bills go on the calendars, to be considered, with some exceptions, only in the order of the dates of filing, and of course not in the order of their respective importance. As the bills are far too numerous to be reached in this order before the end of the session, the only mode of procuring action upon any measure is to ask unanimous consent for its present consideration. If the majority should decline such action no fault could be found; but why each member should have the power to forbid it, is what no business man can find Of course, such objections provoke retaliation, and as all great measures are the most obnoxious to the chronic objector, this rule is largely responsible for the terrible procrastination which always attends action thereon, as well as for the mouse-like progeny of the Congressional mountain. Only 434 per cent of the bills presented passed the House last session, and what great measure is included among these?

out.

ABSENCE.

"No quorum," "No quorum," is the continual cry after the first or second month of every session. So many of the men who have sold their time to the public at $5,000 per annum each, and mileage, for five months' work, are always absent "by unanimous consent," (generally given that they may devote their time to "important business" of their own,) that not enough are left to transact the public business. The extent to which this evil has grown has made it a national scandal. What scenes did it cause in the 51st Congress! What a continual embarrassment during the last session

The indexes of the last Record show 347 leaves of absence granted to the 335 members of the House, all "on account of important business," aggregating 2,144 days, besides 176 leaves on account of sickness. In fact, there were

only 91 members who were never on the absent list for one or other of these causes, while some of the delinquents were excused two, three, and even eight times apiece! As shown above, the daily cost to the nation of the service of each Representative is $83.30. At this rate, the sum abstracted from the Treasury by those "business" absentees amounted to $176,929, to which economist Holman's attention is likewise invited. We also respectfully suggest to that influential gentleman the propriety of enforcing the rule requiring constant attendance, by refusing all leaves of absence on "business," except on deduction from pay of $83.00 per day during the long session, and double that sum during the short session. If men cannot spare the time they sell to the government from their own affairs, they should not accept office. But if they do, they should reimburse the government for the loss it sustains by the abstraction of their time. The absences in the Senate were about as numerous, proportionately, as in the House, but these were not indexed in the Record.

At

But the loss of the cost of service not rendered is not the only loss to the nation caused by absentees. During the last session there were 36 calls of the House to ascertain a quorum. $1,865 each, these aggregated an additional loss of $67,140. At 36 meetings business was suspended or adjournments anticipated for lack of a quorum. There was seldom a quorum at the Friday night sessions, often not half a quorum. Owing to the heat of the summer months at Washington aggravating the unsanitary condition of the Capitol, sickness is largely responsible for absences during the latter part of the session; yet it would be amusing, if it were not so injurious, to observe that leaves on account of business continue to be even then unaniniously granted, often by houses. so thin as to barely command a quorum. Members of Congress are by the Con

stitution exempt from arrest in civil cases, and from responsibility elsewhere for utterances in their places. Are they also exempt from the obligations of common honesty? This would seem to be their opinion as to a large proportion of their political action, as well as to this matter of absence and to its correlative infamy,

THE PAIRING SYSTEM,

Which seems to have been designed for the double purpose of facilitating the absence of members (while drawing government pay) and of dodging responsibility for votes that might afterwards prove troublesome in their records. The pairing theory is that the passage of no bill can be affected by the loss of equal votes from both sides; and the utterly false presumption is, that party votes decide all questions. While therefore all pairs are effected between members of opposite parties, it results in practice that as hardly one per cent of the business is decided by strict party votes, so both votes in every pair would, if present, often be cast on the same side. No remark is more common than, "I am paired with Mr.; I do not know how he would vote if present, therefore I withhold my vote.' Moreover, the pairs double the number of silent votes caused by absence, making it generally very difficult to get a quorum of active votes on any question, and often necessitating several divisions. Again, the pairs are generally made for the week or ten days leave of the absent party, during which fifty questions may be voted on, not one of them partisan or foreseen, so that no calculation of the effect upon business can be made by the persons pairing. Yet this farcical bargain is made the constant excuse for not voting, even on questions of adjournment, or of order, or reference of bills, or on dila tory or filibustering motions. Of course, the fate of many a bill would be differ

ent if all parties were present, or no pairs were allowed.

This practice should be entirely abolished in both Houses. Absence should incur the loss of the absentee's vote, as well as a heavy fine. When constituents are made to suffer by intrusting their interests to a man who refuses to attend to them, they will not be likely to re-elect him. As it is now, there are too few readers of the Record, and the press is too indifferent to matters of detail in

Congress for the voters to know much about the movements of their Representative, or whether he is discharging his duty or not.

