The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-12
CONGRESS RE-OPENS TO-DAY
THE NICARAGUA CANAL BILL IN
 THE SENATE.
1t is MT. Morgan's Intention to Call Up Measure Immediately--Hopest to Secure Action at To-day's Session-Army Re- organization Bill May be Brought Up in Houso-An Interesting Debate Looked For.

Washington, Dec. 1.-The course of proceedings in the senate will depend upon the disposition that is made of the Nicaragua canal bill It is Senator Morgan's intention to cell up this meas- ure Monday and he has expressed the hope that he will secure action at Mon- days session. The indications are that unless an agreement can be reached then few days will be consumed in it's discussion. Its opponents wish to de- fer discussion until after the Christmas holidays If the bill is taken up in earnest it will consume the greater por- tion of the senate's time until finally disposed of.
 Another subject on the calendar is the anti-ticket scalping bill which Sem ator Cullum will seek to get up at an early day, but will meet with the op- position if he makes the effort and is not likely to succeed thus early in the session. The special order for Monday is the bill providing for the registry of foreign built ships but if the Nicaragua bill should be taken up the registry bill would not be allowed to consume much time Senator Merrill has given notice of motion Tuesday to consider the bill providing for the purchase of site for the supreme court, but the proceedings ! with reference to this measure will be confined to speech by the Vermont senator. The urgent deficiency bill will receive attention early in the week. The committee on appropriations will meet Monday and it is not believed that more than one meeting on the bill will be necessary Senator Allison hopes, therefore, to get the bill before the sen- ate Tuesday. It has been prophecied that the army bill would be used for pretext for discussion of the Spanish war.
 Beyond the first three days there is no program mapepd out for the house i this week. The appropriations sub-com- mittee on pensions will commence work on the pension bill tomorrow but it can hardly be ready before next week. It is confidently expected that 1t will be passed before the holidays. It is possi-, ble that Chairman Hull of the military appropriations committee will be abe. to bring in the army reorganization bill as soon as the district appropriations bill is out of the way. He is exceedingly anxious to get back into the house at 1 the earliest possible moment. If it should follow the district bill very in- 1 teresting debate would be precipitated The future policy of the government is ordained in the bill for the increase of the standing army and the whole sub- l ject will be opened up. The democrats are divided upon the question of in- creasing the regular army but how far the opposition in antagonizing the measure it is impossible to forecast. Only last week during the debate upon the urgency deficiency MT. Richmond of Missouri, evaded a direct reply when the question was put fairly at him by MT. Cannon. If the army organization bill should not come up the various committees would probably be allowed to clean up business that they have on the calender.