The Red Cloud chief., 1898-02-25
CONGRESSIONAL CHAT
WEEKS DOINCS OF NATION
AL LAWMAKERS.
1 General Resume OF the Most Import
ant Labor OF the House and Senate
Executive and Departmental Actis,s
Noted Briefly.

representative IilJl Ol ILLINOIS,. mas
introduced II Joint resolution appropri-
ating one million dollars for the rep
rescntation of the United States ut the
Paris exposition i'm 1900.
After Il spirited debate occupying
more than two hours. the senate. by
II vote Of "a to -. agreed to the rcsolu-
ton of Mr.. Turpie declaring the sen
atc's opposition to the confirmation Of
the sale of the Kansas Pacific railroad.
The house put in "a busy day on the
18th. The time was devoted to the
consideration of bills and joint resolu-
tons presented under the call Of com
mittces and sixteen of more or less
public Importance were passed. An
order was also entered by unanimous
consent for consideration of the Loud
bill relating to second class NAL mat
ter on March /. ., and 3, and the order
FOR the consideration of the bankruptcy
bill was modified so that the final vote
shall be taken on Saturday instead of
Monday. as arranged last week.
After -four days of consideration the
house passed The bankruptcy bill re-
ported by the house committee on
judiciary as II substitute for the Nelson
bill passed by the senate mt the extra
session last summer. The bill is
known rs the Henderson bill, and con
tains both voluntary and involuntary
features. II is considered less drastic
than the measure passed by the last
house by a vote of l57 to 81. The in
voluntary feature, however. had but Ii
majority. A motion to strike II the
involuntary feature was defeated by
II majority of nineteen and the bill
was passed by Il majority of twenty
three, the vote standing: Ayes 15S.
nays l25. Eighteen republicans voted
against the bill. twelve democrats for
it. The populists, with one exception,
voted against it.
Referring to General Miles recent
order to General Merritt. commanding
the department of the east. to imme-
diatcly detail men and officers to all
coast defense points where modern
guns are mounted, il was said a. the
war department hat while the order
was issued as reported, il wa nothing
more than following out the plan of
the war department formulated sever
nj years ago, when the present system
Of coast defense was inaugurated. The
order calls for mt least twenty men
and the necessary officers to take
charge of such coast defense implacc-
mcnts as have been completed and
turned owe to the war department. 1t
is said that q detail Of twenty men. so
far from being an effective fighting
force. is barely sufficient to properly
care for the property.
Senator Thurston was heard in de-
bate during the last week upon the
resolution introduced by Senator Tur-
pie declaring it was the sense of the
senate that the Kansas Pacific should
not be sold for IL less sum than the
principal and interest due the govern
ment. Senator Thurston believes that
the government would be we'll paid If
it received the principal due and thinks
that the interest could well be passed
over in view of the great benefit that
the country had received through the
building of the Kansas Pacific road.
This was the view entertained by the
senator regarding the sale of the
Union Pacific, from which the United
States finally received thirteen millions
more than the moun which 1t was as
serted in would be payment
in full of all rightful obligations due
to it from the United States.
Senator Allen has introduced in the
senate n bill for the establishment of
ordinary wagon roads and animal trails
across Indian reservations. The bill
cntrusts the secretary of the interior
with authority to establish wagon
roads or cattle trails across any Indian
reservation under such regulations and
prescriptions as may appear to him
Just and reasonable. The bill provides
that such roads or trails canno be
laid across lands allotted and taken in
severally and actually used for agri-
cultural purposes. The law upon this
subject AS il now stands allows the
Indians to grant trail privileges at a
nominal charge per head, by and with
: the consent of the secretary of the
' interior. Various parties in Nebraska
have recently attempted To obtain the
consent of the Sioux Indians in Ne
> braska and South Dakota for the cstab'
lishment of a cattle trail across the
4 reservation, but the Indians declined
/, to grant the request. Should this bill
pass the consent of the Indians would
not hereafter be necessary
During the discussion of the bank
ruptcy bill in the house, Judge Strod,
. obtained the floor and madea vigorous
speech in favor of the immediate pas
: sage of the bill, which. he said, wa
the most important measure. in his
opinion. that had been up for con-
. sideration during the present session
of congress. Judge Strobe has all
along been working earnestly among
0 the members of the judiciary com
: mittee having the bill in charge and
$ upon the iioor of the house. in favor o
a bankruptcy bill along the lines %
y the Felson bill and containing involun
tary features only in case of fraud
q Judge Strobe, however, has frequently
h stated that while he preferred u bill
having the voluntary clause as it
principal feature, it was his belief ant
. the belief of his constituents who hao
communicated with him on the subject
that any kind of a bill giving relief t.
merchants and business men of tn,
J. west now suffering from the effects o
J. the panic would be acceptable and 70
h this reason spoke in favor Of the pas
IS sage of the pending measure.