CONTESTED ELECTION.

Mr. DAWES. I submitted a few days ago a report from the Committee of Elections, in the case of Follet vs. Delano. I desire to call up that case to-morrow immediately after the morning hour and have it disposed of without debate. I trust that members meanwhile will send for the report and read it; and I will, in compensation, relieve the House from any debate on my part.

Mr. SPALDING called for the regular order. The SPEAKER announced, as the first business of the morning hour, the call of committees for reports, beginning with the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

COINAGE, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. Mr. KASSON. The Committee on a Uniform System of Coinage, Weights, and Measures have prepared a report which needs some slight revision before it is sent to the printer; and I therefore propose that while the report shall be considered as presented now, I may retain it for revision, with the understanding that it may be handed to the Clerk after revision and be printed.

The SPEAKER. If there be no objection, it will be so ordered.

METRIC SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Mr. KASSON, from the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, reported a bill to authorize the use of the metric system of weights and measures; which was read a first and second time.

The bill, which was read, proposes to enact that, from and after the passage of the act, it shall be lawful throughout the United States to employ the weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing or pleading in any court shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are the weights and measures of the metric system.

The second section provides that the table in the schedule annexed to the bill shall be recognized in the construction of contracts and in all legal proceedings as establishing in terms of the weights and measures now in use in the United States the equivalents of the weights and measures expressed therein in terms of the metric system; and said table may be lawfully used for computing, determining, and expressing, in customary weights and measures, the weights and measures of the metric system.

Mr. KASSON. I suppose it is not necessary to read in detail the tables giving those equivalents.

The committee have deemed it wise to frame a bill which in its terms is simply permissive and initiative of this great reform. In England, though a compulsory act was at first proposed, it was finally resolved to adopt a mere permissive measure; and under the present circumstances of this country the committee considered it best to frame a bill of the same nature. After some popular acquaintance with the system the Congress will be better able to fix the time for its ultimate exclusive adoption.

The joint resolution was read a first and second time.

It proposes to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to furnish to each State, to be delivered to the Governor thereof, one set of the standard weights and measures of the metric system for the use of the States respectively.

The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed.

Mr. KASSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to

POST OFFICE WEIGHTS.

Mr. KASSON, from the same committee, reported a bill to authorize the use in post offices of weights of the denomination of grammes; which was read a first and second time.

Mr. KASSON. Mr. Speaker, this is to carry into effect the policy already adopted by the Post Office Department in connection with its foreign correspondence in the use of gramme weights. The bill has been submitted to the Post Office Department and no objection has been taken to it.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed.

Mr. KASSON moved to reconsider the vote just taken; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

METRIC SYSTEM-AGAIN.

Mr. NIBLACK. I desire to ask the gentleman from Iowa whether the bill for a metrical system proposes to go into effect immediately, or designates some future day when it is to go

into effect.

Mr. KASSON. It proposes to go into effect as a permissive measure immediately; that is to say, all the arts, trades, corporations, and individuals who may desire to adopt it can do so. It is not now made compulsory at any time,

as the committee did not feel authorized to make any such provision prior to its introduction by law, and the beginning of its use. We only desired to legalize it so that those who desired to use it might be able to do so without violating the laws now in force in some of the States, which this measure will to that extent repeal.

Mr. NIBLACK. The gentleman's explanation is satisfactory to me.

UNIFORM COINAGE COMMISSIONER.

Mr. KASSON, from the same committee, reported a joint resolution to authorize the President to appoint a special commissioner to facilitate the adoption of a uniform coinage between the United States and foreign countries; which was read a first and second time.

The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered; and under the opera tion thereof the bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time and passed.

Mr. KASSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

Mr. KASSON. Mr. Speaker, I will say in execution of the recommendations of the report of the committee, as well as of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Adams, and the other distinguished men who have taken part in this movement of reform. They all recognize the necessity of international action to arrive at the proper result.

