THE SENATE

PREPARING TO DO BUSINESS.

The Senate convened as prescribed by the Constitution, the first Monday in December at 12 m., December 4, 1899.

William P. Fry, President pro tempore, called the body to order.

Prayer by Chaplain, Rev. W. H. Milburn, D. D.

Credentials of new members referred to the committee on credentials. Credentials of Hon. William A. Clark of Montana, objected to by Senator Carter of Montana.

The hour of daily meeting was established at 12 M.

Resolved that Matthew S. Quay be admitted as a Senator from the State of Pennsylvania in accordance with his appointment made by the Governor of the State.

New Senators took the oath of office.

House and President notified that the Senate is ready to do business.

Resolutions on the death of Vice-President Garrat A. Hobart were offered as follows:

Resolved, That the Senate has received with the deepest regret information of the death of Garrat Augustus Hobart, late Vice-President of the United States.

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be suspended in order that the distinguished public service of the deceased, and the virtue of his character may be fittingly commemorated.

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be instructed to communicate these resolutions to the House of Representatives. Senate adjourned in honor of the Vice-President.

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE SENATE.

December 5th, President's message sent to Senate. December 7, Contested seat of Senator Clark discussed. December 7, Contested seat of Nathan B. Scott discussed. December 8 Elihu Root, of New York, confirmed as Secretary of Navy.

TRUSTS.

ecember 11, Resolved that any contract, agreement, or combination between two or more corporations which has for its purpose the control of the price of anything which is the subject of, or enters into interstate commerce, or the cost of transportation thereof, so as to increase the same at any place or locality in the

United States, or to discriminate in favor of or against any class of dealers, traders or customers of such articles within the United States is contrary to the public policy of the United States, and every such contract, agreement, or combination is illegal and is prohibited.

Sec. 2. That any person being a member of any corporation or acting as its agent, officer, or employee, who enters into any such contract, agreement, or combination or knowingly assists in the execution or performance thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to prosecution for such an offense on information or by indictment in the district court of the United States, in and for the district in which such offense is committed; and on conviction thereof such person shall be fined in a sum not less than $100.00 or more than $5,000.00, and also be imprisoned for a term, in the discretion of the court in which such conviction is had, not less than one month and not greater than two months.

December 11, Resolutions in favor of the South African Republic as follows:

Whereas, From the hour of achieving their independence the people of the United States have regarded with sympathy the struggles of other peoples to free themselves from European domination, therefore

Resolved by the Senate of the United States that we watch with deep and abiding interest the heroic battle of the South African Republic against cruelty and oppression, and our best hopes go out for the full success of their determined contest for liberty. Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

December 12, Resolution on the Philippines as follows:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Navy be and hereby is directed to inform the Senate whether the flag of the Philippine Republic was carried by vessels in Manilla Bay and whether the flag of the Philippine Republic was ever saluted by Admiral Dewey or any of the vessels of his fleet at any time since May 1, 1898.

Were Spanish prisoners delivered over to the Philippine forces at the time of the surrender of Subig Bay?

Did a vessel commanded by the forces under Aguinaldo fly the Philippine flag, accompany the vessels Concord and Raleigh back to Subig Bay in June, 1898, in order to compel the surrender of the Spanish force?

Resolution went over under the rules.

POLICY REGARDING THE PHILIPPINES.

December 18, Senator Tillman offered the following resolu

tions:

First, Resolved that in the words of the Declaration of Independence, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments were instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its power in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Second, That under the Constitution of the United States, the Federal Government has no power to rule over colonial dependencies, but it is restricted in its operations to States as integral parts of the Union, and to Territories intended for future States.

Third, That the expansion of our commerce has not been and cannot be dependent upon the adoption of a policy of imperialism involving the subjugation and annexation of Asiatic Colonies, but would in the end be hindered by such policy.

Fourth, That we are opposed to the retention of the Philippine Islands by the United States, and that it is our purpose to consent to the independence of the Philippines as soon as a stable government shall be established by them, and toward the establishment of such government we pledge our friendly assistance.

Ordered printed and to lie upon the table until called up.

INTEROCEANIC CANALS.

