Year: 1871

help him preserve the public peace in the
State Here Is another radical bugbear sent
mp In balloon.


congress Yesterdny-The Fuudiug NIea-


sure-Pncinc Railroad AGairs-The Trans


portation Of Cattle by Raiiroad-Com-


pensation OF Jadaes-The Hastings and


Brooks Controversy.


One Of the first things done by the Senate
yesterday was to concur in the amendments OF
the House to the bill for the increase of the
five per cent funding bonds from two hundred
to five hundred millions of dollars. The
amendments, 1t will be recollected, were to
leave it discretionary with the Secretary of the
Treasury whether the interest should be pay
able quarterly, and to provide that the total
amount of bonds authorized by the Funding
bill should not be increased by this measure
The bill only awaits the Presidents signature
to become law. But how soon that
law may become practically operative depends
less upon legislative than upon financial au-
thorities. After long discussion the bill
ceding back to the State of Ohio jurisdiction
over the property of the Dayton Military Asy-
lum for Disabled Soldiers was passed by the
Senate. The object of the bill is to give the
inmates of the asylum the right of voting in
all elections, and the effect of It will be to
make it political headquarters rather than
military hospital. The bill to refund to the
States the interest and discount on money
borrowed for the equipment, supply, pay and
transport of troops during the war was
taken up and discussed but no final action was
reached.


The House had variety of subjects before it
yesterday, and disposed of quite large
amount of business. The recent depreciation
In the bonds and stock Of the Union Pacific
Railroad Company has called public attention
to the financial condition and management of
all the Pacific railroad companies, and that
feeling has been interpreted in the House by
resolution, offered by Mr.. Butler, of Massachu-
sets, for the appointment of three commits
sioners to inquire into the disposition made by
the Union, the Central and the Kansas Pacific
Railroad companies, and all other railroad
companies that have received government aid,
of the bonds and lands which were delivered
to them, and as to what persons have received
the benefits of these grants and under what
circumstances. The commissioners are to have
the necessary power to carry on the investiga-
ton. The resolution was referred to the Com
mittee on Appropriations, which has already
been looking into the subject. A measure of
importance to some of our importing merchants
was reported from the Committee of Ways
and Means and passed by the House. Its OBJ
ject is to give to the foreign merchandise i'm
ported on the last day Of December the
benefits Of the new law, reducing the duty on
imports in the same manner as if it had been
actually in bonded warehouse on that day. A
measure of more general importance, being
one in which the cattle raisers Of the West,
the railroad companies, the cattle dealers, the
market men and the people at large have an
equal interest, was also passed by the House.
We refer to the bill to prevent the keeping of
live stock in railroad cars for longer con-
tinuous time than twenty y-eight hours without
unloading, and allowing five hours for
feeding, watering and rest This may add
slightly to the cost of freight, but that ex-
pense will be more than compensated for by
the better and healthier condition in which
the cattle will find their way to market, and
the consequent Improvement in the quality of
the meat


We are sorry to see that the House dis
played q mean spirit of parsimony in regard
to the compensation of the Judiciary. Last
week it agreed to raise the salaries of the
Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the
Supreme Court to eight thousand five hun
dred and eight thousand dollars respectively,
and it was but reasonable to suppose that the
same principle would be followed in regard to
the Circuit and District Judges. But it was
not 80. After much discussion the PROPOSE
tions to increase the compensation of those
judges were voted down. This action of the
House was followed by propositions to
allow department clerks who had tenn
porarily performed the duties of their
superiors additional compensation at the rate
of those superior officers, which gave Mr.. Sun
set Cox chance of amusing the House with
some facetious remarks on the subject of Pre-
sidential phlandering. The economy on the
subject of the judges was not followed out,
either, when the question came up of fostering
sickly partisan papers by paying them for fur
nishing subscribers with copies of the laws of
Congress. The amendment which the Com
mittee of the Whole adopted last week, to put
an end to that wasteful and utterly useless
expenditure Of money, was rejected in the
House by majority of ten, and thus a few
score Of partisan journals in the South get
new lease of life, while federal judges are
restricted to salaries which would hardly pay
their house rent In this city.


The Military Academy Appropriation bill
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