Congress a few years ago passed a joint resolution that only partially carried out the object. A commissioner was authorized to be appointed for the purpose of consulting with the Government of Great Britain. He went there with indefinite instructions. The English

Government expressed a willingness to entertain any proposition, but there was no authorIt therefore failed to produce any practical benefit. The committee thought that, in connection with the meeting of the commissioners next year at Paris, from various foreign Governments, if we appointed a special commissioner expressly charged with this matter we might at least pave the way for the result so much desired. That is the whole effect of the joint resolution.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I believe this to be totally unnecessary. I cannot understand why all this business cannot be performed by our diplomatic representatives abroad. This special commissioner seems to me to be an unnecessary officer, entailing an unnecessary expense. I only desire to call attention to the fact, and I hope the joint resolution will not pass.

Mr. KASSON. I think the gentleman's objection can be answered conclusively. In the first place the questions involved are those of science and art, referring to the basis of coin and the relations it shall bear to weights and measures. I know of but one minister of the United States abroad at this time who would be personally competent to undertake the necessary negotiations. In the second place, it will be impossible to take away any of our ministers from their respective capitals to attend to this special duty in meeting these commissioners from foreign Governments. We have hardly ever been able to effect any special reform through general diplomatic officers. In every instance, so far as I know, the initiative has been taken here and elsewhere by special commissioners. It is done for postal and for commercial conventions.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. Have foreign nations appointed commissioners with whom our commissioner is to negotiate?

Mr. KASSON. They are all appointing commissioners to meet at the Industrial Exhi bition of next year.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. Are any of them authorized to negotiate upon this subject? Mr. KASSON. If the gentleman had heard the resolution read he would have found that it provided for the appointment of a special commissioner with reference to this subject, to appointed by all nations which are invited to act in conjunction with commissioners to be join for this express purpose. The whole object of the resolution is practical-to secure one single commissioner from each country who shall be specially charged with that function. olution expressly provides that there shall be I certainly can see no objection to it. The resno salary paid to the commissioner, and I think it will commend itself to the judgment of every member that a special commissioner is indispensable for this purpose. I call the previous question.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. I hope the gentleman will allow me a word.

Mr. KASSON. I withdraw it. Mr. CONKLING. I call for the reading of the joint resolution.

The joint resolution was again read.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. I desire to call the attention of the House to the fact that here is a proposition to appoint another commissioner to the Paris Exhibition: We have already authorized the appointment of ten, and before they get through with that Exhibition I do not know but we shall have a congress of American citizens sent there to represent all the great interests of this country. Now, if we cannot get along with ten commissioners I think we had better dispense with the commission entirely. This is simply an appendix to what has already been commenced, and I hope we will stop the appointment of further commissioners to this Exhibition.

Mr. KASSON. I have done my best to enable my friend from Ohio [Mr. LAWRENCE] to understand this resolution. I hope now I shall enable him really to comprehend its purpose. If he had spent weeks and months in the exam

ination of the history of this question in this country, the report of Jefferson, the recommendation of Madison, the action of scientific bodies at home and abroad, the action of foreign Governments upon the subject, all of which have been considered by the committee that instructed me to report this resolution, he would then know that there is no one subject that can come before an international or other congress that has more important relations to the commercial and social intercourse of the world than this one; and that it is a question whether money shavers shall actually accumulate enormous fortunes in every country of the world, at the unnecessary cost of travelers and traders, and whether we shall be able to know when we draw a bill on a foreign country how much we are paying for it and how much we get by it. I assure him and the members of this House that the question is one the importance of which increases every hour with the increasing intercourse of the world.

Secondly, I say that we have not a solitary commissioner yet appointed to Paris, nor a law authorizing one. That measure may fail. God forbid that it should fail; but whether it fails or succeeds it is absolutely necessary that there should be authority of law to designate a special commissioner who shall have what these other special commissioners have not, diplomatic authority to negotiate upon this subject with which he is charged. The commissioners to be appointed by the bill that formerly passed the House are to be selected among manufacturers and agriculturists and all practical classes of the community; but we want to send some one who is acquainted with the general history of coinage of this country and of the world, who knows the proper proportion between the precious metals and alloy, who knows the systems prevailing in different coun tries, and who can properly negotiate, and by authority, with the several Governments concerned. This the other commissioners are not and ought not to have authority to do.

Now it becomes a question whether we shall take the recommendation of Jefferson and Adams and all the distinguished men who have sought this great desideratum, as regards the commercial intercourse of the world, and appoint a special commissioner without salary, or whether this most important object shall be defeated by a single objection.

