Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-01-09
CONGRESS WILL BE BUSY UNTIL END
OF SESSION.
PEACE TREATY on WEDNESDAY
TO BE REPORTED THEN, BUT DE-
BATE MAY BE POSTPONED.
Senator Hoar to Deliver His Anti
Expansion Speech To-day-Ap-
propriation Bills to BE Kept
to the Fore In
the House.

WASHINGTON, Jan. S.-The week prom
ises to be a busy one in the senate. 1t will
BEGIN with an elaborate and carefully pre-
pared speech by Senator Hoar, to be de-
livered Immediately after the transaction
of the routine business tomorrow, In op-
position to the extension Of American ter
ritory. This speech Is Of considerable
length, and, with the Interruptions that
are liable to occur. it will probably con-
sumo the greater portion Of the day. Tues
day Senator Mason will discuss briefly his
resolution In opposition to this country's
asserting sovereignty over Cuba and the
Philippines, taking strong ground for the
Independence Of the people Of those isl
ands.
Senator Morgan will make an effort early
in the week to get the senate to name a
date for taking q vote upon his bill for
the construction of the Nicaragua canal.
and, whether he succeeds or not. will press
the bill as continuously upon the attention
of the senate as circumstances will permit.
Unanimous consent Is necessary to the fix
ing Of time for q vote, and 1t Is not prob
able that this viii be secured for some time
to come.
It Is the expectation that the peace treaty
will be reported on Wednesday, and also
that some Of the appropriation bills now In
the hands Of the committee on appropria-
tions will be brought in towards the close
Of the week. Immediate consideration will
be asked for the appropriation bills. but 1t
is possible that the beginning OF the de-
bate upon the treaty may be postponed un-
til next week. There is an effort on foot
among the opponents OF the treaty 10 nave
1t discussed in open session, but the inoi-
cations are against such course.
The time of the house will be fully occu-
MED from this time forward until the
conclusion of the session. Appropriation
bills. which are already in an unusually
advanced stage, are to be kept to the fore,
hut there Is a deal Of other important
legislation which will press for considera-
ton at every opportunity. Perhaps the
most important single measure Is the Dill
for the reorganization OF the army. IL was
the general understanding before the re-
cess that this bill would be given con-
sideratton Immediately after the holidays.
but the illness Of Chairman Hull. Of the
military affairs committee. will delay this
measure until he il sufficiently recovered
to attend the sessions Of the house. His
illness will also delay the military acad-
emy and army appropriation bills.
Meantime. the friends Of the navy per-
sonneI bill are pushing for its considera-
ton, and the rules committee may give a
day to it during the present week. The
bill represents u Compiete dS1ecucuS NC
tween the line and the stan. These two
branches of the service have been at war
for many years. but now that they have
at last got together and agreed upon a
measure. its passage. once 1t gets to a vote.
| is assured. The only opposition to 1t Is
likely to arise from the fact that the or
ganization 1t contemplates involves an ad:
ditional charge on the treasury OF several
hundred thousand dollars.
The final vote on the legislative. execu-
! tive and judicial appropriation bill will be
civil service law succeeded in striking
from the bill. while the house was In COM
mittee Of the whole. the appropriation for
the maintenance of the commission. But
tomorrow, when the vote Is taken in the
house where members are obliged to go
on record. there is little doubt that the
appropriation will be restored. The dip
lomatic and consular and the naval appro-
priation bills are the next budgets to be
taken up. and either or both OF them may
be considered this week. Such time as in
teryenes will be consumed In the considera-
tion of the bill for the codification Of the
laws Of Alaska This bill has been made a
continuing order. Portions of two days
have already been consumed by 1t. and less
than seventy of the 232 pages of the bill
have been disposed of. The lawyers Of the
house show an inclination to 20 over 1t
critically. section by section. and 1t may
be before the house for an inda6nite period.