The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-03-12
CONGRESS REVIEWED,
A SYNOPSIS OF THE WORK ACCOM-
PLlSHED BY THE FIFTY-FIRST

PlISHEO BY THE FIFTY-FIRST.
a Most Remarkable Session-The Iu,por-
| tant Measures Adopted--Thc ApprnprI-
ntions Exceed Those OF ANY "pcuco..
Congress the Foundation u the Govern
ment.
| WASIIlNGTON, March 4.-.At noon TO.
day the Fifty-iirst Congress Gin the
opinion Of many veteran Legislators
the most remarkable Congress since
tne war; came to an end by conStitu-
tlOnal limitation. From tnc first to
the last the session was intercstjn~
and eVentful and at no long periods
were they ever characterized bv the
dullneSs, which, occasionally for days
at time, marked the proceedings of
| nearly every Congress and especially
Oh those congresses in which the first
session is usually prolonged. The
| actual working time of tn, Fifty.irst
Congress exceeded that Of any of it's
| predecessors and the nominal working
time of all except the Fiflieth Con-
gresS, and III the number Of measures
brought to its attention and the num-
Der, variety and Importance OF those
acted on, it likewise surpassed all prryj
| Gus Congresses. Three measures, any of
which IN intrinsic Importance and pop
ular interest would be sufficient for "A
national issue, stand forth prc-pminrnt
| among all Others: The Mckinley tariff
bill, which became law. Second. the
silver bill, on which in the first session
Il compromise was effected, based on
the monthly purchases Of 100000
ounces OF Sllvor, which in turn was fol
lowed by more radical measure that
| 1aled or passage; and third, the FEEDER.
al elections bill, which, after protract-
e'. bitter, hotly fought and intensely
exciting preliminary struggle, failed in
thc Senate to reach decisive vote on
| Its merits. The radical innovations in
Ihc rules OF the House added interest
10 ltS proceedings, and the determined
put 1rultleSS efforts to adopt the NEST
vital OF these innovations, the former
| part OF the history Of the lost part of
the session Of the Senate. Even in its
mortuary records Congress WAS re-
markable, the call Of death having
summoned no fewer than twelve of its
Representatives and three Of its Sena-
tors.
Many of the bills enacted into laws
appropriated an unusually large
auount OF money, and the expenditures
| aulhorlZeu will exceed OF those any
| peace Congress since the foundation
OF the government. The total apDro-
priations by the Fiftie;h Conprc,s
were, during the first session :S3yJ, ,337 :
0lb, and during the second session
Sl2262d,3 ,3I3, or an aggregate Of SSH
9oo,oo9; while the appropriations for
the llrSt session Of the Fitty-lirSt Con-
gresS were S4GO, G2I,G31, and those of
the second session will probably bring
| Hnnr0nrIot f,,r L
greSS TO one thousand million dollars.
~ comparison Of the work OF the
Congress just closed with that of its
| immaculate predecessor makes the fol-
lowing exhibit: Bills introduced in
the House in the Eifty-first Congress,
l4,O33, against in the Fiiticth Congress
| l2,Go4; increase, 1,319; joint resolutions,
2'9; increase OF ten. Senate bills . I2g
against 1000, or an increase OF I,I29;
joint resolutions 1863. increase of -.
The number Of bills passed by the
| House were LIS, of which 1913 be-
came laws, and by Senate 1900. of
! which G12 became laws, making Il total
number OF laws during the Flrty-irst
Congress 2,lS6, against 1921 in the
Ilftlelh Congress-, an increase of 81.
Inc senate also postponed indefinitely
GIG Senate and IS House bills, this be-.
| ing equivalent to their defeat. During
the Eiftieth Congress lGI hills were
vetoed. and during The FIlty-lirst Con.
gress II, the most important Of which
| were the Act establishing the record
and pension Office of the War DEPART
mtnt, ana the Act providing Tor Il pub
llc building at Bar lIarbor, Me, Dallas,
IeXas, hudson, New y ork, and Tusca-
looSa, Ala.
Out OF the eighteen contested elcc-
the Republican contestants and de-
clared the scat Of Breckenridge Of Ar
kas vacant. Two cases, Goodrich VS..
Bullock, from Florida, and AlcGiunish
VS.. Anderson, from West Virginia. in
winch the committee recommended the
seating of the Republican contestants.
were not disposed Of and tie Elections
Committee itself never acted on Eaton
vs.. Phelan, Il Tennessee case. The Scn-
ate disposed OF its sole contest Cu rlcc-
ton case by seating two Republican
Senators from Montana.
AS the result of the work Of CONGRESS
a great number Of measures winch
| nave lor years occupied more or less Of
Ihe atlentlon or the Legislative branch
OIL The government Will be transferred
to the Executive and Judicial Drnart-
mentS Oi th3 government there, per.
|
qualntancrs. Among the "Oid StagcrS"
Wnlch are now laws are the copyright
DllI, thc private Land Court bill Go set
lehlSputeS arising over the Mexican
grants In the Western States and Ter
ritorles), the subsidy bin, the Indian
depreciation claims bill, the timber and
prc.emptiOn law repealed (makinp n
general revision Of the lama laws). The
customs administrative Till, tn" %rner-
al land forfeiture bill, the bill to re-
lleye the supreme Court by the cstab-
liShmtnt of Interstate Circuit Courts
OF Appeals; the Cnitod States Judges
Salallc bill and the district tax refund
bill. The Blair educational bill. thc
| bill for the appointment Of an alco-
| hollc lqu0r commission and the "cight
hour" claim bills are measures which
were defeated on test votes, while
among those which. after passing one
house failed OF action in the other and
will doubtless be wrcstled with hy sue
ceedn8 Congresses, are the bankrupt
cy bin, the Conger lard bllI, and the
army reorganization bin, the Paddock