Mr. BANKS. In reference to the suggestion of the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. LawRENCE,] I desire to say that the proposition presented by the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, as I understand it, is distinct entirely from that embodied in the proposition for a representation of our industry at the Paris Exposition. I do not desire to go into a discussion of that question at all; but in reference to this measure let me say to the gentleman from Ohio and to the members of the House that its object is to pave the way for the establishment of reforms that will enable every man who travels in any country to carry in his own pocket an exact representation of the values of weights and of measures that exist in any civilized country. Whenever this system shall be established a man may carry in the coin he has in his pocket an exact test of the measures, weights, and values that exist in other countries through which he travels. That is certainly an object of great importance to the people of this country, and if this be an inquiry only, costing little or nothing, I hope the joint resolution will be passed.

I have seen this morning very intelligent persons from England who say that in a brief visit to this country they have given as much time and trouble to learn the relative values of our fractional and other currency as to study of institutions of greater importance. I suppose that every man who has traveled knows the inconveniences and the losses that result from the difliculty in comprehending the different standards of weights and measures and money values in other countries. I hope the joint resolution will pass.

Mr. KASSON. The gentleman is perfectly

right in his suggestion of the unnecessary expense and inconvenience that attend the present system. So long as every Governinent and principality in Europe has a local and peculiar coinage, the traveler must undergo a shave at every frontier, and merchants are liable to perpetual mistakes in the rendition of their accounts.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. The gentleman does not seem to comprehend exactly the point of the objection which I make to this resolution. I do not object so much to the purpose sought to be attained as to the means by which it is sought to be attained.

Now, we have already, so far as this House is concerned, authorized the appointment of ten commissioners. They are to be scientific men, the representatives of all the interests of this country. Why not clothe one of those representatives with the powers contemplated by this resolution? Why add another commissioner? That is the point I make. Now, we have been a little slow to see the absolute necessity of this system which my friend says has been so ably presented by Jefferson and Adams and others. We seem to have got along very well without it.

I should hot object that one of those ten commissioners should be clothed with all the authority contemplated by this resolution, but I do object to the unnecessary expense of an additional commissioner for this purpose.

Mr. KASSON. Let me add once more, so as to be distinctly understood by the House, that there is no salary attached to this office. These special commissioners to whom the gentleman has referred have no special charge of this subject, and have no power whatever to negotiate with foreign Governments, and it is absolutely necessary that the commissioner charged with this question should have the power to negotiate. I demand the previous question.

The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered.

The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and being engrossed, it was accordingly read the third time.

Mr. KASSON demanded the previous question on the passage of the joint resolution. The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered.

Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio. I demand the yeas and nays on the passage of the joint resolution. If this joint resolution shall be voted down. I hope the House will understand that the committee can be directed to move that some one of the ten commissioners already authorized shall be clothed with all the necessary power.

Kelley, Kelso, Kuykendall, Laflin, Latham, George V. Lawrence, Longyear, Lynch, Marvin, McClurg, McRuer. Mereur, Miller, Morris, Myers, Newell, Niblack, Nicholson, O'Neill, Paine, Phelps, Pike, Sawyer, Schenck, Stevens. Strouse, Taber, Thayer, Francis Thomas, Burt Van Horn, Welker, Williams, James F. Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson. Windom, Winfield, and Woodbridge-65.

NAYS-Messrs. Ames, Baldwin, Benjamin. Bromwell, Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Cook, Denison, Dumont, Eggleston, Eldridge, Farnsworth, Finck, Goodyear, Aaron Harding, Abner C. Harding, John II. Hub bard, Kerr, Ketcham, William Lawrence, Le Blond, Marston, McCullough, McKee, Orth, Perham, Plants, Price, Ritter, Rollins, Scofield, Sitgreaves, Sloan, Spalding, Stilwell, Trimble, Ward, and Henry D. Washburn-38.

