Omaha daily bee., 1893-03-06
CONGRESS- WORK REVIEWED
What the Fifty-Second Congress Did While
in Session.
MEASURES LEFT FOR THE NEXT CONGRESS
Important Bills That Have Been Considered
and Are Now Laws-Proceedings of Both
Houses SummariZed-Legislnt Az
fecting Tariff and silver.

anu lcS tlOUS, LIlc auJl-OpJDuS Dll anu
the reduction Of appropriations were the
! leading topics of consideration by the Fifty
second congress, which expired by constitu-
tional Limitation at II o'clock noon yester-
day, and secondary only in Importance to
these matters were measures relating to the
Worlds fair, equipment of railroads with
automatic car coupers, national quarantine
ana immigration, Behring'S sea and Hawaiiln
annexation. Nothing of an Affirmative
nature, except to prevent two items in the
! Mckinley bill taking effect, was actually
! accomplished so far as respects silver, the
tariff OF anti-options, the action taken on
such of these questions in one branch of
congress being negatived by the
action or nonaction of the other branch.
| The result of the agitation of the
| necessity for a retrenchment of eX
pcnditurcs Is not apparent in any consiler
able change in the aggregate appropriations
carried by the national supply bills, for they
| amounted to about rs mach in the Fifty
first congress, laws on the statute books
! preventing some large reductions which
otherwise possibly would have been made.
! While the decreases which it was impossible
TO effect were Offset by increased appropria-
| tions for pensions and rivers and harbOrs.
| The condition of the public treasury, how
ever, though it did not result in the Fifty
second congress going below the billion
dollar limit, undoubtedly influenced legisla-
tiOn TO a considerable extent and prevented
the authorization of many new expenditures
for improvement Of the pablo services, for
public buildings payment of claims and for
| other purposes. a notable instance of the
operation Of this influence is seen in the fact
that not public building bill passed the
house and it was only by putting a number
| of them on the sundry civil appropriation
! bill that any authorization for public build
ings was ever secured.
The silver Question.
The silver question was kept steadily be-
| fore the attention of congress by the alter
nate efforts of the advocates Of free coinage
and Of the repeal of the sherman law. The
| coinage committee of the house in the first
session reported a free coinage bill which,
after an exciting debate, was saved from
defeat by the casting vote of the speaker,
but was afterwards tilibuStered to death,
the friends of the bill failing to secure the
signatures Of ma iority of the democrats to
a petition asking for a clOture rule in its be-
half. The senate then passed free coinage
bill, but when the free silver men renewed
their fight in the house they were outnum-
bered by fourteen votes and, of course,
failed The anti-silver men met similar
fate in their efforts to secure repeal of the
present law, the senate refusing by de-
| cislve vote to consider it. and the house kill
ing the AndrewCate bill by declining to
vote, 50 as to give its friends the parlia-
mentaly right to have cloture on it, without
which ii concededly could never be forced
to vote in the closing hours of the con-
! gress
On Tariff Issues.
On the tariff the dominant party in the
house adopted policy of attacking the Nc
kinley bill in detail, largely for political
| reasons and partly for the reason that in
view of the political complexion of the SEN
ate, it was practically out of the question to
! pass general tariff revision bill through the
slnt tln sttl
! some show of passage. The result was the
| enactment into law of two bills continuing
block tin on the free list and fine liren at 30
! per cent ad valorem. Under the Mckinley
bill large duties were to take effect on these
items in the near future Other separate
bills were PASSED through the house only to
be pigcOnholed in the senate as follows: Free
wool and reduction of duties on wooden man
ufactures, free cotton bagging ties, gins and
cotton bagging machinery, free binding
twine, free silver, lead ores where the value
mot the weigh, y of the silver exceeds that
of the lead in any importation, free tin plate
tin plate, taggers tin, and the limitation to
500 OF the amount of personal baggage re-
turning tourists may bring into the United
| States.
Anti-OptIon Bill.
The antioptions bill passed both houses
but was killed by the refusal of the house 70
suspend the rules and agree by two-thirds
vote to the amendments put on the bill by
the senate, the opponents of the measure
maneuVerlng so as to prevent Mr.. Harris
making enectlVe his majority IN favor OF the
measure ana forcing MN at the last moment
TO Try suspension OF the rules.
Inc pure food bill, the running mate OF the
anu-optlons bill, passed the senate, but was
never ape 10 get CONSIDERATION IN the house.
world talr legislation comprised the
grant OF 5000, ooo IN souvenir half dollars in
alu OF the lalr' the closing or ITS gates on
| SUNDAY, the appropriation or various
amounts Tor inherent talr purposes and the
passage OF Suhdry acts OF special nature
aiH minor importance.
an auCollldIlc car coupler Dill, shOrn OF lts
urdsIIt features was enacted INTO law, as
was also u ahallohal quarantine olll' lncreas-
ing inc powers OF the Marine hospital
service TO meet the threatened dangers from
c1G9iCfa' ana an Immigration law, imposing
uul'lo!laI IeHbiCIlono on Immigration, OIt
hOI susPeuulhS IL ehLlrelE'
/ ne senate aNerteu IhS DAloVer the Berng
sea st9l HSherlSs oS ta6lISlA treaty OF ar
oiJrdtiph; III also rallileu eNJraulJlon treat
its WIN i|usslI ana oIher countries but stlu
ms otiore IL treaty OF annexation OF the
nav NV, Mdllau lslahus. ,,,
ny &Ihe ul 'Hlhs nm oI tne GheroAee outlet was
PLuNlucu Ior IN Ihe lhIian blil, under a
ciause tause aPPloPrl4Ilns so,@92,VJJ Tor lts pur-