Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-20
GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS
House Makes Good RsoOrd by Going to
Work at.0nce,
PASSES TWO APPROPRIATION BILLS
Sundry Civil and General Deficiency
Measures GO Though without
Amendmentr-LiveI De-
bnte over New Rules.

WASHINGTON, March 1s.- The house
today passed the sundry civil and the general
deficiency bills. The former carries $5S, ,147. SO
and the latter $S166,214. These measures
went through just as they were left by the
last congress.
When the house assembled today the desks
were piled high with the appropriation bills
which failed last session. Immediately after
ths reading OF the journal, Mr. Dingley,
amid applause, reported the tariff bill. Mr..
Bailey Of Texas, on behalf of the minority,
secured unanimous consent to extend until
Monday the time in which the minority re-
port may be filed. After a good deal OF
sharp crossfiring between Mr.. McMillin and
Mr.. Dingey 1t was finally arranged that
5000 extra copies OF the minority aud ma
jority reports and also 5000 extra copies of
comparative statement of tariff changes
should be printed.
Mr.. Dalzell, republican of Pennsylvania,
from the committee on rules, then presented
the special rules, under which the house
was to operate during the tariff debate. The
house provided that general debate should
begin on Monday at 10 o'clock and continue
to and including Thursday, March %, with
night sessions, after which the bill should
be open to amendment under the five minute
rule, committee amendments to have prece-
dence) until O'Clock on Wednesday, March
81, when the bill with the pending amend
ments should be reported from the commit
tee OF the whole and the previous question
should be considered as ordered on the third
reading and final pessage of the bill. The
rule also gave leave to print for twenty
days. Mr.. Dalzell demanded the previous
question, which was ordered by strict
n I'M
with the democrats. In Difference to the
request Of the minority, Mr. Dalzell agreed
to an extension of the debate on a special
order to be thirty minutes a side.
Mr.. Dalzell gave it as his judgment that
IL the minority refrained from Offering any
but amendments on which they really de-
sired to test the sense of the house, every
paragraph of the bill would be read and op-
portuntty given to amend. 'The country
does not want defamation" he concluded,
amid republican applause; sit wants action.
Words are poor substitutes for men who
want work. Oratory will not open a single
mill. The press and the public all join in
the demand for instant, immediate and eff
cient action"
Mr.. McMillln, to whom Mr. Bailey yielded
| followed Mr.. Dalzell with sharp criticism
of the Pennsylvania members lack of candor
He detailed the circumstances under which
| the Wilson bill was passed, putting the case
in different light) He pointed out the al
legged shortcomings of the rule, showing that
the ways and means, committee could at any
time supersede the amendment of an indi-
vidual. He aroused the minority to applause
when he referred to the bill as "hot bed
for trusts"
"Are not the revenues of the government
increasing" asked Mr.. Smith, republican
of Michigan, because of the flood of i'm
portations in anticipation of the enactment
Of this republican legislation?"
considering the fact that the neoDIa o1
ready have notice that you intend to rob
them, 1t is not unnatural" replied Mr. Nc
Millin, "tbat they Should to try to get in
all they can before the holdup begins"
democratic applause) 6
-..-r CHEERS FOR, BLAND.
Mr.. Bland of Missouri arose for the first
time this session and his democratic col
leagues cheered Justify. He insisted that the
house might as well swallow the bill as it
was preserted, because in this shape it
would be forced through When he recalled
the methods of the extra session. "called to
curtail the circulating medium $50 900 900 a
year" the republicans greeted this first ref
erence to the silver question with jeers and
groans, but Mr. Bland did not seem per-
turbed. "In the last campaign" he sad
''you contracted debts with trusts and mo-
nopolies; labor was outraged and intimi-
dated as it never was before in history
and you are here today. eager to discharge
these debts. democratic applause.) Do your
best; we know it means the worst
Mr.. Wheeler, democrat of Alabama, got
three minutes, which he used to ask for
six lines of new legislation, that would bring
relief to the people.
81 hope you will not fail to tell us what
those six lines are" interposed w. A.
Stone, republican of Pennsylvania.
Reduce the tax on whisky to a revenue
basis" shouted Mr.. Wheeler with great
energy.
The house laughed so long and heartily
that Mr.. Wheelers time expired before he
could give the other FIVE lines in his pros
perity program.
Mr. Bailey closed the debate for his side.
1t was worthy of remark, he said at the
outset, that the campaign of four years ago
turned entirely on the tariff, yet the pres
ident called an extra session to deal with
the financial question and that the last cam
pagn turned on the financial question, yet
congress was called in extra session to deal
with the tariff. He declared that there was
no disposition on the democratic side un-
duly to protract the debate on the tariff
bill. If it could produce good results, as