Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-06-12

washington, June 7--Ifs as it now
seems probable, the first session of the
lfty fourth congress auJourns this week
ii VIII be the shortest so-called long
session" since that of the Thrty-fifth
congress, and one OF the shortest in the
history OF the goyernment This recofd
"a probably due 10 political differences be-
tween the senate, house and the presi-
dent which have forestalled agreements
on lines OF i6gislation, and partly due to
the determination which the republican
leaders intthe house have carried into eff
feet Speaker Reeds caucus prediction
that the Congress would be a do-nothing
assemblage.
legislation means appropriations, as
theahouse leaders have said, and as their
cpiplon was that the treasury's condition
rss6ffanted no appropriations except the
1aast imperatively necessary, they have
h4lA the doors tightly shut against
"a shezkof bills which usually receive
{3l8 an5f{Dgs. Foremost among the inev-
ftAbfeN6nd regular acts of congress are
the annual appropriation bills for the
support of the government Their prep
aration has constituted large part of
the work of the session, and five of them
! y
senate with some of their details unset
tied, and for this reason 1t is impossible
Ito give the exact totals of the bill on the
grand total of appropriations made by
this congress, which aggregate about half
a billion dollars; but the disbursements
authorized during the session will be dis
cussed hereafter by Chairman Cannon of
the appropriations committee and ex-
hot Go ha fntc Of
of their respective parties
Tariff or financial legislation of any
general character was abandoned for all
practical purposes when the disagree
ments between the house and senate were
demonstrated by the fate of the two bills
prepared by the house ways and means
committee. Other lines of business were
also tabooed by the house because of the
alleged lack of revenue, notably the pub
lie buildings, public and provincial claims
and all sorts of private bills; bills entail
ing expenditures except pension bills. to
which last the usual amount of time has
been given. One of the most bitterly con
tested fights which has occurred has
crept out from the provisions of the In
dian and District of Columbia bills for
government aid to church schools, feat
ference. The Indian bill contains pro-
visions giving the homestead settlers on
all ceded Indian reservations an extern
sion of one year in which to make pay
ments, and for the completion of the sur
veys of the land in Indian territory
Incidental to the legislative, executive
and judicial bill was an entire revision
of the salaries of attorneys, marshals and
mi eli hnt
the term of office of commissioners ex-
pire on June 80, 1897. The agricultural bill
conferred upon the president authority
to suspend the prohibition against i'm
portations of meat cattle, domestic ami
mails and hides on the certihcation of the
secretary of agriculture that countries or
parts of countries are free from con-
tagious or infectious diseases of animals;
authorized the president to take steps to
secure the abrogation of the regulations
by Great Britain prohibiting the impor-
tation of cattle from the United States
into that country alive.
In the sundry civil bin the most i'm
portant legislation is to make effective
the Carey arid land act, which ceded arid
land to the public-land states for recla-
nation, by authorizing the states to give
reclamation. The most noteworthy legis-
lation pertaining to the navy is contained
in the appropriation bill. The house pro-
vided for Is new torpedo boats and four
battleships, but the senate reduced the
number of battleships to two, and a con-
ference Is pending over that difference
The bill made provision for the enlist
ment of 1000 additional seamen. 1t also
xUfn
or marine officers on the active or re-
tired list by parties furnishing supplies
or materials of war to the government.
A special report authorized the accent
ance by the government of the ram
katahdin, which failed to make the speed
required by the contracts, but which sat
ished the department, being largely an
experimental craft. The naval reserve
system was strengthened by a plan de-
signed to draft vessels engaged m the
coastwise trade into the service IN time
OF war. An act was passed to establish
naval training station on Yerba Buena,
or Goat Island, San Francisco harbor
The secretary was empowered to accept
certified checks in lieu of bonds from
contractors for naval uspphes. No special
legislation was contained in the army
appropriation bill. Special bills were
passed, however, creating the positions
of chaplain, who will also be professor
OF history, geography and ethics. and an
assistant professor of the same branches
at West Point academy, making the ma
tonal military park fields for maneuyers
by the national guards or militia, and a
resolution appointing General Franklin Of
Connecticut, General Thomas Henderson
OF Illinois, Representative Steele of In
diana and George l.. Beale of Maine
members of the board of managers FOR
the national soldiers home
The senate resolution to prohibit the
issue of bonds without the authority of
congress, one of the last important acts
OF the senate, was reported adversely by
the house ways and means committee.
The only one of the many proposed
changes in the tariff laws which became
an actually was the repeal of the clause
OF the Wilson bill giving free alcohol in
the arts and manufactures, this being
done on the Recommendation of Secretary
Carlisle and Commissioner of Internal