The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-01-30
CAPITAL GLEANINGS.

The House committee on agriculture,
completed the agricultural appropriation
bill for the year ending June 30, 1897.
1t carries appropriations of So, 1853, 3922,
about 1924, 300 below the estimates and
S145. 1858 less than the amount for the cur
rent fiscal year. The bill contains NO
general legislation. The committee in
serted S130, 000 for seeds, the wording of
the clause being similar to that in pre-
sent law, which Secretary Morton deciin-
ed to carry out. An appropriation of
81, 900, 900 for the extension and enlarge
ment of the present department. building
was inserted. This sum is inappropriate
ed from the unxepended balances now in
the treasury to the credit of the depart
ment.
With regard to the so-called concur
rent resolution" as to Armenian affairs
which requests the President to bring
the opinion of Congress to the attention
OF the slgnatory powers to the Berlin
treaty and the Nice constitutional ques-
tion was raised in the House during its
discussion and 1t is again raised in Off
oial circlesaa to whether this Concurrent
resolution" is not in fact "a joint reso-
lution," within the meaning of article l,
section of the Federal constitution. If
this be so it follows that the resolution
falls within the provision of the third
clause OF the section referred to. which
requires that every order, resolution
or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate or House Of Representatives may
be necessary Except on a question of ad-
Journmenu) shall be presented to the
President of the United States and be-
fore the same shall take effect it shall be
approved by him, or being disapproved
by him, shall be re-passed by two-th irds
Of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives, according to rules and limitations
prescribed in the case of the BILL" 1t is
held by parliamentarians that the bill
enacted enters permanently into the
statutes, that joint resolution deals
with matters of temporary existence and
the concurrent resolution relates to
affairs exclusively connected with Con-
gress, as for example the adjournment
OF both houses for a longer period than
three days, or the order for payment Of
small contingent expenses, with no con-
interference. A sharp line is thus drawn
between the fairs relating solely to
legislative matters and those involving
executive action. Under the circum-
stances 1t is vigorously onntended that
the Armenian resolution is really a Joint
resolution and If not signed or vetoed by
the PRESIDENT it will become law by
lIullu1hoAoh "itt VIII go upon Gn6 statutes
at the end of ten days in default of exc
cutive action upon it. This position is
very strongly hold by officials of long
experience. They state that the mere
inscribing Of the resolution upon blank
forms used by Congress for concurrent
action cannot change the nature of the
subject matter and the suggestion is
made that the President may take this
view and call the attention of Congress
to the irregular form in which the mat
ter is presented for his official actions
The same question as TO the propriety of
the form applies to the Cuban resolution
reported today by the Senate committee
on foreign relations.
President Cleveland returned to Wash
ington at 8. 10 this evening from his
Quantico duck hunting expedition.