SIZE OF COMMITTEES.

Would it not be a sensible improvement if the number of members placed on standing and select committees in both Houses should be so reduced that no man should have more than one committee to attend to? At present all the Representatives are placed on at least two committees each, and each Senator on four. The results of this are that some of the committees do nothing. A large committee is a temptation to absence, for the delinquent is apt to feel that there will surely be a quorum without him. The hours of different committee meetings must sometimes clash. The conscientious discharge of duty at the meeting of the House and at one committee is work enough for one day, especially in view of the years and infirmities of men who are middle-aged or old, and of sedentary habits, many of them sickly, and whose health is seriously exposed to the bad air, the excitements, the climate, and the often unavoidable overwork, of Congressional life. Except in a few of the busiest committees, where subdivision must be resorted to, the number of five or seven is more effective than the present favorite fifteen. Members of a small committee are more easily got together, are

A well meant but unsupported effort was made early at the last session by Representative Enloe of Tennessee, to avoid the interruption of business caused by devoting an entire day to the delivery of eulogies on every decedent member, by holding such services on Sundays.

During the 51st Congress the deaths of fifteen members caused the loss of twenty-four days in adjournments and eulogies. At the ratio of cost of the present House of $14,924 per day, these ceremonies involved a loss of $358,176, besides an average week's absence at each, death of at least seven members, and their expenses as funeral committees, which would aggregate about $100ooo more. To this is always added the publication of the addresses in a book at government expense. So that, all told, the present cost to the nation of each death (besides the $5,000 or so voted to the family) is about $30,000 of the public money. As it is very certain that all this expense and fuss would not be dreamed of in the majority of these cases, had the decedent failed in his election, or served out his term, especially when there had been nothing extraordinary in his career, the question becomes pertinent, Why keep up this lawyers' custom at all? Or, if it must be kept up, why not adopt Mr. Enloe's motion at least to avoid the interruption to public business, by holding memorial services on Sundays? In the popular view now-adays, it is not much of an honor to succeed in one's own machinations for an election to Congress. The office no longer seeks the man. It does not increase popular admiration of living politicians, to read their fulsome and indiscriminate laudation of those that die. Tone it

SELECTION OF MEASURES TO BE CONSIDERED.

Why would not the work of every Con gress be vastly improved by the appointment of a joint committee whose duty it should be to lay out, early in the session, the measures to be dealt with during the session, and whose respective members from either House should prepare a daily calendar for each, indicating, as in a court, the business for the day? The Committee on Rules in the House has now the power to fix times for the consideration of special bills, but it is seldom exercised. Except this, there is now no provision for selecting important measures for action out of the thousands of bills on the calendar. All is confusion. The appropriation bills and the few appointments by the Committee on Rules have the right of way, but beyond these the fate of every measure depends on the objectors, that is, the veto of any member. As some one lately said, "Whoever heard of a bill being reached on the calendar?" Yet the absurd rule of requiring unanimous consent for every selection therefrom is often fatal, always dilatory. As to what any session will accomplish is therefore left to blind chance, while a generation often elapses before some great measure, imperatively demanded by the people, can even obtain a hearing. Such have been the questions of rebuilding our Navy, fortifying our seaports, Chinese exclusion, the restoration of the merchant marine, and the relief of the overworked Supreme Court. Such_now are the Maritime Canal, the coinage of silver, the future regulation of the currency, the irrigation of arid lands the enactment of an insolvent law, the national regulation of pilotage, and a Territorial government and land surveys

for Alaska, etc. Is it not a singular anomaly that it is almost impossible to get our Congress to pay any attention. to the great interests of the country, for whose regulation the people must look to it only, while its time and enormous expense are exhausted on the appropriations, the tariff, on political speeches, and on trifles? Thousands of petitions pour in upon it at every session, but what measure do they succeed in passing? Only one, last session,-the closing of the World's Fair on. Sunday. Is the country aware that beyond the introduction of a bill to amend the charter of the Nicaragua Canal Company in the Senate, and the appointment of a committee to investigate the Company (which never reported), this universally desired and most important measure was not even mentioned during the last session? Yet the question of government aid, securing government control of that great work, has been before Congress during three out of the ten years allowed in the concession for its completion. Beyond a doubt Congress will never act in this behalf, and British capitalists and ultimately the British flag will acquire the same rights at Nicaragua as they did and will forever hold at Suez, all because our Congress will not act, no matter what pressure is brought to bear upon it

This paper might be extended on such topics as simplification of rules, the control by the majority, enlarged freedom of debate, the removal of contested election cases to the courts, the undue influence of the Bar upon the entire political machinery of the country, especially in legislation; and proposed constitutional amendments affecting Congressional powers; but should the reform spirit once become thoroughly aroused these matters will take care of themselves.

