The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-06

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.-Ihe regular,
or long session of congress, as it is call
ed because there is no constitutional
limitation upon the period of its dura-
ton, opens at noon tomorrow. The
leaders and a large majority of the
members of both houses are here to
participate in the opening ceremonies,
and President Mckinley has made the
journey to Washington from the bed
side of his dying mother that his alb
sence might not delay the national leg
isIature at it's assembling. The extra
sessions robs the opening of the reg
ular session of the excitement and In
terest which usually attach to it. On
the eve of a regular session ordinarily
Washington thrills with excitement.
The hotel lobbies surge with place
hunters in the wake of the various
candidates for speaker, clerk, door
keeper etc.; the members are strug-
Cling for committee assignments, and
the air is full of rumors of plots and
counterplots. But, as the house was
completely organized at the extra seS-
sion, and all the committee assign
ments were made then, beyond the
natural stimulus produced by the re-
turning statesmen, the regular hang
ers-on of legislation and the outlining
of schemes by members of the third
house" or lobby, Washington tonight
is tranquil. The programme in the
house tomorrow is very simple, and be-
yond the spectacular show which it Of
fers to the curious has, in itself, little
attraction The house will be called to
order by the speaker, who, after the
chaplain's invocation, will direct the
clerk to call the roll This having been
accomplished and the presence of a
quorum demonstrated the clerk will be
directed to notify the senate that the
house is ready for business, and COM
mittee will be appointed to wait on the
president. After that there will be a
recess to await the arrival of the presi-
dents annual message, which will be
read upon its reception and be followed
by an adjournment until Tuesday. This
is the regular routine, and unless some
thing unforeseen occurs will not be de-
parted from.
It is the intention of the house lead
ers to proceed with the business of the
session as rapidly as possible. The
committees will all begin their labors
this week, and, as all of them have
more or less bills on hand which were
introduced at the extra session, there
will be 70 lack of material for the
house to work on after the committees
have begun to grind. The appropria-
tions committee has been at work for
ten days, and Chairman Cannon eX-
poets to pass at least two of the reg
ular budgets before the holidays-the
legislative, executive and judicial and
the pensions appropriation bills. One
or the other of these bills, it is eX-
pected, will be reported by Wednesday,
and the end of the week promises to
see the house down to business. Among
the early general measures to receive
consideration will be the
BANKRUPTCY BILL.
Whether it will be the Nelson bill
which passed the senate at the last
session or a modification of the Torrey
bill depends on the temper of the iu
dietary committee, which will submit
the measure to the house. Beyond
doubt there VIII be several resolutions
of inquiry during the first week which
may be more or less sensational, and
some of the radical pro-Cuba members
will attempt to get consideration for
a Cuban resolution before the foreign
affairs committee can act. Congress-
man Livingston, of Georgia, is one of
these. But, owing to the nature of the
house rules ali these hasty efforts will
prove abortive, and they probably will
take their regular course.
There will be nothing except indis-
position on the part of members to
c
work upon conVening tomorrow, as
there is q calendar already made for it
with about 800 bills reported from COM
mittees during the special session. If
any circumstances should prevent the
receipt of the presidents message on
Monday, the probabilities are that the
senate would adjourn over without
taking up any other business until the
message could be received.
With the message read, it will remain
for the senate to decide whether it
shall enter seriously upon the work
of the session after Monday or begin
a system of delay intended to throw
all important questions over beyond
the Christmas holidays. The indica-
tions are now for a little more activity
than usual during the pre- holiday ses-
sion. This is largely due to the fact
that the supporters of the adminiStra-
tion and advocates of annexation are
very anxious to secure the earliest pos
sible consideration of the treaty with
Hawaii Senator Davis, chairman of
the committee on foreign relations, an
nounced his purpose of pressing an
neXation at the earliest possible mo-
ment, but it is probable that the mat
ter will not be taken up seriously until
the committee can have a meeting and
decide upon details of procedure. The
committee will be called together on
Wednesday for hits purpose One point
which the committee will be called
upon to decide is whether to proceed
to ratify the treaty of annexation or
to annex the islands by resolution. The
anneXationists have lost some votes
during the vacation, and there is now
apprehension that the two-thirds vote
necessary to secure the ratification
cannot be secured. No satisfactory
canvass is possible until all the sena-
tors arrive, and, if it is then made
manifest that the necessary two thirdS