234 



CONGRESS. (PENSIONS MISCELLANEOUS.) 



3. That the Government has the right to build and 

 operate telegraph lines under the jurisdiction of its 

 Post-Office Department. 



4. That public opinion will not permit, and good 

 faith and. justice do not require, the purchase by the 

 Government of the property and franchises of the 

 "Western Union Telegraph Company. 



Pensions. On March 8, 1888, the Senate 

 passed a dependent pension bill, but it failed 

 to get through the House. A measure pen- 

 sioning prisoners taken by the Confederates 

 during the. civil war also failed. An act was 

 passed, however, and approved, providing that 

 pensions hereafter granted to widows of sol- 

 diers of the war of the rebellion shall begin at 

 the date of the death of their husbands, not 

 from the date of filing claims. A bill was 

 passed and approved increasing to $30 a month 

 the pension for total deafness, and likewise an 

 act enabling certain volunteer soldiers denied 

 the $100 bounty under the act of 1872 to re- 

 ceive the benefit of that act ; and also a measure 

 providing for the payment of $100 a year for 

 each inmate in State and Territorial soldiers' 

 homes. Special pension bills were passed in 

 favor of Mrs. Logan and Mrs. Blair, but the 

 bill in favor of Mrs. Sheridan failed to get 

 through the House of Representatives. In all, 

 638 private pension bills were passed, of which 

 569 became laws with the President's signa- 

 ture, and 69 became laws without it. 



Miscellaneous. On May 29, 1888, both Houses 

 passed and the President approved a bill re- 

 viving the grade of General of the Army, so 

 that Gen. Sheridan, then in imminent danger 

 of death, might be appointed. 



On May 10, 1888, the Senate passed, after 

 discussion for more than three weeks, a bill 

 forfeiting all lands heretofore granted to any 

 State or corporation to aid in the construction 

 of a railroad which lands are opposite to and 

 conterminous with the portion of any such rail- 

 road not now completed and in operation. In 

 the House of Representatives the majority of 

 the Committee on Public Lands reported a 

 substitute for the Senate bill, which was de- 

 bated July 5 and passed July 6. The House 

 bill provided for the forfeiture of lands lying 

 along the sections of subsidized railroads not 

 completed within the time specified in the 

 grant, and the clashing of these two measures 

 prevented decisive action. 



On May 9, 1888, the Senate passed an inter- 

 national copyright bill, but the House failed to 

 act on it. 



On May 21, 18S8, the House of Representa- 

 tives passed a bill making the Department of 

 Agriculture an Executive department the head 

 of which shall be a Cabinet officer ; and Sep- 

 tember 21, the Senate passed the measure with 

 an amendment cutting out the provision of the 

 House bill transferring the Signal Service from 

 the War Department to that newly created. 

 So the bill fell by the way. 



Early in the session the President sent a 

 message to Congress recommending the crea- 

 tion of a national board of arbitration, and 



April 18, 1888, the House of Representatives 

 passed a measure carrying out the Executive 

 recommendations ; but it was not reached in 

 the Senate. 



The Blair educational bill was discussed at 

 length, and passed the Senate Feb. 15, 1888, by 

 a vote of 39 to 29 ; but it was not brought up 

 in the House. 



In his third annual message the President 

 expressed a doubt as to authority to purchase 

 bonds over and above the requirements of the 

 sinking-fund, though the authority had been 

 given in a clause in an appropriation bill, June 

 30, 1882. On April 5, 1888, the Senate passed 

 a resolution declaring that such purchase of 

 bonds is lawful, and April 16, the House passed 

 a resolution to the same effect. 



On March 21, 1888, the House passed a bill 

 to establish a Department of Labor to be un- 

 der control of a Commissioner of Labor. May 

 22, the Senate amended and passed the meas- 

 ure ; and May 31, both Houses agreed to accept 

 the report of a conference committee. The 

 bill was approved by the President ; and it 

 merely reorganized the existing Bureau of 

 Labor Statistics. 



On March 19, 1888, the House of Representa- 

 tives passed a measure authorizing the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury to issue silver certificates 

 in denominations of twenty-five, fifteen, and 

 ten cents ; but the Senate failed to take up the 

 measure. 



On April 19, 1888, the Senate passed a bill 

 admitting South Dakota into the Union; but 

 it failed in the House, and so no action was 

 taken on measures for the admission of other 

 new States. The bill for organizing the Terri- 

 tory of Oklahoma also failed. 



The House of Representatives made careful 

 investigations of immigration and of trusts and 

 combinations ; but reached no result in legis- 

 lation on either subject. 



A bill was passed authorizing the President 

 to arrange a conference between the nations 

 of Central America, South America, and the 

 West Indies for the establishment of interna- 

 tional arbitration and the promotion of com- 

 merce. 



Measures were adopted appropriating money 

 for a gun-factory and for several new ships of 

 war. 



A bill was passed making certain judgments 

 and decrees in Federal courts liens on property 

 throughout the State in which the court is 

 held. 



Congress provided for an international con- 

 ference to secure greater safety for life and 

 property at sea ; for twenty-seven new public 

 buildings ; for an investigation by the Geologi- 

 cal Survey of means of storing water in arid 

 regions ; for representation at the expositions 

 in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona, and Melbourne. 



Measures not already mentioned that failed 

 to become law's were the bill to quiet the title 

 of settlers on the Des Moines river lands; the 

 bill raising the salary of district judges; the 