RECAPITULATION.

gressional efficiency if the various suggestions of this paper should be adopted? Ist. Instead of ten to twenty thou sand bills, only two or three thousand would be introduced. All of these would be public measures, and there would be time for their proper consideration. With the private business, nine tenths of the permanent lobby would disappear.

2d. The work being so greatly reduced, a large proportion of the present enormous force of employees could be dispensed with. Less printing would be required, expenses would be curtailed, and sessions shortened.

3d. Honest claimants from the government (at least those who were young and healthy) would have some chance to recover during their lives, and dishonest ones would be gotten rid of.

4th. By the use of the electrical vot ing machine one seventh (more or less) of the time and expense of the sessions would be saved, mistakes avoided, confusion prevented, the members kept in their seats, and filibustering abated or at least hindered.

5th. Prompt action on bills passed by the other House would increase the results by forty to one hundred per cent, by utilizing the time and labor which is now wasted.

6th. By abolishing "unanimous con sent" the veto tyranny of each member would be exchanged for the control of the majority, and many a good bill saved which is now ignored or unreasonably delayed.

7th. The everlasting cry of "No quorum" would be stilled, and members be compelled to earn their salaries by constant attendance.

8th. The farcical pairing system would cease to afford an excuse to cowards and skulkers.

9th. Committee work would be lightened and better done.

10th. Eulogies on deceased members would be omitted or curtailed, or con

11th. A preliminary planning of the work of each session, followed up by the daily calendar, would substitute order and method for the present chaotic confusion in the choice of measures to be

considered, and tell powerfully on the work accomplished.

"A consummation devoutly to be Shall any of us live long

wished." enough to see it?

Caspar T. Hopkins.

THE river did not seem impassable as we got distant glimpses of it, shimmering through the dense greenery along its banks, but as our little cavalcade drew rein on top of the last height, and looked down on the rushing darkbrown flood, we saw that there was small chance of a crossing that day.

The morning was one of the most lovely that superb climate could produce. Partial rains had clothed every green thing with a fresh mantle. There was a freshness and crispness in the air that exhilarated one, and heightened one's receptive powers to nature's wondrous beauties. We had made the usual early start from the town of Jojutla that morning. The previous day had been. exhausted by the railway journey from the City of Mexico, and a very tiresome journey it had been.

The distance from Mexico to Jojutla is only one hundred and fifty miles, but on account of the wonderful sinuosities of the road, the time occupied is double what it might be had the surveyors not been so anxious to earn a large subsidy from the government, which allowed so much for every kilometre covered.

The train leaves at 8.30 in the morning, and is due at Jojutla at 5.30 in the afternoon. But we were not destined to arrive at any such convenient hour. All day rain had been falling in torrents, clouding out the lovely country through

which we were passing, and only permitting occasional glimpses of the semitropical scenery as we crawled along. But how the farmers must have rejoiced. Every drop of rain that fell meant more money to them. The crops in the north, owing to drought, were a total failure, but nature seemed to have relented down here, and was prodigal in her gifts.

We were detained, as luck would have it, at the dinner station for an hour and a half, waiting for the up train. The fifty cent dinner was good and plentiful, and we had time to enjoy it. It was well we did so, as not till one in the morning did we see food again.

The arrival of the up train brought report of very heavy rains down the line, but no harm done to the permanent way. But about an hour and a half later on we were flagged to a standstill by an excited native, who reported a bad washout at kilometre 118. We slowly steamed up, and found two immense holes in the embankment, exposing the rails for six or eight feet in both places. This was not cheering.

A large staff of peones were whistled up from the station just ahead, and the work of repair went on for three hours. The strange thing was hat all the damage had been done, and the water all gone, in less than an hour and a half. No evidence of water remained save the