NOT VOTING-Messrs. Allison, Anderson, James 'M. Ashley, Barker, Beaman, Bingham, Blaine, Blow, Boyer, Broomall, Buckland, Bundy, Chanler, Cof froth, Culver, Darling, Defrees, Delano, Deming, Dixon, Dodge, Donnelly, Driggs. Eckley, Farquhar, Ferry, Garfield, Glossbrenner, Grider, Grinnell, Hale, Harris, Hayes, Henderson, Hill, Hogan, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, James Humphrey, James M. Humphrey, Ingersoll, Johnson, Jones, Loan, Marshall, MeIndoe, Moorhead, Morrill, Moulton, Noell, Patterson, Pomeroy, Radford, Samuel J. Randall, William II. Randall, Raymond, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Rogers, Ross, Rousseau, Shanklin, Shellabarger, Smith, Starr, Taylor, John L. Thomas, Thornton, Trowbridge, Upson, Van Aernam, Robert T. Van Horn, Warner. Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Wentworth, Whaley, and Wright-80. So the joint resolution was passed.

Mr. KASSON moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

PAY OF COMMITTEE CLERK.

Mr. KASSON. I am directed by the Com mittee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures to report the following resolution:

Resolved, That the clerk of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures be allowed six dollars per diem for the forty days during which he has been employed as such.

The services of the gentleman who has acted as the clerk of the committee have been ex

ceedingly valuable. His time night and day has been devoted exclusively to the work of the committee. He is a gentleman coming from New Haven, being a learned mathemat ical professor in the college at that place. Four dollars per day, the usual compensation to a committee clerk, would scarcely pay the hotel bill of this gentleman, putting out of view his traveling expenses.

On agreeing to the resolution, there wereayes 40, noes 30: no quorum voting.

The SPEAKER, under the rule, ordered tellers; and appointed Messrs. KASSON and BERGEN.

The House divided; and the tellers reported -ayes forty-seven, noes not counted.

Mr. WARD. I demand the yeas and nays. I desire that gentlemen who are in favor of increasing salaries at this time shall go on the

The yeas and nays were not ordered.
The resolution was agreed to.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

Mr. EGGLESTON asked leave of absence for Mr. HAYES for ten days. Leave was granted.

80; as follows:

YEAS-Messrs, Alley, Ancona, Delos R. Ashley, Baker, Banks, Baxter, Bergen, Bidwell, Boutwell, Brandegee, Reader W. Clarke, Conkling, Cullom, Davis, Dawes, Dawson, Eliot, Griswold, Hart, Higby, Holmes, Chester D. Hubbard, Demas Hubbard, Edwin N. Hubbell, Hulburd, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson,

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT.

A message in writing from the President of the United States was delivered to the House by Mr. EDWARD COOPER, his Private Secretary, who also informed the House that the Presi dent had approved and signed bills and joint resolutions of the following titles:

An act (H. R. No. 511) to impose a duty on live animals;

An act (H. R. No. 397) to authorize the coinage of five-cent pieces;

An act (H. R. No. 567) to amend an act to establish the grade of vice admiral in the United States Navy;

Joint resolution (H. R. No. 66) relative to the courts and post office of New York city;

and

Joint resolution (H. R. No. 133) relative to the attempted assassination of the Emperor of Russia

UNIFORM BANKRUPT LAW.

Mr. JENCKES, from the select committee on a bankrupt law, reported a bill to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States; which was read a first and second time.

The question was upon ordering the bill to be engrossed and read a third time.

Mr. JENCKES. The bill which was referred to the select committee on bankrupt law, on the motion of the gentleman from New York, [Mr. CoNKLING,] was the bill that was formerly reported by that committee, without any of the amendments ingrafted upon it during its consideration by this House.

The bill now reported is the bill originally reported as amended in the House, with some other amendments to meet the objections then made to it. With the permission of the House I will briefly explain what those additional amendments are, and take up no time in explaining the other portions of the bill, as the bill has already been fully discussed with these exceptions.

The principal of the amendments now proposed is one relating to the duties of the officers styled messengers. By the original bill, in cases of voluntary bankruptcy, these messengers were required to take possession of the property belonging to the bankrupt, and retain it until the appointment of the assignee. By the bill as now reported, these messengers have no such duties to perform with regard to the property of the petitioner. The custody of the property remains in the possession of the petitioner until an assignee is regularly appointed by the court, when he takes possession of it and has full and final control over it. The responsibility of the care and custody therefore remains with the bankrupt, as the owner of the property, in the intervening time. As a check upon any waste of the property in the mean time, or of any disposition of it adverse to the provision of the law, the bankrupt is required to satisfy the court, and of course to satisfy the creditors, who watch over the proceedings until the discharge is granted, that he has made no such waste or fraudulent disposition of his property, before he can obtain his discharge.

