The National tribune., 1889-09-26
TRIBUNETS.
A coNsrITUTIoNAL QUESTION.


A candidate before the Civil Service Commits
sion last week was stumped by the following
question:
"Can the President adjourn Congress; and if
So under what circumstances and for how
Iong?"
This was "stumper" for the candidate, as
it doubtless would be for 999 wel-informed men
out of 1000 The study of the Constitution is
not at all customary nowadays, which is in
strong contrast to the condition for the 81 years
that elapsed between its adoption and the
breaking out of the rebellion. Then its terms
and provisions were constantly on the tongue
of everybody who pretended to take an inter
est in public affairs, from the President, Judges
of the Supreme Court Senators and Repre-
sentatives down to the "argusrs" around the
stove of country store. The war stopt most
of this discussion by settling for all time the
savsgely contested differences as to slavery,
States Rights, Presidential powers, etc, while
the Governments authority to impose tariff
and to make internal improvements has been
universally conceded, even in the sections
where it was once iercely resisted, even to in
eipient rebellion; consequently the references
to the Constitution nowadays are quite rare,
and the inducement to famliarize oneself with
that charter of our liberties not at all great,
so that the candidate was not to be severely
blamed for failing to answer the question.
The answer is found in Sec. 3, Art. H. of the
Constitution, which, in euumeratng the pow
ers of the President says:
He may, extraordinary occasions,
convene both Houses, or either of them and in
case of disagreement between them, with respect
to the time Of adjournment, he may adjourn them
TO such time as he shall think proper
ode more rs man lives de longer he knows"
remarked the philosophical German. and after
years of unavailing fights against insects peo-
pie are slowly realizing that the only successful
way of destroying them is by means of their
natural enemies The wholesale destruction of
the birds of the country has cost tie farmers
more than the entire expense of the war in the
ravages of the insects which the birds would
have eaten. Now q New York man has
startled the chronological Bureau Of the De-
partment of Agriculture by proposing to offer a
prize of $3.50 for the best method of propagating
as a fly, gnat and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., the beau
tiful little insect variously known as the
dragon-Hy, DEVILS darning-needle, musketo-
hawk, snake-feeder, etc. Everybody is IA
miliar with it, and has frequently seen it
flashing back and forth over the surface of a
pond with q swiftness and grace unequaIed by
any other flies. 1t has the most brilliant and
beautiful colors with four large, shining. deli
cate wings Of nearly equal size. Tennyson
apostrophizes il beautifully:
The dragon-hy Is thine attendant
And Tits against the field
Adown the sunbeam glides resplendent
| In steel blue mail and shield.
| It is in no way harmful to man, but is TO the
| insect world what the lion, tiger and leopard
are among wild animals, and the eagle and
hawk among birds. 1t will kill and devour
an astonishing number of musketOs. flies, but
terfies and gnats in few hours. Let the
| New York man offer his prize. Property
owners on Staten Island and other places
around New York Bay, whose lovely villas
have been rendered almost uninhsbtable in
the Summer by the musketos, will rise up and
| call him blessed II he shows them a way to rid
| themselves of these pests. Likewise viii the
landlords Of the New Jersey watering places.
| The Louisville Post explains how Kentucky
| Colonies are epidemic in Kentucky. In the
| first place. the State sent great many men
into the Union and rebel armies, and all those
who so served and are still living would prob
| ably have reached Coloneiey by this time II