The Monticellonian., 1895-03-08
THE LATE CONGRESS

Ahe the only Ono that AC-
 oompiished the Work Laid Out for It.
 The President Repeatedly snubbed.
 WASHINGTON, March 4.-The three
 sessions of the fifty-third congress ex-
 bring at noon to-day were dominated
 by their controlling issues: The first
 by the silver question; the second by
 the tariff question, and the third by the
 financial question.
 On the 7th of August, 1893, the con-
 gress convened in extraordinary ses-
 sion for the avowed purpose of repeal
 ing the compulsory er-purchas e
 provision of the law of 1890. This was
 the silver session. Mir. ". L. Wilson, chairman of the committee on ways
 and means, prepared a bill in confor- mity to the recomme ndations of the presidents message. and on the 2sth of August, 1893, this measure passed the house.
 The senate in the meantime had
 been preparing, through the commit tee on finance, sub-bill and on the 1st of Novemb Der this senate substitute received the approval of both houses and became law by the approval of the president. This measure and the re- peal of the remaining vestiges of the reconstruction and federal election laws closed the important work of the extra session.
 Upon its meeting in regular session in December, 1893, congress entered upon the consideration of the revision of the tariff. As in the case of the oil pronounced manner, the house ''pro- posed" and the senate "disposedn The Wilson bill. passed by the house February 1, 1891, was set aside for the Jones-Gorman compromise tariff bill, adopted by the senate on the Sd of July, 1894, after five months debate, and the house was given the blunt option of the senate bill or nothing" It took the senate bill and sent it to the president on the 18th of August, 1894. President Cleveland permitted the bill to become law without his approval, and in an informal manner communi- eated to individual members of con gress his dissatisfaction at the made quacy of the changes made in the tariff sy stem.
 Supplemental to the passage of the tariff law the senate entered upon a profitless and inconclusive investiga- tion of rumors that senators had been improperly influenced to vote for the sugar schedule and had speculated in stocks of the so-ealled Sugar Trust company"
 The third and last, or financial" session of the ffty-third congress has been especially marked by the refusal of both houses to put into legislative shape the recommendations of the president for the alleviation of the stringent financial situation. The president in his annual message called attention to the con- tinual depletion of the gold reserve, and complained that though it was perfectly and palpably plain that the only way, under, present conditions, by which this reserve when danger ously depleted can be replenished is through the issue and sale of the bonds of the government fos gold, congress has not only thus far declined to authorize the issue of bonds best suited to such purpose, but there seems a disposition in some quarters to deny both the necessity and power for the issue of the bonds at all"
 The banking and currency commit tee of the house, with the approval of the administration, submitted finan- cial measure, which, among other pro- materially modified the bank ing laws and repealed the restrictions on state bank circulation. This bill was defeated by six majority. It was followed by a second message from the president, received by both houses of congress December 2s, in which the president said that whatever might have been the merits of the original plan proposed by him he was now convinced that its reception by the congress and our present advanced stage of financial per plexity necessitated additional or diff ferent legislation" He at once rec the passage of law au- the issue of low interest bearing bonds to maintain the gold re- serve. The banking and currency responded to this sugges- tion by offering, on the 1st of Febru- ary, 1895, bill to "authorize the sec retary of the treasury to issue bonds to maintain sufficient gold reserve and to redeem and retire United States After only two days debate this bill was also defeated by a major ity of 27.
 On the next day the president in- formed congress that he had nego- tiated a conditional sale of over S62,- 900, 900 of 4-per-cent. coin bonds to syndicate largely representing foreign capitalists, having no other resource left, because of the omission thus far on the part of the congress to bene- fieially enlarge the powers of the sec. retary of the treasury in the prem ises.n
 This last message went to the ways and means committee, whose chair man, Mir. Wilson, of West Virginia, seven days after it's receipt, reported resolution authorizing the issue of S65, 16,2 275 of gold 3-per-cent. bonds, as recommended by the president. The measure was called up on February 14 and defeated the same day by 47 ma iority, after stormy debate.
 These three financial measures with the general appropriation bills con- sumed the greater part of the session.
 Early in the session the democratic caucus of the senate agreed that the following matters should be consid- cred: A financial measure of some sort. details not desipnated: the bank.