Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-08-09
PASSED BY CONGRESS.
NEW LEGISLATION DURING THE
PRESENT SESSION.

"A Number Of Bills of Great I'M
portance Have Become Laws-one
of the Most Important Is the Bill
Repeating Fedora Election Laws
] Wa hingtcI, Aug. Ga review OK the
! egislation vhich has been accomplisnSd
by the first session Of the Flfty-third
congress up 10 aud including Aue.o
shows that much has been done asiie
fem the epgrosSing tariff
which has lalrNnly diverted pu''l!c atten-
ion from matters which WOULD ul'uer
| other circumstances been considered
II great Importance.
One of the most important acts or
J the session, Which passed both houses
by a strictly party vote, beln" III lm-
illmcut of a plank OF the Democralrc
| clatform, was the let repeating all laws
."eatiug federal supervisors or
Or defining thrir powers.
The act to enable the people OF Utah
10 form a constitution ID state gov
eminent and to be admitted into the
Union, provides the machinery Dy "nich
the territory will be admitted prooa-
bly, in December. 1875, by Il
constitution providing a repuDllcan
form of government II lhsurlas
against the supremacy or eny church,
the government ccding 1t Inlich pubic
, and for educational and charitable III
situations.
An act making the first Monday in
September a legal holiday, 10 De caiieu
Labor day, was passed largely at the
instance of labor organizations, while
scientific societies urged the act 10 de-
r. - ~.&,ISI;ch tho ItnitS or plpptilcHl
measurement be made law.
Three bills were passed to give eff
J feet TO the award of the tribunal or
,rbitration at Paris which adjudica+ed
The seal fisheries disputes; that acts
prohibiting seal fishing from May 1
70 July 81 of each year north OF degree
IS north latitude and east Of degree
$50 longitude. and establishing condl-
lions under which Tho fishing can be
| carried on outside of the closed season
with penalties for violations OF the
law. and machinery for its enfofce-
ment.
Several measures were enacted In nc.
,ords nee with the recommendations or
The Dockery commission ,so-caliedl Tor
, improving and simplifying the methods
# doing the government business Most
important were those char siDg the
, method Of aysj,tiug accounts in the
treasury department, improving the
methods OF accounting in the posto ce
department and changing the money
order system an that regulating the
making Of properly returns by n
p~ticials of the govern ment. First en-
! titled To mention are the appropriation
/ hills for the expense of the government,
, which form an important part OF the
| ocular work of every session, although
| generally the last to be finished, gen
aral legislation is usually engratted'
| upon these bills, and from this rule
those of the past session were Nc eX-
! reption. The postoffice departmelt:Dll
J authorized the postmaster general to
allow postmasters of the first and sec
md class offices to disburse at their
discretion the amout allotted for their
offices, and admitted to the mails De-
riodical publications published at Least
quarterly by benevolent and fraternal
societies and other organizations as
second-class matter. Provisions were
included in the pension bills regulating
the fees md methods of examining
boards. The naval bill empowered the
president to fill vancancies in the grade
of ensign or assistant engineer by Sc
Iectiny from the graduation class or
the naval academy where the
exceed the number of cadets In the lin
division or engineer division. Also that
: a y%ancancy in the naval schoo from a
district which the secretary OF the
navy Is called upon to fill must De
| filed by the appointment OF q resi-
| dent If that district Of W years
standing. $50,
In the diplomatic and consular bill
| sey,ra, salaries were changed; that OF
.Le minister to Belgium being rai 'ed
from $1,000 to $4,000, and a provision
TO make the bureau If South American
| republics partially self sustaining by
the sale of it's publications was In
serted. No important legislation was
contained in the bill for the naval
J academy. The fertilization bill con-
tanned nothing of interest to- the gener-
al public and the legislation was
| equally uninteresting. In the agricul-
tural hill were provisions governing lie
| distribution of seeds by the depart
| ment. Three Of the appropriation bills
| have rot yet gone to the president
iii. river and harl'or, general deilcitncy
and sundry civil. Incidental to The
! sundry civil is q provision granting
100000 acres of the surveyed arid
public lands to each Of the states to
which the desert land law is applicable
-Ncbraska, Kansas, and the Territories
of Arizona, New Mexico, oklahoma
and Utah, to be selected within ten
years. One of the deciency bills CON
tanned legislation relating the u s
pension of pensioners from the rolls,
a question which has excited endless
discussion during this administration.
! l. V as forbidden to suspend them with
| out thirty days notice and notification
of the charges against them. -Four
: general deficiency bills have been nee
essary this session.
nne first ore was signed Dec. II,
1893, and its principal items ere S121,-
500 for tic pay Of assistant i%anitors
and custodians under the treasury le-
partment and SaCO,000 for mileage for
n,cnuhers, The regular mileage appro-
priation for the first session having
been used during the special session.
The second deficiency bill, signed the
same day. 4 Guided ST45,000 for the
treasury department; 100000 Of 1t for
tbe customs service. 100000 for the
pension service. 100000 for the CEN