178 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



*Died. 



Organization. The Senate was called to order 

 by the president pro tempore, George F. Ed- 

 munds. Dec. 13, 1883, that gentleman, Senator 

 Ingalls being in the chair, offered a resolution 

 that the Senate proceed to elect a president pro 

 tempore; Jan. 14, 1884, the resolution was car- 

 ried, and Henry B. Anthony was chosen. This 

 action was taken out of compliment to Mr. An- 

 thony, who seemed entitled to the honor by 

 length of service, but was known to be unfit 

 for the position on account of the precarious 

 condition of his health. When elected, he im- 

 mediately declined to accept the position tend- 

 ered, and Mr. Edmunds was once more chosen 

 president pro tempore, the Democrats voting for 

 George EL Pendleton. There was some discus- 

 sion as to whether any vacancy existed after the 

 declination of Mr. Anthony. It was the opin- 

 ion of Messrs. Sherman, Hoar, and Dawes, that 

 no vacancy had been made by the election of 

 Mr. Anthony, though as a measure of precau- 

 tion they were willing to re-elect Mr. Edmunds. 

 They did not deny the right of the Senate to 

 change its presiding officer at any time. Messrs. 

 Ingalls and Bayard maintained that the election 

 of Mr. Anthony and his declination left the po- 

 sition vacant ipso facto. Mr. Jones, of Florida, 

 argued that 'no vacancy existed when Mr. An- 

 thony was chosen, and that none could exist ex- 

 cept through the resignation of Mr. Edmunds. 

 He said : " The Senator from Kansas a while 

 ago stated that it had been the custom for this 

 body to exercise its power of removing its pre- 

 siding officer. I think that that rule has been 

 one of very recent date. I think, sir, that the 

 history of this body will show that the best 

 minds that ever occupied seats in it were, until 

 a few years ago, clearly of the opinion that 

 when the Senate elected a Senator to the posi- 

 tion of president pro tempore of this body in 

 the absence of the Vice-President of the United 

 States, or when he entered the presidential 

 office, he should hold until the office became 

 again constitutionally vacant. That was the 

 deliberate opinion of no less a man than Will- 

 iam H. Seward, expressed on this floor." 



Dec. 18, 1883, the following officers of the 

 Senate were chosen: Anson G. McCook, of 

 New York, Secretary ; Charles W. Johnson, 

 of Minnesota, Chief Clerk; James R. Young, 

 of Pennsylvania, principal Executive Clerk; 

 the Rev. Elias De Witt Huntley, of the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, Chaplain ; William P. Can- 

 aday, of North Carolina, Sergeant-at-Arms. 

 These officers were appointed by resolution, 

 and selected by a strict party vote ; some of 

 the Democratic Senators opposed any change 



t Kesigned. 



of Senate officers as inconsistent with the civil- 

 service reform legislation of the previous Con- 

 gress. 



The House of Representatives organized by 

 choosing John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, Speak- 

 er, Dec. 3, 1883. He received 190 votes against 

 113 votes for J. Warren Keifer, of Ohio. George 

 D. Robinson received two votes, and Messrs. 

 Lacey, Wadsworth, and Wise, one each. Thir- 

 teen members failed to vote. The following 

 subordinate officers were chosen December 4 : 

 John B. Clark, Jr., of Missouri, Clerk ; John P. 

 Leedom, of Ohio, Sergeant-at-Arms; J. G. Win- 

 tersmith, of Texas, Door-keeper ; Lycurgus Dai- 

 ton, of Indiana, Postmaster ; Rev. J. S. Lind- 

 say, of the District of Columbia, Chaplain. 



As the election of Mr. Carlisle to the speaker- 

 ship was the result of a sharp contest within the 

 lines of the Democratic party, which seemed to 

 involve the issue of tariff legislation, much po- 

 litical significance was attached to the follow- 

 ing paragraph of Mr. Carlisle's speech on taking 

 the chair: 



" I am sure, gentlemen, that all matters of 

 legislation presented during this Congress will 

 receive from you such careful consideration as 

 the magnitude and character of the interests 

 involved require, and that your action upon 

 them will be wise, conservative, and patriotic. 

 Sudden and radical changes in the laws and 

 regulations affecting the commercial and in- 

 dustrial interests of the people ought never to 

 be made unless imperatively demanded by some 

 great public emergency, and in my opinion, un- 

 der existing circumstances, such changes would 

 not be favorably received by any considerable 

 number of those who have given serious atten- 

 tion to the subject. Many reforms are undoubt- 

 edly necessary, and it will be your duty, after a 

 careful examination of the whole subject in all 

 its bearings, to decide how far they shall ex- 

 tend, and when and in what manner they shall 

 be made. If there are any who fear that your 

 action upon this or any other subject will be 

 actually injurious to any interest, or even afford 

 reasonable cause for alarm, I am quite sure that 

 they will be agreeably disappointed.'' 



The President's Message. The third annual 

 message of President Arthur was submitted to 

 Congress, Dec. 4, 1883, as follows: 



To the Congress of the United States : 



At the threshold of your deliberations 1 congratu- 

 late you upon the favorable aspect of the domestic and 

 foreign affairs of this Government. 



Our relations with other countries continue to be 

 upon a friendly footing. 



With the Argentine Eepublic, Austria, Belgium. 

 Brazil, Denmark, Hayti, Italy, Santo Domingo, and 





