The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1894-09-05
SUMMARY OF CONGRESS-
Great Year in American His
tory Reviewed.
SOME REMARKABLE INCIDENTS.

nanciaI Questionable New Tariff Bill.
Repeal of the Purchasing Clause of the
Sherman Law Chinese Registration.
COxeyism Hawaii.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2S.-The events
of the Fifty-third congress have passed
into history. Including the recess be-
tween the extraordinary session and the
regular session, congress has been in
session over year.
The Extra Session.
The first or extra session of the Fifty
third congress convened Aug. z, 1898,
and few days later, Springer of nli-
nOis w1; dethroned as chairman of the
committee on ways and means and
| William L. Wilson was elevated to his
place.
This above all meant that the speaker
of the house and the president were in
accord on the tariff, and that the bill to
be framed should directly represent the
views of Mr.. Cleveland.
The fight between the eastern Demo-
Grats on one side, and the southern and
western on the OIher, upon the financial
policy of the country, was waged re-
lentlessly in the house, and carried for
ward with even greater Vigor in the
senate.
Mr.. Cleveland Won.
The struggle between the senate and
the executive during the long months
that followed will never be forgotten,
and the victory of the executive on that
occasion will stand out in history as one
of the most prominent feats of Mr..
Cleveland's life.
The Tariff Bill.
The extra session adjourned with the
tariff bill in an inchoate state, nor was
II
convened in December.
Coel and iron ore were placed on the
free list in the Sin finally reported to
the house by Mr.. Wilson, and this is
important, in view of subsequent
wranglings, for while raw sugar was
also to be free, the bounty was to be
abolished by degrees. When the bill
was reported to the house by Mr.. Wilson
A Storm of DisapprOvaI
met it. The eastern members, headed
by Bourke Cochran, opposed the income
tax, the Louisiana members the sugar
schedule. and the California delegation
were dissat fled with the protection
given the products of the Pacific coast.
took up arms for a more extended free
list. The Republicans, led by ex-
| Speaker Reed, did all that was possible
to delay legislation and harass the Dem
ocratic majority. The speaker and his
committee on rules hastened action by
limiting debate to three weeks. The
bill was finally passed by a vote of 204
to 40.
Two Notable Features.
OF course the repeal of the purchasing
clause of the Sherman law and the pas
sage of the tariff bill are the two notable
features of legislation of the list two
sessions. Next to them in Importance
were two measures which passed both
senate and house; the repeal of the fed
eral election laws and the Bland seignior-
age bill which authorized the secretary
of the treasury to coin the seigniorage
that had accumulated in the treasury
and would have put $55, 900, 900 in circu-
latiOn. The presidents veto of this
gave to it additional prominence as it
fully fixed the policy of this administra-
ton.
Chinese Registration.
Possibly the next measure of more
general importance was that providing
that all Chinese now in the United
States should register in the offices of
the internal revenue collectors. The
act had been formally passed, but its
constitutionaity was questioned and
was sustained by the supreme court.
The bill which was finally enacted into
| law pdoSCA tAAAS OOASSACsSy anu b44c41
Chinese registration has continued.
Utah Admitted.
Another act which is important to the
country at large was that enabling Utah
to enter the Union, and ON next indie
pendence day, July 4, another star, the
45th, will be added to the national con-
stellation. Soon after this, bills passed
the house admitting New Mexico and
Arizona, but they will not receive con-
sideration in the senate until next ses-
sion.
Other Bills Passed.
Other bills which became laws during
the session We're: To effect the award
rendered by the Behring sea tribunal;
making Labor day legal holiday; ex-
tending for one year the time for final
proof and payment on lands claimed
under the public land laws; reducing
the time of enlistments in the army
from five to three years; taxing green
backs and authorizing the purchase and
condemnation of land at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania
In the Senate.
The bill was formally laid before the
senate Feb. 2. The Democratic strength
in the senate was exactly A. The Re-
publicans numbered 81, and the Popu-
list party had four adherents. Senator
Voorhees, was chairman of the finance
committee, to which committee, by all
! fs,AAAdAnts the bill was bound 70 be re-