Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1898-07-15
THE SESSION ENDS.
The Fifty-Fifth Congress Adjourns
Sine Die-A Resume of the
Work 1t Has Done.

Washington, July o.-Congress adj
iourned sine die yesterday.
In the senate resolutions were
adopted thanking Vice President Ho-
bart and Senator Frye, president pro
tempore, for the able and courteous
manner in which they had presided
over the deliberations of the senate
and then final adjournment was an
nounced With waving flags and sing
ing by members and spectators of pa
triotic songs the house adjourned sine
die after adopting resolution thank
ing Speaker Reed for his services. The
following is 4 resume of the work done
during the session:
Hawaiian annexation, Spain and Cuba.
war appropriat atoms and war revenue legs-
lation. organization of the vast volunteer
army and expansion of the navy, anew
bankruptcy laval these were features
Of the session. Notable speeches and dra-
matte scenes over foreign issues were
comparatively frequent in both legislative
chambers. Urgent deficiency bills, car
rying millions Of dollars, We're rushed
through with far less delay than marked
the course Of an ordinary measure Of little
Importance The total appropriations
footed almost S90O.O0O00O and upwards of
$3.50, 100000 Of this was for purely war pur-
poses. It was the largest aggregate by
any session since t., civil war and the
general deficiency was the largest separate
measure since the $3.50 OO single appro-
pria ton in 1868. The naval appropriate
bill provided for three new battleships
four monitors, 16 torp edo boat destroyers
IL torpedo boats and one gunboat. The
urgent deficiency bills all carried pro-
visions for aggressive work in the prose-
cution Of the war. The general deficiency.
enacted in the last days, carried a pro-
vision for refunding the Indebtedness of
the Central and Western Pacific railroads
to the government.
Cuba and Hawaii were the important
matters Of debate and provoked the most
widespread interest. Hawaiian annexation,
finally passed at the close, was agtated
throughout the session. first in treaty form.
in executive session. last in open session
by resolutions accepting the Hawaiian
governments cession of the islands
The first real war legislation was when
congress placed, without limitations. $780,
600 900 in the presidents hands as an emer-
gency fund for national defense. Party
lines were swept away. and both houses
unanimously voted their confidence in the
administration. Soon afterWard a bill re-
imbursing the survivors of the Maine dis
aster for their losses not to exceed a years
| paw with q similar amount to those who
| perished, became law. On April II the pres
| ident in a message left the Cuban issue in
| the hands of congress. Resolutions were
| soon enacted and became law April 49,
declaring that the people Of Cuba ought to
be and are free and Independent, and
| demanding that Spain relinquiSh its au.
| thority and withdraw its hand and naval
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. and
| directing the use of our land and nava
forces to enforce the resolutions.
The decla ton of war was passed BY
Cx,HH
sequent legislation gave free admission tt
| all military and naval supplies purchased
abroad by this government allowed tenn
porary Notifications to be constructed or
q written consent Of the owners OF land 81
taken and prohibited under executive dis
terial, and three days before the declara
ton Of var President Mckinley had ap
proved the volunteer act. Under it al
the soldiers massed against Spain mus
tered in the entire volunteer army hav'
been raised, embracing 125,0O0 men under
the first and $4,000 under the second call
One feature of the session was the enact
ment of the war revenue law. It's framer
expected it to produce $3.50. OO.000.
| In this connection congress also author
ICED a bond Issue Of $20O.000.0O0. known q!
the war loan.
other important legislation. aside from
war; included:
Prohibiting the killing Of fur seal an
imals in the North Pacific and importation
of seal skins into this country; prohibit
ing foreign vessels from carrying mer
chandise directly or Indirectly between
United States ports; an Alaskan HOMESTEAD
and right Of way act, encouraging railwa!
construction; aprrOpriating $2O0, 600 for tn
relief Of the Yukon miners. suffering from
the fierce winter there: creating a non
partisan Industrial commission to investi
gate immigration. labor. manufacture an
business; appropriating $47s,1S1 to pay tn
Behring sea awards; creating a commits
sion to allot lands on the Uintah Indial
reservation in Utah; adjusting the oil
land dispute between the United States an
the state of Arkansas, the compromis
calling for a payment from the latter o
S160,572; dispensing with proof Of loyalt
during the war as prerequisite In bount
land application where proof otherwis
shows title: abolishing the distinction be
tween offered and unoffered lands; tn
Redistribution of the patent system; ere
ating commission to revise the statute
relating to patents and trade marks; re
: moving the disability imposed by sectio
3 of the Fourteenth amendment to tn
. constitution heretofore incurred.
Late in the session a general bankruptcy
law was enacted providing for voluntar
and Involuntary bankruptcy.
, The Teller resolution declaring for pay
ment Of the national bonds in silver a
we'll as gold was passed by the senate, b
vote OL ~ ~ o., OuI was ueledle0 III Ia
house. Statehood bills for New Mexico
Arizona and Oklahoma were killed in com
mittee An immigration bill requiring abi
ity to read and write on the part of thos
16 years old passed the senate, but did nc
reach a vote in the house. The anti-scalI
, ing bill, prohibiting ticket brokerage, RI
ported in both houses, went over to tn
next session. The free homes amendmen
to the Indian appropriation bill giving owe
2o,O0OOo0 acres of public lands as FIRE
homes for settlers, was finally compre
missed on q two-years' extension of pay