December 18. Senator McBride offered the following resolu

tions:

Resolved, That the Librarian of Congress be, and he is hereby directed to report to the Senate the sources of information as printed in regard to the Nicarauguan and other interoceanic canals.

December 19, Hon. William V. Allen took oath of office having been appointed by the Governor of Nebraska to fill vacancy.

RESPECTING CUBA.

December 20, Proclamation of Governor-General Brooke, issued at Habana, Cuba, was read, ordered printed, and referred to committee on Relations with Cuba; and was as follows:

By direction of the President, I hereby transfer to my successor, Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, the duties and responsibilities of the office of military governor, bespeaking for him that support and confidence which you have come to accord me. To those who have been associated with me in the performance of the difficult task of reorganizing and placing in operation the civil government of the Island I hereby tender this expression of appreciation and thanks for their loyal and patriotic support and assist

ance.

A year ago I found the country most thoroughly devastated, its resources and commerce destroyed, and its rural population gathered into towns, without food and without shelter, and dying of starvation and exposure. The Government of the United States immediately supplied work and food.

In a short time this condition passed away, and now the country is rapidly pressing forward to a prosperity hitherto unknown in its history.

Look about and see how true this is. The various steps that have led to the present condition are well known to you and need not be mentioned here. The change is truly marvelous. Without the semblance of civil government then, you have now a complete organization. Your municipal and provincial governments are all in the hands of your own citizens. The military control is purely advisory and supervisory. Many of your laws have been modified and changed to suit the times in which you live as well as interests of good government. Your courts have been reorganized and are in operation. Peace reigns. Law and order rule.

By your own industry and by a careful observance of these conditions the full restoration of your social affairs and prosperity is assured. With the feeling that the future is in your hands, to make or to mar, and trusting that wise counsels may prevail among you, I say to you farewell.

OBLIGATIONS TO NEW POSSESSIONS.

December 20, Resolutions offered by Senator Hoar were as follows:

Whereas, the American people and the several States in the Union have in times past, at important periods in their history, especially when declaring their independence, establishing their Constitution, or undertaking new and great responsibilities seen fit to declare the purposes for which the Nation or State was founded and the important objects the people intended to pursue in their political action; and

Whereas, the close of a great war, the liberation by the United States of the people of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Western

Hemisphere and of the Philippine Islands in the far east, and the reduction of those peoples to a condition of practical dependence upon the United States, constitute an occasion which makes such a declaration proper; Therefore be it

Resolved, That this Republic adheres to the doctrines which were in the past set forth in the Declaration of Independence and in its National and State constitutions.

That the purpose of its existence and the objects to which its political action ought to be directed are the ennobling of humanity, the raising from the dust of its humblest and coarsest members, and the enabling of persons coming lawfully under its power or influence to live in freedom and in honor, under governments whose forms they are to have a share in determining and in whose administration they have an equal voice. Its most important and pressing obligations are:

1. To solve the difficult problem presented by the presence of different races on our own soil, with equal constitutional rights. To make the negro safe in his home, secure in his vote, equal in his opportunity for education and employment, and to bring the Indian to a civilization and culture in accordance with his need and capacity.

2. To enable great cities to govern themselves in freedom, in honor, and in purity.

3. To make the ballot box as pure as a sacramental vessel and the elective return as perfectly in accord with the law and the truth as the judgment of the Supreme Court.

4. To banish illiteracy and ignorance from the land.

5. To secure for every workman and for every working woman wages enough to support a life of comfort and an old age of leisure and quiet, as befits those who have an equal share in a self-governing State.

6. To grow and expand over the continent and over the islands of the sea just so fast, and no faster, as we can bring into equality and self-government, under our constitution, peoples and races who will share these ideals and help to make them realities.

7. To set a peaceful example of freedom which mankind will be glad to follow, but never to force even freedom upon unwilling nations at the point of the bayonet or at the cannon's mouth.

8. To abstain from interfering with the freedom and just rights of other nations or peoples, and to remember that the liberty to do right necessarily involves the liberty to do wrong, and that the American people has no right to take from any other people the birthright of freedom because of a fear that they will do wrong with it.

Resolution laid on table subject to call.