Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-04
The Last Session of the Fifty
 Third Congress
FORMALLY BEGAN AT NOON
Yesterday With a Fair .Attend- ance in Both HouSes-The
 Message Read.
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 ious cheering when Ex-Speaker Reed ap-
 peared on the floor and round of milder
 applause when Chairman Wilson came In
 there were no scenes of great interest.
 The house proceeded to business without
 any resort to fornality- other than that of
 ordinary meeting days. The roll call
 showed the presence of 210 members, more
 than Il quorum. Messrs. Wilson, Holman
 and Reed were appointed q committee of
 the present house to wait upon the presi-
 dent.
 At12:33 D. m.@the house took a. recess
 until o clock. At 20 o'clock the noti-
 fcation committee reported their duties
 discharged. s.. At :37 D. ID. the presidents message was
 received by the house, and its reading was
 promptly begun by Clerk Kerr. All of the
 members who had answered to their names
 and few new ones who had just been sworn
 in were n their seats, and the attention they gave to the message was something
 remarkable. The reading was completed at 3:15 p. m.
 Interest in the message, which had waned
 as time rolled on, was revived when Clerk
 Kerr reached that part concerning Secre-
 tary Carlisle's financial scheme. Mem bers gathered about the clerks desk and listened atten lively, and continued to do so uDIll tue Suu Oi bub IutbsEsc. INO dppidhcoo oi other demonstration marked is conclu-
 sion. It was referred to the co nmittee of the whole house on the state of union. Immediately afterwards Mir. Scranton, republican, of Pennsylvania, announced the death of Representative Myron 5. Wright of Pennsylvania, and offered the customary resolutions, which, on his mos tion, were unanimously adopted, where upou, on motion of MT. Scranton, the
 house at 3:18 p. m. adjourned until tomor-
 row.
 INTHE SENATE.
 The presentation and reading of the pres- ident's annual report constituted the chief point of interest in today's session of the senate. There were seventy senators pres ent on this, the first day of the third and final session of the Fifty-third congress. The reading of the message occupied two hours and five minutes. It attracted but little attention, and was ordered to be printed and laid on the table, the general course with such documents.
 In the usual routine of the opening day Mir. Harris, democrat, of Tennessee, and Mir. Manderson, republican, of Nebraska, were appointed committee on the part of the senate to notify the president that the senate was in session and ready to receive any communication he might desire to
 make. The roll call showed the following absentees: s- .s.~.,-s@
 Messrs. Blackburn, Butler, Caffery, Ca- rey, Davis, Dixon, Hill, Irby, Jones of | Nevada, Lindsay, Martin, Patton, Walsh, Washburn, White and Wilson.
 After the roll call brief recess was taken, during which senators interchauged pleasant and friendly greetings. There was some delay in the receipt of the mes- sage from the house announcing the ap- polntment of a committee to wait upon the president, and after it was received a fur ther recess was taken till 1:30 D. m. At the close of this second recess report was made by MT. Harris, from the com mittee to wait upon the president, and im- mediately thereafter MT. Pruden, one of the presidents secretaries, delivered the presidents annual message, which was | thereupon read by Mr. Cox, secretary of | the senate. Two of the most attentive | and interested auditors were two China 1 men in the diplomatic gallery, but the ref | erences to the Chinese Japanese war were | very brief and the subsequent parts of the | message had no interestfor the celestials. Pamphlet copies of the message having |, been distributed in the chamber, the sena- | tors who sat throughout the reading fol- | lowed it by an occasional glance at the | larly interested in it. The pamphlet cov- l cred thirty eight printed pages. The read | ing occupied two hours and five minutes | and was finished at 3:45 p. m.
 Various resolutions were then offered on | both sides of the chamber, including the | following:
 By MT. George, democrat, of Mississippi, l instructing the committee on rules to re- | port amendments to the rules giving the l senate power to come to a vote at any time | on any pending question after reasonable | opportunity for debate; proceeding for the | counting Gin order to make quorum of 1 senators present and not voting; punish | ing senators for dlsorderly behavior, who | being present fail to answer to their names and such other changes and amendments as
 may be necessary for the proper discharge l of the duties of the senate. Referred to the | committee on rules.
 By MT. Hoar, republican, of Massachu- 1 setts, requesting the president to commu-
 nicate, if not incompatible with public in- l terest, information as to alleged cruelties l committed on Armenians in Turkey, es- | pecially on those who had declared their in- l tention to become naturalized in the United
 States. Referred to the committee on l foreign relations. ~~
 By MT. Blanchard, democrat, of Louis- l jana, mother resolution on the same sub- 1 iect declaring the reported outrages to be
 blot on the civilization of the age, and re- l quesiipg the president to communicate the | remonstrance to the government of Tur- | key. Same reference.
 l By MT. Turpie, democrat, of Indiana, l for change in the method of choosing 1 United States senators and declaring that | the present method tends to mar and mu- | tilate the system of popular representative
 government Laid on the table with q
 notice that MT. Turpie will address the
 senate on the subject next Thursday. By Mr. Lodge, republican,, of Massa-
 chusetts, calling on the president for in- | formation as to the delivery by the United | States consul at Shanghai Of two Japanese | citizens to the Chinese authorities. Laid | over for the present.
 By MT. Peffer, populist, of Kansas, in-
 structing the judiciary committee to in- | quire and report as to whether the present
 issue of United States bonds was author
 ized by any action of congress now in force. l Laid over.
 Also, calling on the president to inform
 the senate as to the facts and circumstances | that necsssitated the use of United States | troops in Chicago last July. Laid over. 1 By Mir. Call, democrat, of Florida, for a
 special committee to investigate the alleged acts of the Florida Lottery company in- l fluencing elections in Florida. Laid over. MT. Dolph, republican, of Oregon, pre- sented the memorial of the Portland, Ore. |, | chamber of commerce in favor of govern ment aid to the Nicaragua canal. Referred. Several departmental reports were pre- scented by the vice. president and ordered l printed, among them one as to the Nica- l ragua maritime canal.
 Irr ri ho to