Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-05-05
THE FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS-.
(First Regular Session.)

WASHINGTON, April so-At yester-
days session of the senate the report
| Of the conferees on the naval appro-
priation bill was presented and agreed
to. The measure, as perfected, carries
a little more than $57, 000, 900.
No other business Of general impor-
lance was transacted.
A bill granting permission to the
Chattanooga Rapid Transit Co. to cross
the Dry Valley road and extend Its
lines to Chickamagua National park
was passed.
Mr.. Pettigrew Is. d., called up Q
bill for the restoration Of annuities to
the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of
Dakota or Sioux Indians.
Mr.. Allison Ga was opposed to TIE
measure and said he vas not prepared
to have q bill considered involving
several millions of dollars on short
notice.
Mr.. Pettigrew explained that the
| government had paid the Indians be-
tween $500, 900 and $500, 900, and that
| the amount involved in the bill vas
less than So, 000, 900.
On objection the bill went over.
On motion of Mr.. Aldrich r. L. 1t
was decided that when the senate adj
1ourn it be to meet on Monday next.
The following bills were passed:
To authorize the Shreveport Bridge
and Terminal Co. to construct and
maintain a bridge across the Red river
at Shreveport, La.
To promote the efficiency of the eve
nue. cutter service.
1 A. Tax IN ON motion Of Mr. A1t.
son, the senate went into executive
session, and at las p. m. adjourned
until Monday.
HOUSE.
The house passed the war revenue bill
with only the amendments agreed Upon
by the republican members of the ways
; and mean committee added. In order
to accomplish this o parliamentary
maneuver was necessary, as the whole
time for amendments was exhausted
by the minority In trying to amend
the bond feature of the bill.
Mr.. Dingley offered as a substitute
an entirely new bill containing these
| amendments after the bill had been
| ported to the house. This was an old
| parliamentary trick frequently re-
| sorted to years ago. The Morrill, tariff
law vas passed in this way in its orig
inal form after it had been loaded
| down with amendments in co mmittee
| of the whole.
Many amendments were offered to
| the bond feature Of the bill, ranging
from a proposition for the substitution
of an income tax provision to an au-
| thorization for the issue Of $3.50, 000, 900
greenbacks. But all were voted down.
At the last minute the democrats de-
/ cided to offer the motion to recommit,
| with instructions to report back the
income tax proposition as IN amend
| ment to the bill, instead of as a substi
tute for the bond provision. This was
due to the fact that a number of demo-
Gratis had declined to vote to strike out
the bond provision. The motion was
defeated-134 to 173.
Four republicans voted with the dem
ocrats and populists on this vote. But IN
the final passage of the bill (which was
carried, 161 to 1871 the democrats and
populists. with six exceptions, voted
solidly against the bill. The demo-
Gratis who vsted for the bill were
| Messrs. Cummings, Mcclellan and
Griggs, of New York; Fitzgerald, of
Massachusetts,; McAleer, of Pennsyl-
| vania, and Wheeler, of Alabama. Two
republicans, Messrs. Linney, of
North Carolina and Thorp, of Virginia,
voted with the opposition. Quite a
number of democrats declined to vote.