Evening star., 1895-03-04
CLOSING SESSIONS
Work Done in Both Branches Of Con-
gress Yesterday.
CONFERENCE AGREEMENTS RATIFIED
Clearing the Tables Of the Appro-
priation Bills.
SOME INTERESTING INCIDENTS

SOME INTERESTING INCIDENTS
The closing sessions Of the Fifty-third
Congress were extremely uneventful. From
Saturday a recess was taken until o'clock
Sunday afternoon. During the afternoon
session, and again in the evening, the gal
leries of the two houses and the corridors
were crowded with spectators. In the early
part of the evening the crowd Of spectators
was very large. The packed galleries and
a throng of people of both sexes and OF
various ages, moving restlessly from one
house to the other, presented an animated
scene. But before II o'clock the Senate
cleared it's galleries, closed the doors and
went into executive session, and on the
floor of the House everything was so quiet
and uninteresting that the spectators soon
wearied. By II 30 the galleries were half
emptied, and the corridors We're almost de-
serted. By 1890, and from that time dur
ing the rest of the night session, there were
only a few persons in the galleries. Dur
ing the entire session there were but two
occasions when any sort of excitement was
shown. One was over the allowances for
election contests in the deficiency bill, and
the other was when the naval bill came
over from the Senate.
Rapid Progress of Conferees.
The conferees on the appropriation bills
got ahead so rapidly and easily with the
appropriation bills yesterday as to mako
it seem strange that there had been any
thought of serious trouble. When they
once got a start the work was disposed of
almost as if there were no differences Of
opinion. Stimulated by the universal de-
sire that the necessity for an extra session
should be avoided, the conferees came to
an agreement on one bill after the other
in quick succession. What at first seemed
like almost insurmountable diff1culdeS were
easily brushed away. During the after
noon both houses were In session. from
o'clock until about g. The conferees were
not then ready to report, and recess was
taken, the House meeting again at 1880
and the Senate at $50. During this brief
recess an agreement was reached in con-
ference on the surdry civil, and the report
was made to The House Immediately upon
their reassembling. The report was speedi-
ly adopted in both houses. The serious
difficulties in the way of getting through
with the work of the session were those
presented by the Hawaiian cable amend-
ment on the consular and diplomatic bili
and the great load of amendments objected
to in the general deficiency. The naval
bill was still under consideration In the
Senate, and there were some differences un-
settled In the Indian bill The naval bill
was passed by the Senate and sent to con-
ference soon after the evening session be-
gan. Neither the naval nor the Indian bill
presented any questions difficult to settle.
The Hawaiian Cable.
But there was deadlock over the Ha-
waiian cable, and there was some talk OF
the possible failure of tho deficiency.
This was the situation at 10 o'clock in the
evening; by II the Senase had receded from
the Hawaiian cable amendment and the
consular and diplomatic bill was disposed
of. About the same time it was announced
that the conferees on the deficiency bill
were making rapid progress toward an
agreement, the Senate conferees recedlng
from most of the amenlmnnts to which
serious objection was made. This removed
all danger of the failure of any bill. and in
a minute all the clouds We're cleared away
The agreement on the consular and diplo-
matte was speedily followed by an agree
ment in conference on the general deft-
cheney bill and the reporting of the agree
ment to the House.
The provision made In this bill for an
extra allowance to certain contestants and
conteStees for expenses in election contests
excited violent opposition in the House,
leading to long and noisy debate, but
the work was all so well in hand that
this delay was not a serious matter.
The completion of all the bills in ample
time to receive the signature of the Presi-
dent was assured. and the conferees could
breathe easy and tolerate discussion.
The Monetary Conference.
Immediately upon the adoption of the
conference report on tine sundry civil bill
interest centered upon the selection of the
members to represent Congress in the IN
ternational monetary conference. should
one be held as contemplated. The amend
ment providing for these was changed in
conference so as to give the Speaker of
the present House the selection of the three
representatives on the part of the House
from members elected to the Fifty-fourth
Congress. The deepest interest was mani
tested in these appointments, and can
vaSs on the question began. A sentiment
developed among the democrats spontane-
ously that Speaker Crisp should be one Of
the representatives Of the House. The
difficulty in the way of this was that he
had the appointment Of the members of
the conference and would not, Of course,
appoint himself. Mr.. Bailey solved this
problem by Offering resolution naming
Crisp was out of the chair, and the reso-
luton was adopted unanimously. The
Speaker, as is customary in such cases,
left 1t with the minority to decide whom
they wished him to appoint from their
side. There was quite a contest over this
selection, petitions being circulated for Mr.
Hit and MIR. Hepburn. It was Iinally de-
cided in favor of Mr.. Hepburn, who is a
crat to be appointed, and there was con-
siderable rivalry and much discussion Of
silver and anti-silver
The Senate, after agreeing to the confer
ence report on the Sundry civil, had all
the galleries closed, the doors shut and
went into executive session, during which
the question of the selection of the repre-
sentatives of the Senate in the monetary
conference that is to be was taken up
Messrs. Jones of Arkansas, Daniel of
Virginia and Teller of Colorado were Sc
lected. There was considerable of a contest
behind closed doors over the selection.
After the Senate came out of executive
session the conference report on the de-
ficiency was presented. There was con-
siderable grumbling about the Senate be-
ing compelled to yield much, but the re-
port was adopted. While waiting for
action by the House on the Senate amend
ments to the naval bill Mr.. Cockrell tried
to get recess, but there being no quorum
present this could be done only by unani-
nous consent. Consent could not be got
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