Evening star., 1901-03-04
No Unusual Incident in the House
Last Night.
FIGHT ON TIE MEMORIAL BRIDGE
Awaiting Senate's Action on River
and Harbor Bill.
DISTRICT CODE PASSED

The Fifty-sixth Congress adjourned al
| noon today Only one of the great appro-
priation measures failed of enactment, the
river and harbor BILL Dilatory tactics in
the senate, fnaugurated by Senator Carter
brought about the failure of this legisla.
ton.
In the last hours of Congress the House
caused the Senate to recede from its action
IN number of notable instances The
house won victory on the naval appro-
phlat1on bill. making the Senate back down
from Its amendment for additional torpedo
boats. which had caused delay in the con.
sideration of the bill for several days The
oitterest fight between the two houses
however. was on the sundry civil bill. The
insistence of the House caused the Senate
to take of that bill appropriations of S5,-
000.OOO for the ST. Louis exposition, OF
$5OO.OOO for the Buffalo exposition and
S25OOOO for the Charleston exposition A
separate bill for st. Louis was passed, but
the other two appropriations failed. The
Senate also receded from a number of
amendments of interest to the District of
Columbia. which are noted In another col
umn. Principal among them was the ap-
preparation to commence work on the me-
mortal bridge.
The District code bill was passed in the
last hours of the session, together with sew
eral bills Of minor interest. which are men
toned in detail elsewhere in The Star.
The session of the House dragged wearily
through the long hours of the night with
out unusual incident or event. From 2
o'clock yesterday afternoon until o'clock
this morning the House Of Representatives
was in continuous session, taking frequent
recesses, while awaiting the report of con-
ference committees on the appropriation
bills.
Work proceeded in the House Saturday
until In the afternoon, when a recess was
taken until 930 pm. to permit conference
reports to be framed. Under suspension OF
the rules a number of important bills were
passed, including those for national stand
ardizing bureau, for comforting bronze med
ais on the enlisted men of the navy and
marine corps for distinguished heroism: to
amend the Chinese exclusion laws, and
what is known as the omnibus public
building bill,' enlarging the appropriations
for some forty public buildings. TIE legis-
lative appropriation bill was also fina ly dis
posed of, and many conferences were ad
vanced to a stage which gave promise that
there would be no failure of important leg
iSlation.
When the House assembled yesterday af-
ternoon Chairman Cannon was ready with
partial report on the sundry civil bill. The
items of agreement upon appropriations of
local interest are noted in another column.
Fight On the Memorial Bridge.
An effort made in the House to save
the Memorial bridge appropriation that had
been attached to the bill in the Senate Mr..
Babcock advocated the amendment. He said
the Secretary of War had recently reported
that it would be necessary to reconstruct
the Aqueduct bridge at a heavy cost to
the government, and he thought it would be
better to go ahead with the Memorial bridge
at once.
Mr. Rixey of Virginia moved that the
House adopt the Senate amendment.
Mr.. Cannon opposed the motion. He said
1t meant that Congress was to Immediately
commence the construction of the bridge
which, he declared, would cost at the mini
mum 100000 and more likely $10,OOO,o0o
He begged the House to refuse to accept the
Senate amendment, and Mr.. Rixey'S motion
was voted down.
The Expositions.
Mr.. Cannon then called attention to the
exposition items that the Senate had put
on the BILL S. 100000 for ST. Louis, $3.50 ,OOJ
for Charleston and 100000 for Buffalo. The
conferees recommended disagreement
Mr.. Payne of New York. the House leader,
made an impassioned speech against the
the Senate was holding up the House. and
said he would prefer the failure of the ap-
bill. and. if necessary, an extra
session of Congress to yielding to the Sen
ate hold-up.
Mr.. Cannon also opposed the amendment,
and the result was that the House by a
vote of 139 to 76 refused to concur. With.
this the conferees went back into session,
to compose the remaining diferences on the
bill.
District Code Bill Passed.
The District code bill was then laid be-
fore the House, and Chairman Babcock
moved to concur in the Senate amend
ments. After some questioning by Mr..
Bailey and Mr.. Underwood as to the origin
Of the code and it's authorization the mo-
ton of Mr.. Babcock was agreed to, and
the code, so long awaited by the bar of the
District was at last through Congress.
Then there came a long session. broken
by occasional reports from the river and
harbor bill conferees, which brought the
session up to o'clock this morning.
Singing Patriotic Songs.
In the middle Of the night some Of the
younger members Of the House organized
the usual singing class, and, gathered
around the Speakers desk, sang patriotic
airs for an hour or more This was the
only attempt at jollity during the evening,
and the closing scenes in the House were
less lively than usual.
Sundry Civil Bill Passed.
1t was after o'clock this morning when
Chairman Cannon brought in the final
agreement on the sundry civil bill. Less
than score of members were in the hall
Of the House. and the sofas and lounges in
the lobbies, cloak rooms and committee
rooms contained the recumbent forms Of
sleeping statesmen. Very little debate oc-
cured on the report, and 1t was adopted.
This left only the river and harbor bill |
in the air, and the House went into recess.
Tribute From the Minority.
The closing moments Of the session Of
the House were marked by one interesting |
and graceful event, the affectionate tribute |
which the minority paid to Speaker Hen |
1erson and the. response Of the presiding |
,flcer to this testimonial. Mr.. Bailey Of |
Texas assumed the chair just before ad- |
iournment in the temporary absence of the |
speaker, and recognized Mr.. Richardson of |
Tennessee, the floor leader Of the minority. |
Mr.. Richardson offered resolution ten |
lering the thanks of the House to the |
Speaker for his impartial administration Of |
the duties Of his Office during the Con- |
sress. Mr.. Richardson supplemented the |
resolution with brief address, in which |
he paid sincere tribute on behalf of his |