The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1891-03-13
IT'S WORK REVIEWED.
What the FIfty-first Congress Accom-
plished-BiIIs That Passed and Measures
That FaiIed-Heavy Appropriations.
WASHINGTON March B-Tn reviewfn0 kha

ures, any of which in intrinsic importanc,
and popular interest would be sufficient fol
a national issue, stand forth pre-emine EN-
among all others-frst, the Mckinley tariff
bill which became a law; second, the silver
! bill, on which i'm the first session a confpro.
mise was effected based on monthly pur.
chases of $1,000 ounces of silver, which IN
| turn was Followed by more radical meas.
ure which failed of passage; and third, the
federal elections bill which, after protract.
ed, bitter. hotly fought and Intensely excit-
ing preliminary struggle, faIlei in the SEN
ate to reach a decisive vote on its merits.
Radical innovations in the rules of the
house added interest to its proceedings and
/ determined but fruitless efforts to adopt the
most vital of these innovations formed a
part of the history of the latter part of the
sessions of the senate.
Even in it's mortuary record the congress
was remarkably, the call of death having
summoned no fewer than twelve of it's rep
resentatives and three of its senator's The
list contain the names of Senators Beck, of
Kentucky; Wilson. of Maryland, and Hearst,
of California;; and Representatives w. ID.
Kelley, Samuel j. Randall and Lewis +. Wat
son, of Pennsylvania; s. s. Cox David WILDER
and Newton J. Nutting, of New YORK; Rich
rrd Townsend, OF Illinois; j. NJ Burnes and
James p. Walker of Missouri; James Laird
of Nebraska; Edward j. Gray, of louisiana,
and James Phelan, or Tennessee.
The total appropriations for this congress
In the Fiftieth congress President Cleye-
land vetoed I,6II bills and JOINT resolutions,
while in the Fifty first President Harrison
vetoed only eleven. Among these were: For
the erection of a public bu lding at Bar
Harbor, Me-, to authorize Oklahoma CITY to
issue bonds, to provide right of way for the
Choctaw Coal & Railroad Co., to establ sh a
record and pension bureau in the war de-
partment and to create the present head a
colonel in the army, for the relief of the ad-
ministratrix of the estate of George w. Law
renee.
The bills that became laws during the con-
gress just ended numbered 2,1S6. In the
Fiftieth congress s2I were enacted The
number of bills, etc., introduced in the
Fifty first congress exceeded by 20 per cent.
the number introduced in the Fiftieth con-
gress. 4
Among the bills which have become laws
are these: The copyright II, the private
land court BILL the postal subsidy bill, the
Indian depredations claim bill, the timber
and pre- emption law repeal bill the Gus
toms administrative bill, general land
forfeiture bill, the bill to relieve the su-
preme court by the establishment of inter-
mediate circuit courts of appeal, the United
states judges salaries bill, the worlds fair
bill, the Wyoming and Idaho admission bills,
the anti-lottery and antitrust bills, the re.
apportionment bill, the immigration bill,
the bill to ratify agreements with various In
dian tribes and to pay the friendly Sioux
100000, to reduce the fees of pension agents,
to pay the French spoil alton claims, the
meat inspection bill, TO prevent the inn
portation of adulterattd food and
drink, the live cattle snd hog
inspection bill, the bill appropriating
S1,0Oo,OO) for the Improvement of the AIissia,
sippi river, to permit sorghum sugar manu-
facturers to use alcohol without payment OF
tax, for the construction of deepwater har.
Dor on the coast of Texas, to apply the pro.
ceeds of public lands and the receipts from
certain land grant railroads to the support
of agricultural an Industrial colleges, pro-
viding for town site entries in Oklahoma, to
amend the Interstate comm rec act so as to
give the commission fuller power in respect
to making inquiries, and to enable the post
master generate to expend $4,000 to test the
free delivery system in small towns.
The Blair educational bill, the bilF for the
appointment of an alcohol. liquor commits.
sion and the 'eight hours" claims bill are
measures which were defeated on test votes,
while among those after passing one house
failed of action in the other are the bank
ruptcy bill, the Congera lard bill and the
army reorganization bill.
The Paddock pure food bill, the Nicaragua
canal bill, the Pacific railroad funding bill
and the inter- commerce bill TO permit
limited pooling OF earnings by railroad COM
panies are among the measures which failed 4
TO reach vote in either house.
The following are some of the senate bills 4
which failed to pass the house: To provide
for the free coinage of silver, enlarging the i
rights of homestea ierS and pre- emptor5 on
the public lands, revlving the grade of lieu
tenant general of the army and for the ex-
ploration and survey OF the interior of Alaska /
The following house bills failed to pass the !
senate: To transfer the revenue marine SER 4
vice to the navy, to authorize the construc-
tion of tunnel under the the Detroit river
at Detroit, Mich, for the relief of telegraph
operators during the war.
he
house acted Except in some cases by COM
mittees) were the sub treasury and farm
bills, the service pension bill, the |
reciprocity resolution, the bin to
encourage the construction of an intercon-
tinental railway, the post al savings bank
and postal telegraph bills, the Butler bill to i
aid negroes to emigrate to Africa, woman
suffrage and prohibition constitutional
the income tax bill and various
other radical financial and political meas
ures.
Contests for seats held by democrats in |
the house were made by eighteen republic
ans. The elections committed decided sew
enteen of these-eleven in favor of republic |
ans and six in favor of democrats The |
house seated eight republicans in place of |
sitting democrats and declared the seat of /
one democrat vacant. The house adopted /
the report of the committee on every case |
presented.
The first, or long session, was notable for |
came laws. Wyoming and Idaho were ad- |
mitted to statehood, making the number of /
states forty four. A general land grant /
forfeiture bill, providing for the forfeiture /
to the government of ali unearned lands /
granted to aid in the construction of rail-
roads opposite portions of the road uncom-
pleted at the time of the passage of the law, |
opened new lands to settlement. The pro- /
hibition of American meat from certain for
eign markets brought about the passage of
The law to provide for the inspection of
meats intended for export. The bills to pro-
hibit,the expectation of adulterated articles
Of food and drink and to enable the presi-
lent TO prevent the importation of impure
and adulterated articles of food and drink
are worthy of special mention. while among
Inc less important but generally interesting
avs enacted were the following:
Providing for an additional assistant sec-
-etary of the navy and an ass stant secretary
IF war, increasing to s73 a month the pen
'ions of those permanently disabled, for the
by the president OF regulations
% prevent the spread OF contagious diseases
rom one state to another; granting certih-
Gates of discharge to those who enlisted un-
Ter assumed names in the war Of the rebel
ion; to prevent the importation from one
tate into another of goods prohibited Y the
after state, except in original packages; and
transferring the weath bureau from the
gnal corps to the agricultural department.
Another measure of importafIc1 that be-
anne a law in the second session was the
lirect tax bill, which provides for refupdlng
he amounts levied in certain states under
he direct war tax of 1861. This biH became +
amous in the Fiftieth congress through the
ong and weary deadlock In the house of
representatives caused by the efforts to pass
{ II was disposed of quietly and without
ny great show of resistance in the congress
ust ended.
The enactment of a measure to extendthe