The Washington times., 1901-12-23
SENATE BILLS
OF LONG AGO.
Many Have Reappeared at
Every Session.
MOST OF THEM PRIVATE CLAIMS.
Regular Visitors Before Congress
and Are Called "Oid Friends" and
Continuous Legislation" From
Either of Which the Senators Ale
Always Loath to Separate.

During the time between the adjourn
ment of the Fifty-siAth Congress and the
conyening OF the present bo1y OF legisla-
tors many portions OF the Capitol were
remodeled and renovated. and among the
sections which were rebuilt was the Sc
ries of long galleries and hidden cham
bers known officially the Senate docu-
ment room.
The shelves which for a half century
have been piled with historic bills were
torn down and new steel fireproof cases
erected, while much of the ancient debris
of other-day legislation was destroyed as
useless.
Among the bills consigned TO the fur
mace were some which were mi, oiuced
during the civil war. Seve. al thousand
measures were discovered which dated
back ms far as 1866. and, strangely enough
the bulk OF thcse have been reintroduced
in every Congress up to the Fnty-seventh-
Continuous Performance.
/. These measures are known as 'eontinu-
As legislation" and the "old friends.
and those statesmen who have sat in the
upper body for many years are wont to
smile during the opening days OF a new
troduced once more.
All of these measures are private, being
either claim or pension bills, ana they
have been handled by n score of commit
tees, while the men who prepared them
have long since passed away IL is I'M
possible TO tell how many of the bene-
ficiaries named are now dead. but 1t is
safe to state that at least one-haf VIII
never require the aid requested.
About 500 Of the ''old friends" have al
ready been introduced in the Senate at
this session by Senators from Southern
States, and peculiar and rather amusing
feature of the measures is that they are
worded exactly as when originally intro
duced. thereby presenting a quaint ap-
pearance.
Claims From the Civil Wnr.
Both in title and in contents it is plain
ly announced that the bills are for dam
ages caused during the late war" al
though the said damages are claimed TO Z
have occurred at dates ranging from 1861 ,
to 1865.
Some Of the bills which have been in I
troduced In every Congress since the civil I
war arc those For the relief OF the es-
tate of James r. Young a claim which 4
dates back to the occupation Of New Or
leans by the Federal troops; For the 1
relief of Mrs. Eliza E. Herbert and For
tue relief of Joseph Badin," Louisiana
laim.
The Young bin appears this session as
Senate bill ISL, and was introduced by
Senator McEnery on December .. But
one bill for this estate seems to be not 4
enough in the present Congress, with its
great surplus for disposal, and later on
is found Senate bill SCI, which is abs3-
lutely the sane measure. without even
the change OF comma. The Herbert blll
has also been introduced twice this ses-
sion, once as Senate bill $50 and again as
Senate bill $40.
Twin Measures Galore
The Badin bill appears twice, although
both bills we're struck from the same
form. the coincidence having evidently
not been noticed by the men who intro
duced them.
These doubles recall The fact that the
Southern Senator's are as a rule very care
less about introducing legislation, and
Will hand in batches OF 100 or more with
out even bothering about titles or COM
mittees.
The great mass OF these private bills is
OF no merit whatever. as is proved when
committee takes a fancy TO investigate
them and ascertain on what proofs they
rest The reports. when made, are usu-
ally adverse, and are sometimes accom-
panied by singing reDukeS. IL is wei
known fact that many Senators visit COM
mittee rooms and request that certain
bills introduced by them be ignored ard
kept in pigeonhoIes, thus giving the
statesman credit for having introduced
the bills and enabling him to send word
TO his constituents that the measures have
been smothered in committee.
Met an ..oId Friend"
good story is told on a Senator who
was named as chairman of a committee
having charge OF these bills. He started
in with blood in his eye, and announced
that he was going to roll up his sleeves
and clean cut the mass of old bills I
which had piled up He plunged in boldly
and oyerhauled the papers accompanying
each bill, sending to the Senator re
spOnsible for it a query demanding more ,
evidence IN each case. He kept this up
for a week. and finally retired in a de-
moralizcd condition.
Il have had only one response 10 my Z
queries" he said. This is it,"
He held up a scrawl from a brother
Senator which read as follows Yours
ut hand. Have you really reached that J
Did fraud? Bury II in hole and don't lei I
Il get out"
Senator Lodge proposes 10 amend the
rules so as TO give Senators more free
iom TO get their claim bills through and
The cases cited above are held by those a
who oppose the amendment as good rea- /
sons why no change should he made ,
After the holiday recess the real flood
1f claim bills viii begin. and will con-
Linue almost until the last day OF the
season. a