The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-08
COMING CLOSE OE oONGREss
4 Review of the Work During the
shortest Long Session in 80 Years.

4 Review of the Work During the
shortest Long Session in 80 Years.
Washington, June 1.-THE first session
Of the Fifty-fourth congress. now In ita
closing hours enjoys the distinction OF
being the shortest long session" for
period Of thirty years.
A Senate passvely Indifferent in some
Instances, and in others actively hostile,
and an executive not IN sympathy vita
the republican party policies are the rea-
sons assigned by the House leaders for
the paucity of national legislation.
of the measures which have become
laws the most important from an interna~
tonal standpoint was the bill creating the
commission Ito determine the true dlvis-
lopal line between Venezuela and British
Guiana"
or scarcely less general interest were
the bills prohibiting prize fighting In the
territories; permitting appointments in the
army and navy of former United States
officers who served IN the southern army
and making one years residence IN a ter
rltOry a prerequisite to obtaining "A di-
Yorce there. Excepting these, however
the remainder Of the 22j bills and resolu-
tions which received the Presidents ap-
prOVal were not OF a character to deserve
extended mention The more important
were the bills Incorporating the Nationai
Society of the Daughters OF the Revolu-
tlon, opening the forest reservations In
Colorado for the location of mining
claims; regulating proof of death In PEN
sion cases; providing for a naval train
ing station In San Francisco harbor; maxi
Ing Il unlawful to shoot at any railway
train or any person thereon, or TO throw
missiles into such train, and repeating
clause slxty-one Of the tariff laws, pro-
viding for rebate on alcohol used In
the arts.
II the session, however. be conspicuous
by reason Of its brevlty and the limited
number of important laws enacted II re-
suited In the introduction of larger
number Of bills in the House than during
any similar period for a quarter of a
century. The total number Of bills intro
duced during the entire last congress was
8.9S7, Of which 4,4O0 were introduced dur
ing the first session, which corresponds to
the session now drawing to a close while
in the latter the aggregate Is swollen to
$500. or these, 300 were faVorably re-
ported by the committee TO whom they
were referred and placed on the calendar.
Notwithstanding that the session Of next
winter is limited to three months, scores
Of these bills are likely to be brought to
the attention of the House. Many MEM
bers Will enjoy degree Of independence
after the autumn elections, which they
have been denied during the present year,
and their influence will be exerted to call
up and pass measures that are now re-
garded as personally and politically "un-
safe"
The Nicaragua canal bill is one Of these
measures. After many months of con-
sideration In the committee II received a
favorable report in the face of an absolute
certainty that it would not be taken up
during the present session.
The bill to liqudate the Indebtedness Of
the Pacific railroads to the government
Is another measure Of far-reaching i'm
portance which Is also upon the calendar
with a favorable report, but which for
prudential reasons Will continue to slum-
ber there.
Others are the service pension bin re-
ported by the invalid pensions commit
mittee; the Arizona New Mexico and
Oklahoma statehood bills the Pacific ca
bic bill and the joint resolution conferring
the rank of lieutenant general upon Maj
Gen. Miles.
The popular interest in the Cuban rev
of resolutions, more than fifty In all
that were introduced and referred to the
committee on foreign affairs. After care
ful consideration a concurrent resolution
was reported for which was subsequently,
substituted in conference the Senate res
oution expressing the sympathy Of the
United States with the insurgents, recog-
nizing their belligerency and calling upon
the President to use his good offices to
secure the independence Of the island
Being a concurrent and not joint reso-
signature and its only effect was to ex-
press the sentiment Of the American peo-
pie as reflected in the two houses Of con-
gress.
Measures for which there has been a
widespread demand that have passed the
House, and viii probably receive cOnsid-
Grafton from the Senate next session, in
clude the bankruptcy bill, the Mccall bill
providing for an educational test for i'm
migrants; the labor commission and labor
arbitration bills, and the bill simplifying
the rules of the pension office so as 10
facilitate the adjustment of private pen
sIOug cases.