Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27

~ PECIAL sessions of Congress al
ways are interesting.
Twenty-one have been held
~ since the early days of the re-
public.
The Seventy-first Congress of the
/ United States is soon to meet in its first
session to deal with farm relief and
tariff revision. The life of the new
Congress, which was elected last No
which the present Congress expires.
The Constitution provides for annual
meetings of the Congress in the follow
ing terms:
"The Congress shall assemble at least
once In every year, and such meeting
, shall be on the first Monday in Decenl-
Der, unless they shall by law appoint a
different date"
In the present instance, however, it
Is not expected that Congress will fix
the date of the first session of its sue
cessor, but that the Seventy-first Con-
/ gress will be called into special session
! by the President-elect. Herbert Hoover,
soon after he shall have been inaugu-
rated President.
| Congress Is the lawmaking body of
| this country. Whenever pressing issues
of importance have had the attention
of the people in national election, it
| usually follows that the incoming Presi-
| dent calls the national legislature into
/ session to deal with these problems
promptly. without waiting for the open
| ing of the so-called regular session,
the first Monday in December. The
inelasticity of a system which might
| otherwise bring Congress to Washing
ton Is months after its election by the
people is thus in large measure avoided.
It is because of the demand for farm
| legislation and for tariff revision that
the new Congress is soon to be as
sembled here.
Meeting of First Congress.
The first Congress met on March 4,
| 1885, in New York. In measure, this
| sion of Congress. 1t was considered
necessary then because the Federal
Government was beginning to function
| under the newly adopted Constitution.
| For Is years the governing body of the
! Colonies which had revolted and de-
clared their independence of Great
| Britain had been the Continental Con-
| gresS. This Congress was passing out
| of existence, and 1t was the Continental
| Congress which picked the day on which
| the Government should begin to operate
under the Constitution.
In its first session, the First Congress
canvassed the vote of the States for
President and Vice President and noti-
| fed George Washington and John
Adams they had been chosen, respec-
lively, President and Vice President of
the United States. The first President
was at his home, Mount Vernon, and 1t
took the messenger of Congress a week
to travel from New York to Virginia to
notify Gen. Washington that he had
been elected President. The journey of
the first President to New York was a
tr:umphal procession, with ovations
along the route. He was finally inau-
| gurated April 80, 1889.
! One of First Big Jobs.
One of the big jobs of this First Con-
| gress was to provide revenue by means
| of which the new Federal Government
! might function. 1t was estimated then
that 1t would require 5000, 900 year to
pay the ordinary expenses of the Gov
eminent, though larger sum would
be needed to pay the interest and help
retire the then public debt In these
days of billion dollar annual eXpendi-
lures the sum required to begin the OPP
Grafton of the Government brings a
smile. It is interesting to remember