Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-03-05

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Republican contestant in his place, while
the house was proceeding under general
| parliamentary law" aud the more bitter
| opposition to the adoption of new
| code making radical changes in the
| rule which had heretofore governed the
| house, had the effect of keeping on
| the alert the interest in the legislative
| proceedings, which, prior to these occur
FENCES, had been deemed by many prosy
| and uninteresting
The Three Great Measures.
Three great measures considered by the
! congress Just ended will take prominent
| place in the history of legislation These
are the tariff act of 1890, the federal cleo.
tons bill, and the silver bill. By the tariff
act important changes in the customs
laws were brought about, and the first
| practical opportunity of testing the theo-
RES of the advocates of the advocates of
| commercial reciprocity was obtained
| Secretary Blaine was its chief advocate.
and Aldrich persuaded the senate to put a
| modified proposition in the tariff bill
which was agreed to by the house The
| treaty with Brazil followed.
The Action on silver.
On July IA, 1890, after a protracted
| strug gle between the advocates of free sill
Yer and the conservatives on the silver
| question bill was enacted providing for
| tie issue of coin certificates based on gold
| or silver bullion, with proviso that the
| secretary OF the treasury should purchase
4,Jo,OO0 ounces of silver bullion each
month. This bill was the result of a
compromise in conference between the
two houses, the senate having passed
free coinage bill. In the second session
the senate finance committee amended a
national bank bill introduced by Sher-
man, so as to make it a general financial
measure. The way it was shelved in IA
vor of a free coinage bill is fresh in the
minds of readers; also how the free coin
age bill was shelved in the house
The Inflated Elections Bill.
The vacillating career of the federal
elections bill giving the control of
elections of members of the house of
| representatives to the governments
was watched with intense interest
throughout the country, and particularly
IN the south. After limited, but bitter
debate, the house passed the measure in
the nrst session. 1t was called up in the
nate, but the endless debate kept up by
the opposition brought about the caucus
agreement by which the elections bill was
laid aside and the tariff bill taken up witch
the understanding that the elections bill
should be pushed to a final vote during
the second session. But the discussion of
the measure was never completed. 1t was
taken up according To agreement, but the
Democrats began "talk.it to-death" pol
Icy, and with the help of some Republicans
put the bill finally to sleep
Pensions. Lotteries and Other Matters.
In pursuance of its promise in the cam
pail5n of iSSS-that more liberal pension
legislation would be enacted-the Repub-
lican party's representatives in congress
secured the passage of IA disability pen
sion act giving disabled soldiers S12 a
month. The anti-lottery law and the law
against trusts and combinations were two
| more important measures that passed,
| while the famous educational bill which
| had twice passed the senate, and of which
| Blair OF New Hampshire was the cham
| pion, met its death in that body
Work of the Long Session.
The first or long session is notable for
| the number of other important measures
| that became laws Wyoming and Idaho
| were admitted to statehood, making the
number of states forty-four. A general
| land grant forfeiture bill providing for
| the forfeiture to the government of all I'M
| struction of railroads opposite portions of
! roads uncompleted at the time of tine pas
sage of the law, opened new lands to set
Element. The prohibition of American
meaG from certain foreign markets brought
| about the passage of the law to provide
for the inspection of meats intended for
export. The bills to prohibit the exporta-
ton of adulterated articles of food and
drink, and to enable the president to pre-
! vent the importation of impure or adul-
terated articles of food and drink are
worthy of special mention.
Less Important Measures.
Among the less important but still
interesting measures which passed
We're the following: Extending the
Grim nal jurisdiction of the federal
courts to the great lakes; increas-
ing ID So a month the pensions of those
permanently disabled; directing the su-
perrin tendent of the census to collect sta
tistics OF farms and mortgage indebted
ness; granting certificates of discharge to
those who enlisted under assumed names
in the war of the rebellion; to prevent the
importation from one state into another
of goods prohibited by the latter state,
except in original packages; to apply a
portion of the proceeds of the sale OF pup
lie lands to the endowment and support
of agricultural colleges; transferring the
weather bureau from the signal corps to
the agricultural department, and author
izing the postmaster general to test the
free delivery system in small towns
Laws PG 'sed at the Short Session.
Frequent complaints concerning the in
efficiency of our federal immigration
laws brought about the enactment In the
second session of Il measure aimed to cor
rect the alleged abuses. Other bills
passed during the session were: To re-
lieve the docket of the supreme court; the
direct tax bill; the copyright bill;
nd The apportioment bill POLITE