The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-02-17

on, many the precious gifts that fall
To the lot of man. but when all are
We find true friend best of all
mat God in his goodness has ever
made.
Willis George Emerson.
How Congress Passes a Bill.
On day set for the consideration
OF the Dill the house gees into COM
mittee or the whole. A chairman ap-
pointed by the speaker presides The
Dill is read by sections and clauses
after general debate has closed, and
any member may offer amendments
All voting in committee is by rising:
the yeas and nays are not taken.
When the bill has been gone
| through and all amendments have
been voted upon, the committee rises
and the chairman reports the bill
back to the house with the amend
ments. The house then votes upon
them, either singly or in gross, and by
yeas and nays If they are ordered to
be taken,
The bill is then ordered to be en-
crossed. that is. written out in a fai1
hand and just as 1t Is after being
AS 1t Is usually already engrossed it Ii
| at once read the third ume-by title
as before-and passed.
| The clerk takes the bill to the SEN
ate. by which body it is referred tc
the finance committee In due time
| the committee, If it sees fit, and not
| otherwise. reports the bill back to the
senate, with propositions to amend
In the senate the bill Is considered
| "as in committee Of the whole; the
amendments of the finance committed
and other volunteer amendments are
accepted or rejected: they are again
voted upon when the bill is reported
| to the senate from the committee Oh
| the whole, and the bill is passed.
AS the two houses are not agreed
upon the bill. committee Of confer
ence, usually consisting of three
members of each branch of congress
is appointed. The committee, wher
| it has come to an agreement, reports
to each house; and the acceptance Of
the report is the final stage of the bill
| in its passage.
The measure is now ssenrolled,'
that is. it is printed in large. oper
type upon parchment, and is taker
| first to the house. where 1t is signed
| by the speaker; then to the senate
where the vice president signs It: and
finally to the president, and make.
| the bill a law.
Congress is notified that the bill ha.
been approved, and the original copy
| of the act is deposited in the depart.
ment of state-Edwin Tarrfsse, IL
Harper's weekly.
The Hill Towns of Italy.
Last summer, Antonio Mangano, a
| native Of Italy, who since his four
| teenth year has lived in the United
| States. went back to his mother
country and made a special study OF
/ the effect of emigration upon Italy. His
| descriptions Of some Of the italian hill
towns in the February Z Charities
| and the Commons show the lingering
4 yv,R - \ IL
the feudal system existed. OF Forano
! he writes: 1.-The peasant huts are
| clustered close to one another and to
| the palazzo or palace, on hilltop, fol
protection in time of war. The huts
| are mostly low, one-room novels with
no window or chimney but the door
The very courtyard of the Strozz
palace, a massive three-story castle
| plain on the interior but regally
| decorated and furnished on the in
| terror, is crowded with these wretched
| human inha citations. Since all houses
and buildings in Italy are of stone OF
| concrete, there are no fires. and these
| houses have lasted for hundreds OF
| years just as they were built con-
seQuently there has been no progress
| i'm the manner of living. The accumu-
| lation of dirt is enormous. The one
room has an earth. sometimes q
stone floor. the hearth often no other
| chimney than the low door. The in
terror is dark and dreary. The only
! furniture Is a huge bed. and perhaps
| a chair, a bench or a wooden chest
| Potatoes and corn are stored under
| the bed or in a corner. strings of dry
| Ing peppers hang from the wallis. The
| accomm odating hen lays her daily egg
| on the bed, or in a basket placed on
| a shelf for her. In such miserable
dwellings live thousanCs OF Italian
contadini with their famiIfes,-man.
wife and seven or eIgnr children, if
| all survive, and it is by no means a
! rare thing for the family donkey, II
| they are fortunate enough to possess
one, the pig and chickens. to occupy
| the same hovel, though If possible the
| pig and donkey have separate little
dug-outs or straw lean-tos.
Preparing For Death.
It is not given to every man to anti
| cipate his death as calmly as did the
| late H. N. Pott1e, an organist al