The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-06
CALENDAR BEFORE CONGRESS.
HAWAIIAN ANNEXATION TO BE PUT
TO THE FRONT.

Bill One of the General Measures
i'm Line For Early Attention In the
HOuse-ImmigratiOn Bill Prncti-
. caIIy at the Head of the senate
Bills.
Washington, Dec. 5.-The regular, or
long session of congress, as it is called
because there are no constitutional limi-
tations upon the period of its Duration
opens at noon tomorrow.
The leaders and a large majority of the
members of both houses are here to par.
ticipate in the opening ceremonies, and
President Mckinley has made the journey
to Washington from the bedside of his dy>
ing mother, that his absence might not
delay the national legislature at its as
sembling.
The extra session robs the opening OF
the regular session of the excitement and
interest which usually attaches to it. On
the evening of a regular session. ordinar,
lily, Washington thrills with excitement
The hotel lobbies surge with place-hunt-
ers in the wake of the various candidates
for speaker, clerk, doorkeeper ETC., the
members are struggling for committee as
signments and the air is full OF rumors
and plots and counterplots. But as the
House was completely organized at the
extra session and all the committee as
signments were made then, beyond the
natural stimulus produced by the return.
ing statesmen, the regular hangers-on of
legislation, and the outlining of schemes
by members of the third house" or lob
by, Washington tonight is tranquil
The programme of the House tomorrow
is very simple and beyond the spectacu-
lar show which it offers in itself, there's
little attraction. The House will be call
ed to order by the speaker, who, after the
chaplains invocation, will direct the clerk
to call the roll. This having been accom-
plshed and the presence of a quorum
demonstrated, the clerk will be directed to
notify the Senate that the House is ready
for business, and a committee will be ap-
pointed to wait upon the President After
that there will be a recess to await the
arrival of the Presidents annual message,
which will be read upon it's reception, and
be followed by an adjournment until Tues
day. This is the regular routine, and, un-
less something unforeseen occurs, will. not
be departed from.
1t is the intention of the House leaders
to proceed with the business of the session
as rapidly as possible. The committees
VIII 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 no lack of material
for the House to work on after the COM
mittees have begun work. The appropria-
tions committee have been at work for
ten days, and Chairman Cannon expects
10 ut fXur n th.a 1Ia~ lrraf
before the holidays-the legislative, execu-
tive and judicial, and the pensions appro-
priationS bills. One or the other of these
bills, 1t is expected, will be reported by
Wednesday, and the end of the week
promises to see the House down to bus-
ness.
Among the early general measures to
receive consideration will be the bank
ruptcy bill Whether it will be the Mel
son bill, which passed the Senate at the
last session, or a modification of the Tor
rey bill, depends upon the temper of the
judiciary committee, which will submit
the measure to the House. Beyond doubt
there will 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 con-
sideration for a Cuban resolution before
the foreign affairs committee can act
Congressman Livingston of Georgia is one
of these. Owing to the nature of the
House rules all these hasty efforts will
prove abortive and they probably will take
their regular course
There will be nothing except indisposi-
tion upon the part of members to prevent
the Senate's entering promptly upon it's
work upon convening tomorrow, as there
is a calendar ready for it containing about
500 bills reported from committees during
the special session. If any circumstances
should prevent the receipt of the Presi-
dents message on Monday the probable
titles 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 ses>
sion after Monday, or begin a system Of
delay intended to throw all important
questions over beyond the Christmas holi-
days. The indications are now for lr,
tie more activity than usual during the
pre-holday session. This is largely due to
the fact that the supporters of the admin
istration ana the advocates of anneXa>
tion are very anxious to secure the earll-
est possible consideration of the treaty
with Hawaii. Senator Davis, chairman
of the committee on foreign relations. an
nounces his purpose Of pressing annexa>
tion at the earliest possible moment but
IL is proDdDle the matter VIII not be taken
up seriously until the committee can have
a meeting and decide upon details of pro-
cedure. The committee will be called to-
gether on Wednesday for this 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 bv
resolution. Annexati tionists have lost some
votes during the vacation, and there is
now apprehension that the two-thirds
vote necessary to assure the ratification
cannot be secured. No satisfactory can
vass Is possible until all the senator's ar
rive, and If it is then made manifest that
the necessary two-thrds vote cannot be
secured, it is likely that proceedings. by
means of resolution, which would re-
qufre only a majority vote, would be in
augurated. Some members of the foreign
relations committee who favor annexation
advocate this course, because they say they
see no reason for traversing the same
ground twice, as they would be compelled
to do in case the matter should be first
considered in executive session, fail there
and then be taken up in the form Of a
resolution in the open Senate and House.
The immigration bill for which Senator
I .odge stands sponsor, is practically al the
head of the Senate legislative calendar.
and will be considered early in the session.
Senator Lodge to-day repeated his inten-