Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-03-15

the closing of some of the marine hospitals.
The Senate struck out this amendment,
but the clerk who enrolled the
bill, misunderstanding the purpoft OF
the Senate's action, so modified the
amendment as to provide for the closing oi
all the marine hospitals, and in this con-
diiion the bill reached the President and
was signed. Fortunately there was time
before the close of the session to insert q
provision in another of the appropriation
bills opening the hospitals again.
Probably the longest bill ever engrossed
by the clerks on the Senate side of the
Capitol, was the tariff bill, as amended
and passed by the Senate in the last Con-
gress. The original bill, as it came from
the House, was sixty-seven printed pages
long. The Senate amendment filled 1872
printed pages, and made about 10000
words. Much of it was copied before the
bill was put on its final passage, so 1t was
soon ready to be sent back to the House.
The interstate commerce law was COM
posed of about 5000 words. The original
bill for the admission of North Dakota
into the Union was about 4,000words long,
but as finally passed (amended so as to ad.
nit the four new States 1t contained
about 5000 words. The shortest bill
passed by the last Congress contained six
teen words. 1t was bill constituting Port
Angelus port of entry. A few more bills Of
this length would be welcomed warmly by
the Engrossing Clerk, Mr.. Newell, and his
assistants. Unfortunately, the tendency
in framing bills is not to brevity, nor Is
the tendency to lessen the number OF bills
introduced.
In the whole of the Forty-third Con
gress there were fewer bills introduced in
the Senate than were introduced in the
three weeks session preceding the recent
Christmas holidays. In the Forty-third
Congress Senate passed 325 bills and
Joint resolutions, of which 22S were passed
bv the House and went to the President
In the Forty fourth Congress 355 Senate
bills passed the Senate; in the Forty-ffth
Al; in the Forty-sixth, 1922 in the
Forty-seventh, 52S: in the Forty-eighth
553 in the Forty ninth, 959, and in the
Fiftieth, 1,127. OF these, go went to the
President (having been passed by both
houses)in the Forty-fourth;2 ;227 in the Forty.
fifth, 195 in the Forty-sixth, 271 in the
Forty-seventh, 242 in the Forty eighth
42O in the Forty-ninth and 667 in the
Fiftieth, or last Congress. The Forty
ninth and Fiftieth Congresses were famou;
for vetoes. OF the 420 Senate measure.
sent to the President in the Forty-ninth
Ga were vetoed and 76 out of 667 in the
Fiftieth.
The official record of each bill thai
passed the last Senate is contained in three
large volumes that are piled on one an
other by Mr.. Newells desk These are
the manuscripts as they were sent to the
House, with the signature of the President
and the Secretary of the Senate. On the
back of each is a record of the course il
took after it left the Senate's hands. The
parchment copies of the bills which pas;
both Houses and receive the President
signature are kept in the State Depart
ment. There are the originals oi
all the laws which have ever been
enacted by the Congress of the
United States. The earlier copies
are somewhat dull, but still easily legible
The parchment on which they are enrolled
is sheepskin, which has been scraped with
a cuttlebone to remove the grease on the
surface so that the skin will take the ink
The ink now used is mixture of an Eng
lish with a domestic brand, which has been
found by experiment to be the most dura.
bic.