Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-03-02
Work of the 55th Congress
During an Eventful Pc
Rod of National History.
ALL AROUND LEGISLATION.
Much Accomplished Beside the Far
Reaching War Measures-The Army,
Navy, Hawaii, Bond Issue, Tariff
Some of the More Important
Things \ Affected by its Laws.

|
| cred by the work of the Fifty-F1fth Con-
gresS which is drawing to a close 1t has
! been period of stirring and dramatic nc
| ton, with questions of vast magnitude
constantly engaging attention, forming an
! epoch alongside those other American
| cpoChs the Revolution and the Civil War.
| This Congress has declared war against a
| foreign foe, and the treaty making branch
| has participated in ratifying the treaty
| by which that war was terminated. it
| has provided Il great volunteer army, mas
! enlarged the regular army, and has cN-
| pandcd the navy to meet war emergencies
| and new conditions. The tariff has been
revised, first by the Dingley law and then
| by the war revenue act; a bond issue
| known as the war loan, has been provided.
| But far-reaChinE as these war measures
| are, the Congress has had time also to
enact other legislation which under or
binary circumstances would make it's ses-
sion memorable This includes the annex
alton of Hawaii; the rejection by the Sem
| ate of the general treaty Of arbitration
with Great Britain; the enactment of ma
| tional bankruptcy law; provision for taxi
| ing the twelfth census; reorganization of
the personnel of the navy. To this list
may yet be added other important SUBJ
iects still pending, including the Nicaru-
qua canal the increase of the regular
army, the anti-scalpng measure. the
Hawaiian bill, and the proposed encour
agement of American shipping. Some Of
the most important general measures are
in the final legislative stages, and it will
not be until the last hours arrive that the
| success or failure of these measures will
| be determined definitely
The present Congress began It's work
almost simultaneously with the opening of
President McKinley's administrat !On. Two
| days after his inauguration he issued the
call for an extra session, and in pursu-
| nnCe to this call Congress assembled on
| March Il, 1897. The special message to
| Congress was directed to the need of
tariff law that would provide ample roy
enuc for the support of the government.
No other subject of legislation was men,
| toned, and the tariff bill at once bee ttu.c
| the lll-absorbng feature Of the session.
Chairman Dingey of the ways and means
committee. and his republican assoclat, 5
had already done much work on the bill,
and three days after the extra session
began the Dingley tariff bill was reported.
| 1t passed the House within two weeks of
! the opening of the session: passed the
| Senate May Z, became a law July a. Hard
! ~ less important was the consideration
in the Senate of the general treaty of ar
hitratior negotiated by President Clevc-
land with Great Britain. The progress Of
! the treaty, in the executive sessions Of
the Senate, attracted worldwide atten-
| ton. finally resulting in the defeat of the
! ms Inc extra SESSION aISD
brought forth four appropriation bills.
but they were those which failed Of pas
sage in the preceding Congress, and were
not considered as properly chargeablc to
/ this Congress. Some general legis lation
WAS enacted, including the suspension of
| President Clevelands order setting aside
y 10000 acres of forest reserves; proVil-
ing for a gradual abandonment Of seCta-
lran Indian schools; extending relief to
Mississippi flood sufferers, and to the des-
titute IN Cuba and in India. The Cuban
problem began to present an acute phase
at this carly session, and the Senate
passed a resolution recognizing the Gu
bans as belligercnts which, however, did
not pass the House.
THE SECOND SESSION.
The second session of the present Con-
IGress is remembered as the great var SEES
sion. 1t saw the elimination of the pent-
up sympathy for suffering Cuba; the de-
CldrdtiOn that the people of Cuba ought
to be and are free and independent; the
declaration of war against Spain; and the
enactment of those vast emergency meas
ureS for prosecuting the war. Thei {
were many messages from the President
as the war clouds darkened, ranging from
the submission of the report on the
Maine disaster to the call for a declara-
ton of war. The first real war legisla-
ton was when Congress placed at the dis
posal of the President, without limitation
S5O,W0OD as an emergency fund for n,.-
tional defence. On April II the President
committed the entire Cuban question &c
Congress and just one week later the con
lGresslonal resolution became a law declar
ing Cuba free and independent; de
handing that Spain withdraw il,
land and naval forces from Gu
ba and Cuban waters, and direct
ing the use of our land and naval force.
to enforce the resolutions. Within an
other week, viz April "a, the declaration
of war was passed by Congress and ap
proved. Then came the rush of war leg
islation on a stupendous scale, the work
proceeding while actual hostilities wert
under way and the Dewey victory wa!
achieved
The act creating the volunteer army hsj
been approved three days before the Dc
Claration of war and under it the Presi
dent was enabled to call into service thu
10000 men augmenting the regular forces
THs latter, also had been expanded ant
improved by the act establishing the thre
battalion formation in time of war.
further force was provided by authorizing
the enlistment Of 10000 men adapted T.
tropical climates since known as lin
munes." Another act added two addition
al artillery regiments to the regular arm
with a total of 1910 men. These and man
lesser army measures were speedily On
acted.
With these war measures were the i'm
portant acts Tor raising reVenue adequat
TO meet the vast war expenditures. III
first Of these was the war revenue act, de
signed to raise $50 100000 and in this con
nection Congress authorized bond issu
of 500 900 known as the war loan.
After news of the Dewey victory was r.
D ceived, resolutions of thanks 10 the Victo
\ were passed and Congress authorized tn
pr, sentation of sword to him and med
ais to his officers.
Although the second session was al