branch of congress. Among these was the bill of Senator Marion Butler of North Carolina, reading as follows:

"Be it enacted, That the issuance of interest-bearing bonds of the United States for any purpose whatever without further authority of congress is hereby prohibited."

This measure caused the most spirited contest of the session in the senate, Mr. Hill of New York leading a protracted opposition. On June 2 the senate passed the bill by a vote of 32 to 25. Those who voted in the affirmative were:

Messrs. Allen (Neb.), Bacon (Ga.), Bate (Tenn.), Berry (Ark.), Brown (Utah), Butler (N. C.), Cannon (Utah), Chilton (Tex.), Daniel (Va.), Dubois (Ida.), George (Miss.), Hansbrough (N. D.), Harris (Tenn.), Jones (Ark.), Jones (Nev.), Mills (Tex.), Mitchell (Ore.), Morgan (Ala.), Pasco (Fla.), Peffer (Kan.), Pettigrew (S. D.), Pritchard (N. C.), Pugh (Ala.), Stewart (Nev.), Teller (Colo.), Tillman (S. C.), Turpie (Ind.), Vest (Mo.), Walthall (Miss.), Warren (Wyo.), White (Cal.), Wolcott (Colo.).

Those who voted in the negative were:

Messrs. Aldrich (R. I.), Allison (Io.), Brice (O.), Burrows (Mich.), Caffery (La.), Chandler (N. H.), Cullom (III.), Davis (Minn.), Faulkner (W. Va.), Gallinger (N. H.), Hale (Me.), Hawley (Conn.), Hill (N. Y.), Lindsay (Ky.), Lodge (Mass.), McBride (Ore.), Mitchell (Wis.), Nelson (Minn.), Palmer (Ill.), Platt (Conn.), Quay (Penn.), Smith (N. J.), Vilas (Wis.), Wetmore (R. I.), Wilson (Wash.).

An analysis of the vote shows that 10 republicans, 17 democrats, and 5 populists supported the bill, while 16 republicans and 9 democrats voted against it.

When the bill reached the house, Chairman Dingley of the ways and means committee reported it adversely, June 5. Ilis report states:

"Practically, the senate bill under consideration takes away from the secretary of the treasury the power to borrow either gold or silver to maintain the coin redemption fund, in the face of the fact that the government owns only 28 millions of silver dollars and a little over 100 millions of gold that can be used for redemption purposes, which fund would disappear in a very brief period if it should be understood that the power to borrow in an exigency had been abrogated. The inevitable result of such a reckless course would be repudiation by the government, depreciation of the currency, and such a panic in the country as was never before experienced.'

Owing to the adverse report, the bond bill was not acted on by the house.

Senate Bond Investigation.-Another bond measure which excited bitter controversy in the senate was that of Mr. Peffer of Kansas, proposing an investigation. of recent bond issues. After a stirring debate, in which Mr. Hill again led the opposition, the investigation was authorized as follows:

"

Resolved, That the committee on finauce be directed“To investigate and report generally all the material facts and circumstances connected with the sale of United States bonds by the secretary of the treasury in the years 1894, 1895, and 1896. * *

*

To investigate and report as to the manner of disposing of said bonds, by what authority, and what contracts, advertisements, or proposals were made by the secretary of the treasury in relation thereto; what agreements or contracts, and whether oral or in writing, and whether publicly or privately, were entered into by the secretary of the treasury and any syndicate or person or persons with respect to the sale and purchase of the bonds, and the profits made or to be made by such syndicate or any person or persons connected with such syndicate, directly or indirectly; whether such contract or agreement had any and what effect on the prices offered for the bonds, what the effect was, and who, if any person, profited by it, and to what extent."

Acting on this resolution, an investigating committee, drawn from the membership of the finance committee, was appointed as follows: Senators Harris, Vest, Walthall, Jones of Nevada, and Platt. The committee examined Secretary Carlisle, Assistant Secretary Curtis, August Belmont, J. Pierpont Morgan, and others, and had not completed its work at the end of June.

