CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (BILLS PASSED.) 



227 



sale of intoxicating liquors; December 6, an 

 amendment prohibiting the denial or abridg- 

 ment of a citizen's right to vote on account 

 of nativity; the same day, another amendment 

 prohibiting the denial of the right to vote on 

 account of sex ; December 10, an amendment 

 providing for the election of postmasters, reve- 

 nue collectors, judges, marshals, and United 

 States district attorneys by the people ; March 

 10, an amendment providing that legal-tender 

 notes shall never be issued in excess of $850,- 

 000,000 unless by a two-third vote of each 

 House of Congress ; March 12, an amendment 

 changing the presidential term to six years, 

 and making the President ineligible there- 

 after. In the House amendments were pro- 

 posed as follows: December 10, an amend- 

 ment declaring that the House of Representa- 

 tives shall not be composed of more than 350 

 members ; the same day, another amendment 

 forbidding special, local, or private legislation 

 by Congress: the same day, a third amend- 

 ment directed against bigamy and polygamy ; 

 the same day, a fourth amendment changing 

 the method of choosing electors and regulatiug 

 the counting of electoral votes; the same day, 

 a fifth amendment forbidding the appropriation 

 of any sum in excess of $10,000 by Congress, 

 unless by a majority vote of all the members 

 of each house; December 11, an amendment 

 against contract convict-labor ; the same day, 

 another amendment providing that every meas- 

 ure passed by Congress be either approved or 

 disapproved by the President, and prescribing 

 the rules for passing a measure over the presi- 

 dential veto ; the same day, a third amendment 

 providing that direct taxes, when levied by 

 the United States, shall be apportioned accord- 

 ing to the value of property in each State, 

 Territory, and the District of Columbia; Janu- 

 ary 7, an amendment providing for the elec- 

 tion of Senators by the people ; the same day, 

 another amendment giving Congress the power 

 to limit the hours of labor in manufactories; 

 January 8, an amendment authorizing Congress 

 to establish uniform marriage and divorce laws 

 in the several States and Territories; the same 

 day, another amendment prohibiting the lend- 

 ing of the credit of the United States to any 

 private corporation; the same day, a third 

 amendment limiting the time for the presenta- 

 tion of claims ; the same day, a fourth amend- 

 ment regulating the approval and disapproval 

 of bills by the President, and preventing any 

 bill from becoming a law after the adjourn- 

 ment of Congress ; the same day, a fifth amend- 

 ment prohibiting Congress and the State Le- 

 gislatures from making laws prohibiting or 

 abridging the manufacture or sale of any arti- 

 cle of merchandise composed or prepared in 

 whole or in part of any product of the soil ; 

 the same day, a sixth amendment providing 

 that a majority vote shall be sufficient to pass 

 a bill over the President's veto ; February 4, 

 an amendment allowing an export tax on un- 

 manufactured cotton; February 11, an amend- 



ment providing for the election of President 

 and Vice-President by a direct vote of the peo- 

 ple; February 25, an amendment providing 

 that the clause forbidding a State to pass a 

 law impairing the nature of a contract, shall 

 not restrict the taxing power of the State ; 

 March 10, an amendment denying the right of 

 Congress to make anything but gold and silver 

 legal tender, except after a declaration of war ; 

 the same day, another amendment denying this 

 right to Congress absolutely. And finally, 

 April 14, a joint resolution was submitted 

 providing for the calling of a constitutional 

 convention. In making note of the proposed 

 amendments every resolution has not been 

 mentioned, but simply every distinct point 

 chosen for amendment. Sometimes two, three, 

 or four different amendments were proposed, 

 covering the same point. 



Bills Passed. The following bills and reso- 

 lutions, other than private ones, were passed 

 during the session : 



To authorize the construction of a bridge for the 

 transportation of street-cars, wagons, and other ve- 

 hicles, horses and other animals, and pedestrians, 

 over the Rio Grande river between the cities of Eagle 

 Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico. 



To enable the State of Colorado to take lands in 

 lieu of the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections found 

 to be mineral lands, and to secure to the State of Col- 

 orado the benefit of the act of July 2, 1862, entitled 

 " An act donating public lands to the several States 

 and Territories which may provide colleges for the 

 benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts." 



Providing a civil government for the Territory of 

 Alaska. 



To repeal section 8 of an act entitled " An act to 

 accept and ratify the agreement submitted by the 

 confederated bands of Ute Indians in Colorado for the 

 sale of their reservation in said State, and for other 

 purposeSj and to muke the necessary appropriations 

 for carrying out the same," approved June 15, 1880. 



To extend the duration of the Court of Commission- 

 ers of Alabama claims, and for other purposes. 



Donating a part of the abandoned military reser- 

 vation at Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the city of Fort 

 Smith, for the use and benefit of the free public 

 schools thereof, and for other purposes. 



To give the assent of Congress to the construction 

 of a tree bridge by the Mayor and City Council of 

 Nashville, Tenn., over the Cumberland river. 



To authorize the construction of a bridge across the 

 Missouri river at the city of Leavenworth, Kansas. 



To repeal section 1 of the act entitled "An act 

 making a grant of lands in alternate sections to aid in 

 the construction and extension of the Iron Mountain 

 Railroad, from Pilot Knob, in the State of Missouri, to 

 Helena, in Arkansas," approved July 4, 1866, and 

 for other purposes. 



To increase the endowment of the University of Ala- 

 bama from the public lands in said State. 



To establish a standard of time in the District of 

 Columbia. 



To authorize the construction of a bridge for the 

 transportation of street-cars and other vehicles, etc., 

 over the Rio Grande river between the cities of Lare- 

 do, Texas, and Nueva Laredo, Mexico. 



To extend the benefits of section 4 of an act enti- 

 tled "An act making appropriations for the support 

 of the Army for the year ending June 30, 1866," ap- 

 proved March 3, 1865. 



To fix and render certain the terms of the United 

 States Circuit and District Courts in the Eastern and 

 Northern Districts of Texas. 



To authorize the Oregon Pacific Railroad Company 