Mr. CONKLING. We are very anxious on this side to hear what the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. JENCKES] is saying, but at present we are unable to do so. I would sug gest to him, therefore, that he take a place nearer the center of the Hall, so that we can hear him.

Mr. ELDRIDGE. Mr. Speaker, Phope the gentleman from New York [Mr. CONKLING] will not insist upon the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. JENCKES] going over to that side of the House to make his speech. We very rarely have an opportunity to hear what is going on upon that side, or taking any part in the business of the House, however much we may desire it, and I trust we shall not be denied the pleasure of hearing the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. JENCKES] on this occasion.

Mr. JENCKES. If the House were more quiet I could easily be heard in all parts of the Hall.

The

Mr. Speaker, the whole of this explanation may be summed up in one sentence. The duties of these messengers are dispensed with in all cases of voluntary bankruptcy. responsibility thrown upon them by the bill as originally reported is now thrown upon the petitioning debtor. And unless the debtor satisfies the court that he has acted honestly in every respect in regard to his property between the time of his application and the time of receiving his discharge, then he is not to receive the benefit of this act.

I.will explain another amendment made in this bill. It is in regard to the payment of the officers called registers. By the original bill those officers were to be paid a salary, to be raised from the fees to be paid in each case. By the proposed amendment they are to be paid according to the services they render. And there is a provision inserted in the bill

giving the commissioners power to reduce these fees in certain classes of cases, so that no exorbitant compensation can be received by any one of these officers.

It is also required that one or more of these officers shall be appointed in each county of the United States, so that it shall be convenient for every party transacting business in this court to have one of those officers as accessible as the county clerk now is. It is also provided that these officers shall be appointed upon the nomination and recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. That officer is designated because he is to have the supervision, confirmation, and establishment of the rules of practice which are to form the code of practice in the courts of bankruptcy, if this bill shall become a law. These, I believe, are all the respects in which the bill now reported differs from the bill formerly before the House.

Mr. PAINE. I wish to inquire of the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. JENCKES] whether he alludes to the bill which was last voted on by the House as amended or to the bill formerly reported from the committee.

Mr. JENCKÉS. I refer to the bill which was last voted on by the House, containing all the amendments incorporated into it by a vote of the House. additional amendments reported by the comI have been explaining the mittee. I will state to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. PAINE] that the bill now reported embraces the amendment in which I suppose he is particularly interested, protecting the homesteads in all the northwestern and other States where there is a homestead law.

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say a few words in favor of the passage of this bill. Among the powers lodged in Congress by the Constitution of the United States is one to establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcy. I suppose it was intended that these Congress hitherto has failed to carry out the laws should not only be uniform but enduring. duty enjoined on it by the Constitution in establishing uniform and permament laws on the subject of bankruptcy.

Now, sir, the experience of this country ever since its organization is like the experience of every other civilized country. There are times and emergencies when men require the interposition of the Government to relieve them from misfortunes where their energy and enterprise have involved them in liabilities to which they are unable to respond.

In 1842 Congress passed a bankrupt law which was for the benefit of the debtors almost entirely. Yet in the purview of the Constitution it was the duty of Congress to pass a law for the creditors as well as for the debtors. When that law was passed thousands and tens of thousands of men whose energy and enterprise added to the aggregate wealth of the country were struck down by the revulsion of 1836 and 1887. They availed themselves of the benefit of that law and again applied their energies to the development of the resources of the nation. The country has become richer from their labor.

Unfortunately, however, that was not continuing legislation. Since then Congress has done nothing either for the benefit of debtor or creditor. Session after session bankrupt laws have been introduced and have been defeated, and in the mean time the men who have met with misfortune, against which they could not struggle, have gone down under the pressure of liabilities. They have remained idle, as they can do nothing with the heavy hand of the creditors upon them. In many States the debtors were liable to be put in prison for debt; but advancing civilization has either obliterated entirely or materially modified that law. But while debtors may not be imprisoned for debt, yet the country will lose the benefit of the energy and enterprise of these men because of the pressure of their liabilities. We ought at

once to relieve them.

I believe there is no measure before Congress which is entitled to a more careful con

sideration than this one for the relief of men who have been borne down by various disasters which have swept over the country since 1836. By the passage of this measure we relieve these unfortunates, and at the same time provide means by which the creditors may collect from the debtors. I do not suppose this law is perfect. I do not suppose any law we can pass will be perfect. It is, however, the basis upon which we can erect a more perfect superstructure, and I hope it will receive the favorable consideration of the House.

Mr. HOLMES. Mr. Speaker, it is well known that when this bill was before the House a few weeks ago, I voted against it. I did not do so because I was opposed to a bankrupt law, but for reasons peculiar to this bill in the form in which it then was. My objections were to the details, and not the principles of the bill. These objections have been entirely removed in the bill as it now stands.

The most important objection, as I regarded it, was to the unnecessary and expensive provision by which the marshal was required to take charge of the property of the bankrupt on the presentation of the petition, and hold it until an assignee was appointed, receiving mileage and his expenses, in addition to a rea sonable compensation for the custody of the property. This, in my judgment, was unnecessary, and in the district in which I reside would have been very expensive. This feature of the bill has been entirely removed, and the property remains in the hands or custody of the bankrupt until an assignee is appointed, and a provision has also been inserted that if he is guilty of fraud or negligence in the cus. tody of it, or in failing to deliver it to the assignee when appointed, his discharge shall not be granted.

The expenses necessarily incurred in taking the benefit of the former bill were too high, I thought; and, as one of my colleagues truthfully suggested, it would cost a man more to take the benefit of it than to pay his debts. The fees to officers for specific services have also been reduced, and the entire costs and expenses of the proceedings are reduced, in my judgment, not less than one third. register is provided in every county, so that parties and their attorneys will easily and readily be accommodated in the preliminary proceedings, which can be taken before that officer. In the form in which the bill now is I shall cheerfully vote for it and hope it will pass.

A

Mr. JENCKES. I move that the bill be printed.

The motion was agreed to.

The SPEAKER. The morning hour has expired; the bill will come up again on Tuesday next in the morning hour.

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS.

Mr. WILSON, of Iowa, by unanimous consent, reported back from the Committee on the Judiciary, Senate bill No. 186, amendatory of an act to provide for the reports of decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The bill was read. It allows eight months instead of six for the publication of the reports. The bill was read the third time and passed. Mr. WILSON, of Iowa, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

Mr. LE BLOND asked and obtained leave of absence for his colleague, Mr. FINCK, for two weeks from to-morrow.

WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. Mr PRICE, from the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, by unanimous consent, reported back Senete joint resolution No. 61, to extend the time for the construction of the first section of the Western Pacific railroad.

The joint resolution was read. It extends the time for the construction of the first twenty

miles to the 1st of January, 1867, on certain conditions named.

The joint resolution was read the third time and passed.

Mr. PRICE moved to reconsider the vote by which the joint resolution was passed; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

CALIFORNIA LAND GRANTS.

Mr. JULIAN, from the Committee on Public Lands, by unanimous consent, reported back House bill No. 441, to confirm the selection and location of certain lands granted to the State of California by the United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to be printed, and recommitted to the Committee on Public Lands.

Mr. ALLISON moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was recommitted; and also moved to lay that motion on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

TAX BILL.

Mr. MORRILL moved that the rules be suspended, and that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union on the special order.

The motion was agreed to.

So the rules were suspended; and the House accordingly resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr. DAWES in the chair,) and resumed the consideration of the special order, being a bill of the House (No. 513) to amend an act entitled "An act to provide internal revenue to support the Government, to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes,''approved June 30,1864, and acts amendatory thereof.

The pending paragraph, as amended, was as follows:

30. Auctioneers whose annual sales do not exceed $10.000 shall pay ten dollars, and if exceeding $10,000 shall pay twenty dollars. Every person shall be deemed an auctioneer within the meaning of this act whose business it is to offer property at public sale to the highest or best bidder: Provided, That the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to judicial or executive officers making auction sales by virtue of any judgment or decree of any court, nor publie sale made by or for executors, administrators, or guardians of any estate held by them as such.

Mr. HOTCHKISS. I move to amend the paragraph by adding these words:

Nor to attorneys in the ordinary prosecution of their business.

The CHAIRMAN. Debate is exhausted on this.

The question being taken on the amendment, no quorum voted.

Mr. CONKLING. I understand the chairman of the cominittee does not object to this amendment. I think it can be adopted without a quorum.

The amendment was accordingly adopted. The Clerk read as follows:

31. Manufacturers shall pay ten dollars. Any person, firm, or corporation who shall manufacture by hand or machinery any goods, wares, or merchandise, not otherwise provided for, exceeding annually the sum of $1,000, or shall be engaged in the manufacture or preparation for sale of any articles or compounds, or shall put up for sale in packages with his own name or trade mark thereon any articles or compound, shall be regarded as a manufacturer under this act.

No amendment being offered,
The Clerk read as follows:

32. Peddlers shall be classified and rated as follows, to wit: when traveling with more than two horses or mules, the first class, and shall pay fifty dollars; when traveling with two horses or mules, the second class, and shall pay twenty-five dollars; when traveling with one horse or mule, the third class, and shall pay fifteen dollars; when traveling on foot, the fourth class, and shall pay ten dollars. Any person, except persons peddling only newspapers, Bibles, or religious tracts, who sells or offers to sell at retail goods, wares, or other commodities, traveling from place to place, in the street or through different parts of the country, shall be regarded a peddler under this act: Provided. That any peddler who sells or offers to sell dry goods, foreign or domestic, by one or more original packages or pieces at one time, to the same person or persons, or who peddles jewelry, distilled spirits, fermented liquors or wines, shall pay fifty dollars: Provided further, That manufacturers and producers of agricultural tools and implements, garden seeds, fruit and ornamental trees, stoves and hollow Ware, brooms, wooden-ware, and powder, delivering

and selling at wholesale any of said articles, by themselves or their authorized agents, at places other than the place of manufacture, shall not therefor be required to pay any special tax.

Mr. MORRILL. I move to insert after the word "only" in line twelve hundred and thirtysix the words "charcoal or;" also, after the words "wooden-ware" in line twelve hundred and forty-seven to insert "charcoal."

The amendments were agreed to.

Mr. DAVIS. I move to insert after" woodenware" the words "stone-ware."

Mr. ALLISON. I would like to know why

that amendment is offered.

Mr. DAVIS. I wish simply to include earthen or stone-ware, so as to give the manufacturers the same privilege that is extended to the manufacturers of wooden-ware.

Mr. MORRILL. Stone-ware is never peddled; and I hope the gentleman will not press his amendment.

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. PIKE. I move, on page 59, line twelve hundred and forty-three, to strike out the words "distilled spirits."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. PIKE. I move to strike out, in the next line, the words "fermented liquors or wines."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. LOAN. I move to insert in line thirteen hundred and thirty-six, after the word "newspapers," the word "magazines."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. BOUTWELL. Have the words "distilled spirits" been stricken out?.

The CHAIRMAN. That amendment has been adopted, and no debate upon it is in order.

Mr. BOUTWELL. I move to insert in line twelve hundred and thirty-four, after the words "on foot," the words "or by public convey

ance.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. THAYER. I move to insert in line twelve hundred and forty-one, after the word sell," the words distilled spirits, fermented liquors, or wines."

Mr. GARFIELD. That is right.
The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. BERGEN. I move to insert in line twelve hundred and thirty-seven, after the word "commodities," the words "or the produce of his farm or garden; so that the clause will read:

Any person, except persons peddling only newspapers, magazines, Bibles, or religious tracts, or the produce of his farm or garden, who sells or offers to sell at retail, goods, wares, or other commodities, traveling from place to place, in the street, or through different parts of the country, shall be regarded a peddler under this act.

Farmers and gardeners travel through the cities and sell the produce of their farms and gardens. As the law now stands, without this amendment they would be compelled to pay for a license. I think they ought not to be compelled to pay it, and I therefore offer this amendment.

Mr. GARFIELD. I hope that amendment will not pass. If a man goes peddling his own produce, he ought to be considered a peddler and to pay a tax.

