
boards of arbitration to settle controver-
sizes between common carriers and their
employees; aiding state homes for disabled
soldiers, and changing the date of meeting
of the electoral college.
In the next stage-that is, in conference
between the two houses--two are bills of
the first Importance, namely, repeating the
preemption and timber culture laws and
providing general homestead law, and de-
claring forfeiture of unearned railroad
land grants.
Pending before the senate is the house
tariff bill and the senate substitute. The
senate passed bills to divide Dakota and
admit the southern half as a state and to
aid common school education (Rlair BILLY,
but they never reached the house for
action.
The following are the most important
bills Enacted upon on the senate calendar:
For the admission of Montana and Wash
ton territories; to prohibit the alcoholic
liquor traffic; to declare trusts unlawful.
The following measures of Importance
were reported from the house committee
calendar and are still on the house:
To reform the direct tax vote on
which will be taken early in December
next, under agreement by which the me-
mortal deadlock over this bill was broken)
for the payment of arrears of pensions; re-
quiring the investment Of the national
bank redemption fund in circulating notes;
to include telegraph companies under The
inter state commerce act; to promote COM
mercial union with Canada.
The following are some important sem
ate bills which slumber in committees:
Requesting the president to reopen nego-
tiations with Great Britain looking to the
annexation of Canada to the United States;
for the free coinage Of silver; to repeal the
oleomargeari act ;lthe Hennepin canal bill:
to reduce letter postage to cent; to grant
woman suffrage. and measures proposing
radical changes in the governments 6nan-s
cial policy.
The following are few of the original
house bills which likewise never got out Of
committees: To repeal the internal rev.
enue laws and to base tax to prohibit the
mailing Of newspapers containing lottery
advertisements; to lay graduated IN
come tex; 70 repeal The ciyil service law: