The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-12-19
THE HOLIDAY RECESS.
1t Will Begin on Wednesday or
Thursday Of This Week.
CHANCES OF THE PEACE TREATY.

and Probably VIII BE Promptly
Passed, with the Philippines Ques-
tion Reserved For Future Settlement
Washington, Dec. 19.-The week in
the senate will be opened with a speech
by Senator Plat, of Connecticut, on
the question of expansion. He has
given notice of an address to begin i'm
mediately after the conclusion OF the
routine morning business today. Mr..
Platt will reply to the speech of SEN
ator Vest made last Monday, and as he
has given very careful attention to the
extension of our territorial area no lit
tie interest is manifested among sena-
tors in his presentation of the matter,
and it Is not improbable, unless the
Nicaragua bill prevents, that the
speech will precpitate a more or less
general debate upon this question.
Whether it does or not a number of
speeches on the same subject will be
made after the Christmas holidays,
preparatory to the consideration of the
peace treaty.
1t is hoped that the treaty will be
taken up for discussion early in Jan
uary. Already there is talk of the
probability of dlsposng of the treaty
during the present session, and the i'm
preston is favorable to this result. A
few senators manifest a disposition to
debate the treaty at length, and some
profess unalterable opposition, but the
feeling is so strong against an extra
session and in favor of the postpone
ment of the settlement of the disposi-
tion of the Philippines after they come
into our possession that it now seems
that even the minority will consent to
the treaty's ratification without ma
teral delay
The friends of the treaty, who are
giving attention to the closet details
of opposition as they develop them
selves, have taken the pains to have
enumerated the names of the signers
to the memorials against annexation
which have reached the senate, and
they find that there are fewer than
1000 of them, distributed among the
states as follows: Massachusetts, LABS:
West Virginia, 1O1; Indiana, "a; Ohio,
so; Florida, Al; New York, AS Vir-
ginia 80; Vermont 20; Maryland, 16;
Pennsylvania and Illinois, Is each;
Rhode Island, 12; New Hampshire, 6;
California and Missouri, each; Wis
Colorado, Iowa and Nevada, each
Senator Morgan said today that he
meant to press the Nicaragua canal
bill as vigorously as possible, and he
expressed the hope that he might get
a vote before Wednesday, the prob
able date of the Christmas adjourn
ment. The indications are, however,
against such an early disposal of the
subject, and 1t may be accepted as
quite certain that even If Senator Tur-
pies motion for postponement till Jan.
10 should not prevail the bill will be
naturally thrown over beyond the
holidays. 1t is evidently the purpose
of the opposition to prevent action dur
ing the few remaining days prior to
adjournment.
The holiday recess, by the terms of
the resolution reported by the ways
and means committee of the house Is
to begin Thursday and extend until
Wednesday, Jan. A. 1t is likely, how
ever, that the resolution will be amend
ed so as to make the recess begin on
Wednesday instead of Thursday. The
appropriation bills are farther advanc-
ed now than they have been for many
years al the short session Already
| the naval and army deficiency, a special
| bill, and three of the regular bills
the pension, District of Columbia and
Indian-have passed the house. The
agricultural bill was reported Satur-
| day and will be taken up tomorrow.
| Four of the regular money budgets out
of IS will, therefore have passed the
| lower house before the holiday recess,
an unprecedented thing in legislative
annals. The military academy bill
could have been added to this list had
1t not been that Chairman Hull, of the
military affairs committee, declined to
allow the attention of the committee to
he drawn from the bill for the increase
of the army, even for the limited time
required to prepare the academy bill.
The latter, however, will be reported
before the recess.
The friends of the naval personnel
bill and the bill for the Philadelphia ex-
position Cf 1899 have been urging the
committee on rules to grant time for
their consideration. Time will be al
loted for the former bill soon after the
house reconvenes after the holiday re-
cess. 1t is possible that the Philadel-
phia exposition bill may be called up
and placed upon its passage today. The
bill to extend the navigation laws of
the United States over Hawaii. which
was pending on Saturday when the
house adjourned may also be voted on
under suspension of the rules