Evening star., 1897-03-04
ALL NIGHT SESSION
The House and Senate Were at Work
Till Dawn.
EXCITING AND INTERESTING SCENES
Defines and Ease in the Confer
ence Agreements.
DI ST RIOT LEGISLATION

! committees on the appropriation bills got
| along with such seeming ease as they lid
| last night Congress started out for AN all
| night session. with the expectation that
| there would be repeated reports OF dis
| agreements and a hard fight between the
| conferees of the two houses. But. on the
| contrary. the conferees agreed speedily on
| all but the deficiency. A very large crowd
| was assembled in the galleries and in the
| corridors composed largely of ladies. quite
| a nun. of and women i'm evening
| dress occupied seats in the galleries. In
| the diplomatic gallery of the Senate a
| group in evening dress remained until
| about midnight Most of the visitors gal
leries We're well filled until after 1 o'clock.
| and late as . O'Clock most OF the seats
in the mems galleries were occupied. The
scenes the floor of the Senate We're for
| the most part free from excitement or
| great interest A great deal of talking was
| done between times. but all the conference
| reports that came in early We're ACTED on
promptly, without debate.
| BY half-past 3 o'clock several senators
Were asleep i'm their chairs.
| The Senate struck a snag almost al the
| outset of the session last night. Good prog
ress had been made with the work during
the long day session. and the prospect
| seemed that there might be very little de-
| lay in clearing up everything. The post
office and fortification bills had been cleared
| out of the way, and the conference COM
|
| clan and District of Columbia appropria-
ton bills. The sundry civil and deficiency
| were stiil in conference.
| The Senate. after two hours recess, net
| at o'clock and had to wait some time tor
| a quorum. Meanwhile matters on the noor
| were quiet and uninteresting.
| At ten minutes of IL the clerk OF the
| House reported to the Senate the agree
nient of the House TO the conference re-
| ports on the Indian and District of Column
hia appropriation bills. Mr.. Hin then GOV
/
on the bill providing that In any case here
| tofore final in the Court of Appeals in the
| District of Columbia may be required by
the Supreme Court to be certified up TO that
| court. This agreed to.
| The conference report on the Indian bin
| was then laid before the Senate. Mr.. quay
| demanded a quorum, and this required
roll call. quorum was present. and 'he
conference report was agreed to without a
division.
The conference report on the District ap-
| propriation bill was then adopted without a
| division. Meanwhile other conference re-
| ports not being ready. sthe Senate continued
| the consideration of the labor or inGus-
trial commission bill, which had been in
| terrupted Considerable time was consum-
| ed in the discussion of this measure
The House Iankcd Him.
While Mr.. Quay was lying in wal; for the
naval appropriation bill to come back to
| the Senate, where he could get a whack at
it, the fact developed that the House, in
stead of adopting the conference report.
had simply receded from its position and
accepted all the Senate amendments. This
| action disposed of the bill, 50 that II
would not have to go back to the senate.
= The bill had the blockade Mr.. Quay
had put up against il before he had got
his guns trained. Thus, at 11:a0 O'Clock,
the sundry civil and the deficiency bills
were the only measures standing in the
way Of an adjournment, and on them tie
conference committees were working ear
| nestly.
/ 1aha ind al I'm on
| the labor commission bill, much of which
was rambling, and several impassioned
| speeches were made on the subject of the
people and labor. Shortly after the bin
| was passed.
Senator Cannon of Utah moved 10 go into
executive session. his object being to Sc
| cure the confirmation of James Hughes.
| postmaster at Mercur. Utah Senator
Brown of Utah opposed an executive ses-
sion, and demanded the yeas ana nays. No
| quorum was developed on the roll call, ana
| the Senate was thus tied uD. cail after
| call of the Senate followed, quorum pres
ent, but not a voting quorum developing.
The Armor Contracts.
The conference report on the sundry civil
| came over from the House about 3 O'clock.
After the reading of the report, Mr. Alli-
son explained the terms of the agreement.
I Mr. Quay then took the floor and stated that
he had intended to read certain documents
and records concerning the armor plate
, contracts. He designated what they were
and asked consent to print them IN the
| Record since nothing could be gained a t
this time by reading them in the Senate.
r Mr.. Chandler objected
Then" said Mr. Quay, Il shall proceed
t to read them," and he gathered up two or
three volumes. This excited symptoms of
l | collapse in the Senate, and finally mo-
| ton to permit Mr.. Quay to print them was
[ put and carried while Mr. Squire pro-
tested
Mr. Mantle them took the floor and ex-
planned to the Senate that it was with
| great reluctance that he had decided not 10
q oppose the report by every parliamentary
means in his power, on account Of the
r modification of the forestry amendment,
and that he had so decided only bee ause of
\ | assurance from high authority that the evil
complained of would be corrected Mr..
| Clark spoke on this amendment, and in the
| course of his remarks took occasion to cf'iti-
else Mr. Cleveland for catering to every
i thing that was foreign and rejecting all
that was American.
G secret Legislative Session.
+ The conference report was adopted anS
then a secret legislative session en-
: tered upon the galleries being cleared and
. | the doors closed. At the time of going into
secret session Senator Squire. who had fig
e ured rather conspicuousy during the whole
, | nights session, insisting being
II heard, and was protesting against motions
: being voted on by the Senate without his
having a chance to declare whether or moi
q | he approved of the proposition. After The
doors were closed and the public excluded
L he was permltteu 10 nave MS say out lnt
Senate constructively remained in session
| until 6 O'Clock, taking a recess from that
hour until 8, without opening the doors.
Scenes in the House.
e In the presence of a delighted and ap-
/, plauding audience in the galleries, two
score or more members of the House turned
= the House into a temporary concert hall
last night and furnished break in the mo-
notony of the proceedings.
l. 1t was during a half-hour recess. await
N ing the arrival of a conference report. The
galleries were crowded and had a gala ap.
pearance from the presence of many hand.
somely-gowned ladies and OF gentlemen In
evening dress In the reserved galleries snd
on the diplomatic benches.
e While the business Of the House was al !
standsiili there suddenly filed in from In.
lonbv forty or fffy repraseuf n ffves fncltt.