Year: 1874

THE REVISION OF THE LAWS.


WASHINGTON Friday, May 29, 1874.


The Senate sent back to the House to-day, with
out its approval a concurrent resolution to suspend
the joint rule of the two houses requiring all acts
to be enrolled on parchment before they are pre-
sented to the President for his signature so as to
allow the three bills covering the revision Of the
laws passed few DAYS ago to receive the Executive
approval in the form in which they were
agreed to by the House, no amendments
having been made in the Senate The three
acts cover about 9,1Oo printed pages The
general act contains some amendments that were
made after the bill was printed the longer of these
have also been printed, and the remainder have been
written in between the lines upon separate pieces
of paper and pasted upon the margin. The two bills
codifying the laws as to post routes and the laws
affecting the District of Columbia were not changed
after they printed If the joint rule is not sus-
pended and these bills have to be enrolled it will re-
quire about 1000 sheets of parchment. costing
so cents sheet and will involve labor equivalent
to that of one man for 200 days to transcribe and
compare them. The copy thus made, after it re-
ceives the Presidents signature will 90 to the State
Department when two more copies will have to be
made one to go to the Public Printer and one to
Little g. Brown who publish the authorized
edition. All of this labor which, besides involving
muCn expense, VIII suUycCJ IeNlSiOu W tho
danger of numerous errors can be saved by
suspending the rule but the action would
make il possible for dishonest persons to get
access to the text and make changes in it which
it might not be possible to discover ae once. The
experience of Congress with the celebrated comma
the omission of which placed foreign fruit IN the
free list has made the Senate unusually careful 1t
now looks as though the whole bill would have to
be enrolled unless some plan can be devised to
guard the present copy until 1t becomes a law.
PROTEST AGAINST INyEsTIG ALTON OF PACIFIC


RAILROAD AFFAIRS.


Mr. Storrs counsel for the Central Pacific Railroad
Company argued before the House Committee on
the Pacific Railroad this morning against Mr.. Lut-
trels proposition for investigation OF the affairs
of the corporation and regarding the questions OF
the liability of the Railroad Company to repay in
erest and to set apart five per cent net
receipts annually for that purpose. Mr.. Storrs said
he wonld show that all the charges of fraud against
the Railroad Company and its officers are false. He
proceeded to crticse the figures in the preamble of
Mr. Luttrells resolution, to the amount OF subsi-
dies received by the Pacific Railroad fOm various
sources No second mortgage bonds have ever been
issued by the Central Pacific Railroad although the
preamble included S27,O0O0OO of such bonds in
an alleged total of Sl56,00,000 of aid
granted to the Company. The sub
sidy of S27O00,000 of Government currency
bonds yielded less than S21000,0OO, gold. The re-
oeipts of the company from the sale of lands ND to
January 1874 amounted to SGl3G15, and the receipts
from land bonds to S7,s94Si5. The S1,5OO,OO0 of
bonds given by the State of California was not
issued the law having been repealed. The subsidy
bonds of Placer County, Cal had been paid for IN
stock which was sold at par. The Central Pacihc
had paid State and municipal taxes eXceealng
Sl,5OOCO0 Before the argument was @ the the
Committee adjourned.