Contempts of Court.-The bill regulating the practice in contempts of court passed the senate, but did not pass the house. It grew out of the great railroad strike of 1894, when Eugene V. Debs and others were imprisoned for contempt of court, in failing to observe the court order to desist from encouraging the strike.

The bill permits summary punishment for direct contempt of court, in the presence of the judge. But in indirect contempts, the court is to be obliged to give the accused a reasonable opportunity to purge himself of such contempt. If the accused answer, the trial shall proceed upon testimony produced as in criminal cases, and the accused shall be entitled to be confronted with the witnesses against him; and, upon application of the accused, a trial by jury shall be had as in any criminal case.

Restricting Immigration.-On May 20 the house passed the bill further restricting immigration, by excluding all male persons between sixteen and sixty years of age who cannot both read and write the English language or some other language. In the senate Mr. Lodge reported the bill with the following addition:

"For the purpose of testing the ability of the immigrant to read and write, the inspection officers shall be furnished with copies of the constitution of the United States, printed on numbered uniform pasteboard slips, each containing five lines of said constitution printed in the various languages of the immigrants, in double small pica type. The immigrant may designate the language in which he prefers the test shall be made. Each immigrant shall be required to draw one of said slips from the box and read, and afterward write out, in full view of the immigration officers, the five lines printed thereon.

Each slip shall be returned to the box immediately after the test is finished; and the contents of the box shall be shaken up by an inspection officer before another drawing is made. No immigrant failing to read and write out the slip thus drawn by him shall be admitted; but he shall be returned to the country from which he came at the expense of the steamship or railroad company which brought him, as now provided by law."

The bill was fixed as the first order of business in the senate on the reconvening of congress in December of the present year.

Nicaragua Canal Bills.-Bills to incorporate the Nicaragua Canal Company, and to build the railway, were reported favorably in the senate and house, but were not acted on in either body. The bills in each house propose $100,000,000 of canal bonds, guaranteed by the United States, the proceeds to be used in building the canal. The house report sums up the advantages of the project as follows:

"The board of engineers have stated in their depositions before the Interstate Commerce Committee that they believe the Nicaragua canal is entirely feasible, and when completed will be practicable for commercial purposes; but they differ with the engineers of the company as to the probable cost of the work. As we have already stated, the advantages to be derived from the construction of this great interoceanic waterway are so vast that we believe the canal should be built, even though the cost of its construction exceed the figures of the board of engineers. In our opinion the government should assist the company in the completion of the work, even if it costs over $150,000,000; but if, as we believe, it can be constructed for about $100,000,000, so much the better. The canal should be built as a matter of national need.

"The difference of opinion existing between the board of engineers and the engineers of the company does not in any way affect the feasibility or practicability of the canal, nor in any way lessen its importance to the United States. From all the evidence submitted to the committee, it is evident that the canal is a perfectly feasible project. Under these circumstances we feel justified in recommending that congress should take immediate action to give such aid to the enterprise as may be necessary to obtain the funds which are necessary to complete the work already commenced. As we have already stated, the advantages to be derived by the United States from such co-operation are untold, whereas the risk is practically nothing.

"It is the opinion of the committee that a commanding sense of patriotic duty to our whole country demands that the government of the United States give such aid to the enterprise as will assure its speedy and economical construction. It is no longer a question as to whether the canal will be built or not, but as to who shall build it and who shall control it when built. The feasibility of the proposed interoceanic waterway has been fully demonstrated, and its importance and advantages to commerce have never been seriously questioned. Its consummation is inevitable, for its necessity is present and imperative; and when completed it will insure the safety and prosperity of the interests and industries of the American people."

Vol. 6.-24.

Pacific Railway Debt.-Bills to fund the Pacific railway debt were reported in both houses, but not passed. The debt reaches 61 millions and is fast maturing, so that some mode of settlement is imperative. The bills reported seek to extend the debt over a period of years and gradually extinguish it. Adverse reports were made in both houses, and notice given of strenuous opposition to this plan of extension.

Private Acts.-Among the private acts of interest were those pensioning the widow of General Doubleday at $100 per month; the widow of General Walter Q. Gresham at $100 per month; the widow of General Thomas Ewing at $75; and the daughter of General Phil Kearney at $25.

