The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-01-25
TALK OF THE WEEK.


There is now some probability of an extra
session in the spring. BY many an extra session
is already regarded as q certainty. so much
time has been consumed in the Senate by the
desperate clique of Republicans who are bent
on passing the Force bill that it hardly seems
possible in the few remaining weeks of the
session to dispose of the regular appropriation
bills before the 4th of March However il the
Force bill were out of the way by Monday next,
so that work could be begun in earnest on the
regular appropriation bills there would still be
a chance of getting them through in time to
avoid the necessity of an extra session. But at
this writing 1t does not look as if the Force bill
could possibly be disposed of, one way or
another, inside of a week at least, and that
would leave too little time to dispose of the ap-
preparation bills. The Republicans recognize
that the country will hold them responsible il
an extra session is made necessary by the pro-
gramme they are pursuing, but they calculate
on obtaining compensating advantage by the
difficulties in which they think an extra session
will involve the Democrats. They Imagine
that the large number of new members, more
or less infected with Farmers Alliance ideas
who will be in the next Congress, will give
the Democrats of the House great deal of
trouble and cause serious dissensions in the
party. The Democrats, on the other hand, do
not seem to see any danger of this kind to
themselves in an extra session. They think
that an early settlement of the Speakership
question and the organization of the House
will put them in good trim for the regular ses-
sion beginning December next. When the
regular session opens the House would be
ready to begin Immediately its work, and could
accomplish much more than if the usual delay
caused by the necessity of selecting committees
had to be encountered
Further than this, there is another consdera-
tion which makes the practical politicians among
the Democrats feel that an extra session would
be good thing for them. If tho Fifty-second
Congress does not assemble until December all
the present Republican employees of the House
who are on the annual roll, the committee
clerks, and other attaches, will hold over dur
ing the recess. But if the uew House is con-
vened in the spring the Republican employees
will be displaced and Democrats given their
positions. AS there are several hundred of
these employees, it can readily be seen, from the
standpoint of practical politics, the calling of
an extra session will be a desirable thing for
the Democrats.
Senator Hoar is said to be filled with serene
confidence in his own righteousness and approx
mate perfection. This, of course, is a very de-
sirable state of mind and feeling to be in and
is well calculated TO give man courage to dare
and fortitude to endure. But then it has its
drawbacks and exposes man to the danger of
neglecting to watch his actions and his words
whereby his perfection may be sullied without
his becoming aware of it. Mr. Hoar has not es-
capped this dagger nor its consequences. His
colleagues in the Senate realize that he is almost
perfect past all parallel, and, anxious that his
perfection may not be deteriorated, they watch
him closely and find that it pays Mr.. Hoar
seems to have such confidence in the inability
OF his vocal organs to speak anything but the
truth that he sometimes doesn't use his memory
and his reason in order to get his statements
strictly in accordance with the recorded and
known facts Senator Kenna has recently had
occasion to interest himself in seeing that Mr.
Hoar did not fall short of perfection too fire.
quently. Week before last Senator Kenna re-
luctantly demonstrated to Mr.. Hoar that a state
ment the latter made regarding certain amend
ments to the Force bill was not quite consistent
with the facts. On Wednesday Mr.. Kenna
again discovered Mr. Hoar's unreliable vocal
organs making statements which the Record did
not bear out, and he kindly but firmly demon
strated that fact. Mr.. Hoar denied that he had
ever obtained the floor for specific purpose
and then yielded it to some other Republican to
make speech on quite a different subject Mr.
Kenna showed that not long since Mr.. Hoar OBJ
tanned the floor for the express purpose of call
ing up for reconsideration a bill which had
passed the Senate and in which an error had
been discovered The bill was taken up, cor
rected, and again passed by the Senate. Mr.
Hoar still held the floor for that purpose only,
but yielded it to Senator Stewart without ask
ing permission of the Senate, and Mr.. Stewart
gave notice of the motion by which the Force
bill was later side-tracked and the Silver bill
taken up. Mr.. German then moved the con-
sideration of Labor bill, but Mr.. Hoar claimed
that he had the floor, and that Mr. German had
no right to make that motion. Mr.. German
then asked, as Senator Kenna showed from the
Record, "Do | understand the Senator from
Massachusetts desires to take the floor to
speak ?'' Mr. Hoar answered, without proviso
or qualification, "Yes, SIR" "And within three
minutes" Senator Kenna said, in calling the
Senate's attention to the little inconsistency
''as shown by this Record, and after that state
ment the Senator from Massachusetts yielded
the floor to the Senator from New York, Mr.
Hiscock, to make a speech Of indefinite dura-
ton. That is the record-that is the history of
that Transaction
There are four immense ledger-like volumes
in the Office of the File Clerk of the House of
Representatives. These volumes give in brief
the history of the legislation and the attempted
legislation of the Fifty-fist Congress- They
contain over thousand pages each, and three
of them are already filled. In these are recorded
the title of each bill introduced, its number ac-
cording to the order of its introduction, the
committee to which it was referred, the action
of that committee, the action of the House on
the report of the committee, the corresponding
action on the part of the Senate committees,
the action of the conference committee if the
bill ever went to conference, and last stage of
all the approval or disapproVal of the President,
II the bill ever lucky enough to get as far as