The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-21
WORK OF CONGRESS.
An Attempt to side-track the Ant
option Bill Defeated.

An Attempt to Side-track the Anti
option Bill Defeated.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2O-Lassitude gov.
erned the House to-day. To be sure, nc
very important measure was brought to It's
attention, but the propositions which were
presented met with little or no attention
from the small number Of members present.
The House adjourned without acting on
any important measure, in fact one Of the
democratic leaders of the House stated that
that was the Intention until after the holi-
day recess,
The Senate was rather industriously In
cltned to-day, and remained In session for
four hours Several impof tant bills were
passed, authorizing the sale Of the lands Of
the Brooklyn IN. " navy yard, and Of the
lands in the vicinity of Fort Miffiin, Del.
Mr.. Bate of Tennessee spoke in favor of
the bill introduced by him for the repeal Of
all laws authorizing the employment of fed
eral supervisors and special deputies
at elections. When he concluded
his speech there was 80 little of
the morning hour left that the
McGarrahan bill, which lie entitled to con-
slderatton in the morning hours, was not
taken up, but went over until tomorrow.
An effort was made by Mr.. Blackburn to
nave the Hudson river bridge bill taken up.
but as that would have had the parlia-
mentary effect of side-tracking the anti
option bill the effort was successfully re-
sisted by Mr.. Washburn and the friends Of
the latter measure. Mr.. Blackburn's motion
was defeated by the very decisive vote Of
IL to Al.
The anti-option bill was then taken up
and was under consideration until the time
OF adjournment, when it went over without
action until tomorrow. Mr.. Palmer of
Illinois argued against it, chiefly on the
constitutional ground that congress had no
power to define and punish by legislation
criminal offenses in states, such power rest
ing exclusively in the states themselves.
UNPOPULAR WITH THE PEOPLE.
These laws. Mr.. Bate said had been in
operation over twenty years, and had not
reconciled the people to their harsh interior
ence with affairs belonging exclusively to
the states. 1t was not surprising that the
late political revolutions of 1890 and 1892
had swept from power the party which en-
forced machinery for interfering with the
elections of the states. The force bill had
been potent factor in the late overwhelm-
ing defeat Of the Republican party. The
law which he (Mr. Bate proposed to have
repealed was the germ of the force bill. 1t
was that bacillus which had pois~
oned The elections and inocu-
lated them with fraud. From the
supervisor Of elections and the armed
deputy marshal, the step to the army at the
polls was but a short one. The day had
come to bring the federal government back
to these duties for which 1t had been founded
The late elections had brought into power a
party pledged to reform, not only fiscal but
elective, in not only the tariff, but all the
federal machinery that interfered with state
affairs, and to wipe out absolute power
which had no right to place
in the American federal sys-
tenn. That system was failure
If the states could not keep pure the very
elections which maintained its organization.
The power OF congress over elections having
been conferred only lin the language OF
Alexander HamiltoA) "to thrust the union
with the care OF its OWE existence" and
there being no apprehension for the perma-
nency OF the Union those election laws had
no constitutional warrant. They were use
less for any purpose. They did much harm
and their remaining on the statute books
was in direct disregard Of the spirit and
purposes of the late elections and Of the
peace and quiet of the country.