Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-07-29

line CcH0te ny NVtc VI ~
TO 30, accepted the conference report on
the tariff bill. Within an hour President
Mckinley had signed 1t, and the measure
was law. The President sent message
to the House recommending currency
commission, but no action was taken. At
8 o'clock Saturday night, the extra SEES
sion took final adjournment.
The extraordinary session Of Congress
which has just closed was called by Pres
ident Mckinley two days after he took
the oath Of Office.
1t met at noon March Is. The special
message transmitted by him on the open
ing day explained the deficiencies in the
revenues, reviewed the bond issues of the
last administration, and urged Congress
promptly to correct the then existing con-
dition by passing a tariff bill that would
supply ample revenues for the support of
the Government and the liquidation of the
public debt.
No other subject of legislation was men
toned in the message, and the tariff bill
has been the all-absorbing feature of the
session. Three days after the session
opened the tariff bill was reported to the
House by the Ways and Means Commit
tee, and thirteen days later, March 81, it
passed the House.
1t went to the Senate and was referred
to the Committee on Finance. The Re
publican members spent month ana
three days in preparing amendments sub
mitted to the Senate May Z, and exactly
two months later, July Z, it passed the
Senate with S72 amendments.
The bill then went to conference,
where, after ten days struggle, on July
IL, a complete agreement was reached by
which the Senate receded from 11S
amendments and the House from OIL.
The others, 243 in number, were COM
promised. The conference report was
adopted by the House July 10 at the con-
clusion Of twelve hours continuous de-
bate. The report was taken up in the
Senate July 20 and adopted July "a. The
tariff bill was signed by the President the
same day.
Congress did not devote its attention en-
tirely TO the tariff. though it did subordi-
nate everything else to this one measure.
The four appropriation bills which failed
on March last in themselves would have
compelled President Mckinley to call
Congress in extra session even if the
necessity for revision of the tariff had
not existed. Those appropriation bills
were the sundry civil, the agricultural,
the Indian, and the general deficiency.
These bills were introduced and passed by
the House in the identical form in which
they existed Mt the time of their failure
of enactment into law at the preceding
Congress, but they were amended in some
important particulars by the Senate, and
when they finally became laws contained
more or less new legislation of interest
and Importance.
Some New Appropriations.
The general deficiency carried pro-
vision accepting the invitation to take
part in tho Paris exposition in 1900, and
appropriated $4,000 to defray prelimin-
airy expenses and appropriated $1500OO
for new immigrant station at New York
to replace the one destroyed by fire.
BY far the most important piece of new
legislation in the bill, however, was that
limiting the cost of armor plate for the
three new battleships to $500 per ton. In
case the Secretary of the Navy should
find 1t impossible to make contracts for
armor within the price fixed, he was au-
thorized by this provision to take steps to
establish Government armor plate fac
tory Of sufficient capacity to make the
armor.
In the Indian bill, after severe strug-
gle in both Houses, the question OF Sec
tartan schools was settled by the fol-
lowing declaration Of the policy of the
Government:
THAT the Secretary Of the Interior may
make contracts with contract schools ap-
p0rtioning as near as may be the amount
so contracted for among schools of va
rious denominations for the education of
Indian pupils during the fiscal year 1893,
htrf hp mi 10 a.x. -
places where non-sectarian schools cannot
be provided for such Indian children, and
to an amount not exceeding 40 per cent.
of the amount so used for the fiscal year
1885,"
The question of opening to entry the
rich gilsonite deposits in the Uncompahgre
reservation in Utah was also compro-
missed by opening such agricultural lands
as have not been allotted to the Uncom-
pahgre Indians on April 1, 1898, to entry,
but reserving to the United States title.
in all lands containing gilsonite, asphalt,
or other like substances.
In the sundry civil bill the most import
ant new provision was that suspending.
the order of President Cleveland setting
aside about 81 5000 acres as forest res
ervations. The law also includes n GEN
eral scheme Of legislation for the Govern
ment and protection of the forest reser-
vations Of the country.
The Republican leaders of the House
decided AZ the opening Of the session to
pursue policy of inaction in order to
throw the responsibility for delaying the.
tariff pill upon the Senate, and therefore
the committees were not announced nm
til the close of the session, and only urg-
ent matters were considered.
Fifty thousand dollars was appropria-
ted for the relief of American citizens in
Cuba at the solicitation of the President:
100000 was appropriated for the Keller
of the Mississippi food sufferers; n reso-
luton was passed authorizing the Secre-
tary of the Navy to transport supplies
contributed for the relief Of the poor and
famished In India: and $4,000 was an
propriated for the entertainment and ex-
penses Of the delegates to the universal
postal convention, which met in Wash
ington.
The only extensive pieces OF general
legislation enacted by this Congress. OK
cept the tariff bill. were the laws to nre-
vent collisions at sea and to place in force
regulations to prevent collisions upon GER
tain harbors, rivers and inland waters of
the United States, and the bill autboriz-
ing the President to suspend discrimino-
i'm A,tfs