Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-01-29


goes on. In the Fifty-ninth Con.
gress there were more than fifty
amendments to the Constitution pro-
posed, and they embraced oil OF
those above mentioned exeesss eesrsss the
one offered BY Representative Full
tor providing for separating an off,
cla. and his oflce by popular vote.
f5esides these there were PROPOSE
tlons to change the organic law so
that IL would regulate the hours of
labor; to extend the E'resldential
term two years; to change the date
OF elections and of The assembling
of Congress-; and even q proposi-
tion to amend the Constitution so
that the United States could insure
the lives of Its citizens. The propo-
nent of this amendment was none
other than David "A. De Armond, of
Missouri.
William w. Kitchin, ,of North Ca
.roisne, e, probably holds tne record In
proposing amendments to the Con-
stitution. He offered three In sin
gle day early In the Fifty-nihth Con-
gress. 1t Is rather strange COIN
cidence that the records show that
about three out of four OF the
amendments proposed In recent
years were offered by Democrats.
And fully nine out of ten were Of
fered in the House rather than In
the Senate. But very few amend
ments have been proposed by mem
bers of that body in recent years.
The most popular amendment pro-
posed, Judged from the number who
propose 1t at every session, Ia the
one tc elect Senator'S by popular
yote. In spite of the fact that most
OF the Stayes have found way to
get around the constitutional re-
quirement that Senator'S be elected
by the Legislatures. through Sena-
toria! primaries, this amendment is
still popular In the House. But the
Senate never deigns to notice It., ex-
cept sometimes o man like the late
Senator Hoar Will speak out against
the tendency to disparage the Senate
and to change the manner of its Sc
lection. IS s.
Before the Sixtieth Congress was
three weeks old more than ten thou
sand bills were introduced. Less
than two thousand OF these are pub
pate measures for the payment OF
claims or the granting of pensions
that cannot be- had under the gene-
raj pension laws. There have been
dozens of bills introduced for the re-
form OF the currency and, banking
laws, some OF them by men who acA
tually have to give orders on their
salaries before due. Every other
sort OF proposition under the gun
has claimed attention.
Representative Watson, of Indi-
ana, Is waging an aggressive war on
cigarettes and cigarette papers. He
proposes to prohibit absolutely the
transmission of these two commodi-
ties into any State where their$sale
is prohibited by law. Senator PEN
rose has scruples about sending
money orders on Sunday, and has
introduced bill prohibiting their
sale or the registry of letter on
chat day. Representative lsirds,,ll
wants railway cars automatically
ventilated and has introduced a bill
to that end. Representative Dalzell
wants to get after the Fellow who
starts a run on q national bank He
has introduced bill making 1t "a
.misdemeanor for any cne to make
an untrue statement a5out nations
al bank, and makes the penalty a
fine of not more than $4,000, and
imprisonment at hard labor for not
more than five years.
Representative Sheppard, of. Tex
as, has introduced a bill providing
for a contest open to, the whole world
to determine the best safety appli-
ances for railroad trains. He pro-
poses that large prizes shall be given
so as to attract the inventive genius
of the whole world His intention
is to find the best appliances there
are, and then require Interstate
them. Representative Fulton has
laws as he has been In offering
tion. He has introduced bill to al
low citizens to express their views
on matters of public policy by ballot,
voting for or against propositions at
the same time they vote for Presi-
dental candidates. Another .bill by
him proposes to stop the circulation
of market quotations OF the kind
used in stock gambling.
Perhaps the most remarkable bill
ever introduced in Congress was one
by Robert Baker, the pioneer anti
pass Representative" from Brook
lyn. 1t was SO remarkable that even
Mr.. Baker felt constrained to en-
dorse 1t "by request" to show that
he was not responsible for 1t. The
man who drew 1t was James Seldom
Cowden, who had run for Congress
in five districts, who wanted to
make a canal out of the Mississippi