Senate and House Calendar Bills.-Among the bills on the senate calendar at the date of adjournment, which had been favorably reported from committees, were a number of considerable importance, among which were the following:

House bill to prevent the extermination of the Alaska fur-seal herd; house bill to reduce the cases in which the penalty of death may be inflicted; senate resolution to open to public entry the Uncompaligre Indian reservation in Utah; senate bills for admission of New Mexico and Arizona as states; senate bill for the appointment of a non-partisan labor commission; senate resolution authorizing the appointment of a Board of Naval Officers to report upon the cost of establishing a coaling station on Navassa island; senate bill providing for the election of a delegate in congress from Alaska; senate bill to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy; senate bill for laying a cable between the United States and Hawaii and Japan; and senate bill directing the Interstate Commerce Commission to prepare a uniform freight classification.

Among the more important measures on the house calendar, were the following:

To aid the public-land states to establish and support schools of mines; to amend the postal laws relating to second-class matter; to create a special commission on highways-the "Good Roads Commission;" the Hawaii-Japan-China cable bill; to provide for a commission on the subject of the alcoholic liquor traffic; to authorize the people of Oklahoma to form a constitution and state government; to grant per diem service pensions to honorably discharged officers and soldiers of the War of the Rebellion; to prevent the purchase of or speculating in claims against the government by United States officers; to prevent free labor from convict competition; to provide for the election of a delegate in congress from Alaska; and bills to provide for the admission as states of Arizona and New Mexico.

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY.

The Steel Pool. One of the most important events of the quarter was the formation of the steel pool in April. This largest combination of manufacturers known to the modern industrial world" consists of twenty-one steel companies; and, though not all the great companies are included in it, it is thought to be sufficiently powerful to control the output and to advance the prices of steel billets. The companies in the pool are:

Bethlehem Iron Company, South Bethlehem, Penn.; Pennsylvania Steel Company of Steelton, Penn; Maryland Steel Company, Sparrow's Point, Md.; Lackawanna Iron & Steel Company, Scranton, Penn.; Cambria Iron Company, Johnstown, Penn.; Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, Pittsburg, Penn.; Jones & Laughlins, Limited, Pittsburg, Penn.; Hainsworth Steel Company, Pittsburg, Penn.; National Tube Works Company, McKeesport, Penn.; Shenango Valley Steel Company, Newcastle, Penn.; Wheeling Steel Works, Wheeling, W. Va.; Riverside Iron Works, Wheeling, W. Va.; Bellaire Steel Company, Bellaire, O.; Junction Iron & Steel Company, Mingo Junction, O.; Ashland Steel Company, Ashland, Ky.; King, Gilbert & Warner, Columbus, O.; Ohio Steel Company, Youngstown, O.; Cleveland Rolling Mill Company, Cleveland, O.; Johnson Company, Lorain, O.; Otis Steel Company, Cleveland, O.; and the Union Steel Company, Alexandria, Ind.

The only steel-making companies of importance that are not comprised in the pool are these six:

Schoenberger Steel Company of Pittsburg, Penn.; North Branch Steel Company of Danville, Penn.; Wellman Steel Company of Thurlow, Penn.; Pottstown Iron Company of Pottstown, Penn., (which has not produced any steel for several months); Troy Steel Company of Troy, N. Y.; and the Illinois Steel Company, which is kept out of the pool by the anti-trust laws of the state of Illinois.

The capital interested in the pool is $300,000,000. Every mill has its percentage in the pool, the distribution being made on the basis of the total shipments month by month. Any concern which exceeds its allotment pays $2 per ton for its excess, the money thus collected being distributed among the works which have not shipped their allotment. The concerns will not deal through commission merchants and brokers, but with consumers directly.

Business Failures.-At the opening of the quarter Bradstreet's had to report that the total number of failures for the first three months of the year was much larger than usual. It was in fact

"So much larger than ever before as to challenge attention, particularly when it is recalled that these reports exclude failures of those engaged in agricultural pursuits, in any of the professions, in transportation enterprises, or as employés in mercantile and industrial concerns, or of those engaged in purely personal service." For the three months ended March 31 the business fail