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. GARFIELD. I move to insert in line twelve hundred and forty-eight before the word "powder" the word " gun" so as to make it read "gunpowder.' The amendment was agreed to. The Clerk read as follows:

33. Apothecaries shall pay ten dollars. Every person who keeps a shop or building where medicines are compounded or prepared according to prescriptions of physicians, or where medicines are sold, shall be regarded as an apothecary under this act. But wholesale and retail dealers who have paid the special tax therefor shall not be required to pay a tax as an apothecary, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding; nor shall apothecaries who have paid the special tax be required to pay the tax as retail dealers in liquor in consequence of selling alcohol, or of selling or of dispensing, upon physicians' prescriptions, the wines and spirits officinal

poeias, in quantities not exceeding half a pint of either at one time, nor exceeding in aggregate cost value the sum of $300 per annum.

Mr. BENJAMIN. I move to amend by inserting in line twelve hundred and sixty two after the word "alcohol" the words "for medical purposes."

Mr. STEVENS. There is a great deal of the article used for mechanical purposes as well as for medical purposes.

The amendment was disagreed to.

Mr. ALLISON. I move to strike out in lines twelve hundred and fifty-eight and twelve hundred and fifty-nine the words "anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding." The amendment was agreed to.

The Clerk read as follows:

34. Photographers shall pay ten dollars. Any person or persons who make for sale photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, or pictures, by the action of light, shall be regarded a photographer under this

act.

No amendment being offered,
The Clerk read as follows:

35. Tobacconists shall pay ten dollars. Any person, firm, or corporation whose business it is to sell at retail cigars, snuff, or tobacco, in any form, shall be regarded as a tobacconist under this act. But wholesale and retail dealers, and keepers of hotels, inns, taverns, and eating houses, having paid the special tax therefor, shall not be required to pay the tax as tobacconists, anything in this act to the contrary notwithstanding.

No amendment being offered,

The Clerk read as follows:

36. Butchers shall pay ten dollars. Every person whose business it is to sell butchers' meat at retail shall be regarded as a butcher under this act: Provided, That no butcher having paid the special tax therefor shall be required to pay the tax as a retail dealer on account of selling other articles at the same store, stall, or premises: Provided further, That butchers who sell butchers' meat exclusively by themselves or agents, and persons who sell shell-fish or other fish, or both, traveling from place to place, and not from any shop or stand, shall be required to pay five dollars only, any existing law to the contrary notwithstanding; and shall not be required to pay the tax as a peddler for retailing butchers' meat or fish. And no special tax shall be imposed for selling sheil-fish or other fish from hand-carts or wheelbarrows.

Mr. MORRILL. I move to amend the first proviso by inserting before the words "tax as a retail dealer" the word "special."

The amendment was agreed to.

Mr. MORRILL. I move to amend the last proviso by striking out the words "and shall not be required to pay the tax as a peddler for retailing butchers' meat or fish."

The amendment was agreed to.
The Clerk read as follows:

37. Proprietors of theaters, museums, and concert halls, receiving pay as entrance money, shall pay $100. Every edifice used for the purpose of dramatie or operatic or other representations, plays, or performances, not including halls rented or used occasionally for concerts or theatrical representations, shall be regarded as a theater under this act: Pro vided, That when any such edifice is under lease at the passage of this act, the tax shall be paid by the lessee, unless otherwise stipulated between the parties to said lease.

No amendment being offered,
The Clerk read as follows:

38. The proprietor or proprietors of circuses shall pay $100. Every building, tent, space, or area where feats of horsemanship or acrobatic sports or theatrical performances are exhibited, shall be regarded as a circus under this act: Provided, That no special tax paid in one State shall exempt exhibitions from the tax in another State. And but one special tax shall be imposed under this act for exhibitions within any one State.

No amendment being offered,
The Clerk read as follows:

39. Jugglers shall pay twenty dollars. Every per son who performs by sleight of hand shall be regarded as a juggler under this act. The proprietors or agents of all other public exhibitions or shows for money, not enumerated in this section, shall pay ten dollars: Provided, That a special tax in one State shall not exempt exhibitions from the tax in another State. And but one special tax shall be imposed under this act for exhibitions within any one State.

Mr. MORRILL. I move to amend the last section of this paragraph by striking out the word "imposed" and inserting the word “required."

The amendment was agreed to.