Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-28
CONGRESS is COMING
Members Expected to Be All Here by
Saturday.
no CONTEST OVER ORGANIZATION
Both Parties in the House VIII
Hold Caucuses.
WORK TO BEGIN EARLY

Washington is beginning to ge, the air OF
Congress about il. All Of Congress Will be
here before the end of the week. and II is
anticipated that the work OF the session
will begin unusually early. with a reason
able agreement among the members Of the
majority in both houses. much should be
accomplished before the beginning Of the
holiday recess.
The preliminaries Of session of Con
gress are always nearly the same This
time the variation will be the absence OF a
speakership contest. q new Speaker To be
elected. In this il conforms 10 the custom
whore there is no change of party control
and one Congress expiring sinks lansuidly
into the lap Of another.
No Contest Over orGnnizntion
Not only ;he republican party and ad-
mnistration, but the whole country. may
he congratulated on the absence at this
critical time OF d contest over ihe organiza-
tion Of the House. 1t seems as If things
had fallen out in exact aceomn: ouation to
the greater questions of national develop
lnent, with few diverting cDntentions The
| nation from an administration point OF
view is in unexpected readiness for the a -
sembiing Of Congress.
With confidence that the reports from Ma
Mia are more reliable than the earlier
dreams of triumph which came to saothe
OTIS in mis- tent, the hope and belief is en-
tertained that the Filipino rebellion, as
Su,a. has been pra- iicaIlv overt broWn
through the energetic course of Lawton.
Young. Macarthur and Wheaton when left
I" FOLLOW their own pan of campaign with
out interference from Otis. 50 that on the
meeting OF Congress the President will have
to report tie tNiSt,TCe Of ii war against
outlaw bands and guerrillas. instead Of
general insnTrecion IN progress IN the
philippines.
1t is hoped oven. that the President Will
be able tC announce to Congress either th..
capture of Aguinaldo. or his deSertian Of
his forces and escape from The island. At
all events, it is hoped that at the end II the
week it may be safely said that there
is no lorger even the pretense of a Fiji
plno government and the resistance to
the authority Of the United States in the
Philippines no longer rises to the dignity of
a rebellion.
Country Already Expanded
This being so, Congress will meet 20 find
| the country I'm the condition Of having al
| r. ady expanded, and the only thing viii be
| for them to cut the cloth to III our new
condition. What the President will have TO
| report with reference 10 cur relations with
the world at large will be gratifying In the
extreme to those who feel a pride in their
| cCuntry's greatness.
The formality of the opening OF Congress
will not be without interest. nor will be the
preliminary moves. The first viii be by
| the democrats who will hold caucus,
probably Saturday morning, to select the
man for nominal leader whom under
conceivable circumstances will they follow.
| This Will be the most contentious caucus.
| though OF no particular conSaq aqUence. and
| will furnish the hGmOr of an otherwise
serious procedure. The PickWiCkian char
| acter of the contest which is being seriously
/ made, gives it an interest which should be
appreciated The shades of seriousness
he an CON hon Il
this incident Of the opening session.
| The republican caucus promises % he
| tame affair. The formaiity Of nominating
| a speakershlp candidate already unanimous
| ly selected will be gone through with and
/ there will be some little question about
| some of the minor offices The matter Of
| the procedure in the Roberts case presents
| the only perplexing question TO be consd-
| cred before the formal opening of the scs-
| sion.
announcement of Vice Presidents
| Death.
| On Monday the two houses Of Congress
will be called together, the Senate by PreSi-
| dent Pro Tenn Frye the House 10y the
| clerk. Mr.. Mcdowell The Senate VIII
probably adjourn Immediately after the
swearing in of new senators, on account
of the death Of the Vice President which
will then be officially announced to Con-
| gress.
Clerk Mcdowell in calling the House to-
gether will have the roll Of members read.
| and on this roll VIII be the name of every
| member whose election has beea certified
| to by his state. 1t is doubtful whether
| there will be any interruption of this, but
| If there is II Will be sileuced by the solemn
| precedents of time. After this the nomi-
| nations for Speaker will be In order. The
majority Will present the name az Gen.
| Henderson. Whom the minority viii pre-
| sent is not yet known. Then there will be
| the election Of the Speaker and the swear
| ing in of the members Of the House.
The idea at present is that trouble VIII
| arise here over Roberts, but the plan Of
| procedure in that case agreed upon between
row and then may prevent this delaying
| the matter until later. II, however the
| Roberts case Is brought up at this point
and he is not permitted TO be sworn in, all
| further proceedings, according 10 usage.
| will be blocked until some dis
position is made of the case.
| either by direct action or by reference
| to a committee. In the absence of "a furry
| over Roberts on the first day. the House
will at once enter upon that curious con-
Gressional game Of chance by which MEM
| bers get their assignment of seats in the
hail of the House the supreme arbltcr Of
their fate being 2 blindfolded page. who
| draws numbered marbles out of box,
while the members stand behind the rail
| anxiously awaiting their number 10 be
called for a choice.