That the erection of dams, barricades, or other obstructions in any of the rivers of Alaska, with the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon or other anadromous creatures to their spawning-grounds, is hereby declared to be unlawful; and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to establish such regulations and surveillance as may be necessary to insure that this prohibition is strictly enforced and to otherwise protect the salmon fisheries of Alaska; and every person who shall be found guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $250 for each day of the continuance of such obstruction.

SEC. 2. That the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries is hereby empowered and directed to institute an investigation into the habits, abundance, and distribution of the salmon of Alaska, as well as the present conditions and methods of the fisheries, with a view of recommending to Congress such additional legislation as may be necessary to prevent the impairment or exhaustion of these valuable fisheries, and placing them under regular and permanent conditions of pro

duction.

On Feb. 28, when the measure was laid before the House, Mr. Dunn, of Arkansas, offered the following amendment:

SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States was intended to include and apply, and is hereby declared to include and apply, to all the waters of Behring Sea in Alaska embraced within the boundary lines mentioned and described in the treaty with Russia, dated March 30, A. D. 1867, by which the Territory of Alaska was ceded to the United States; and it shall be the duty of the President, at a timely season in each year, to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month in at least one newspaper published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said Territory and waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section; and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be, or to have been, engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein.

In explanation of the amendment, he said: "There has been a relaxation of the enforcement of the law heretofore so that unauthorized persons have concluded that the Government does not intend to enforce the law, and not less than one hundred and fifty vessels are to-day fitting out to go to Behring Sea. They will literally cover that sea with unlawful seal-hunters armed with guns, and the destruction of seal-life that will take place and the fusillade of firearms that will occur in that sea during four months of next summer will drive every seal from it that is not killed in the general and indiscriminate slaughter. It does not change the law, but commands the President of the United States to enforce it. The time has come when the Government must enforce the laws for the preservation of our herd of seals with firmness and decision, or suffer an absolute destruction of the herd. The danger is imminent, and I hope no gentleman will object to it. It does not involve a dollar of expenditure. It is useless to protect the seals on the rookeries -the islands of St. Paul and St. George-and leave them to their fate in the waters of Behring Sea. If they are left without protection in the sea there will soon be none left to go to the rookeries."

The house adopted this amendment and passed the measure without a division. In the Senate the bill as amended was referred to the Commit

tee on Foreign Relations, and that committee on March 1 reported it back with a recommendation that the House amendment be disagreed to. Mr. Morgan, of Alabama, said in explanation: "I wish to say just this: That in the report made by the committee the rights of the Government of the United States were not considered and not intended to be considered. We only arrive at the conclusion that the question presented in the amendment of the House is of such a serious and important a character that the Committee on Foreign Relations would not undertake at this time to pronounce that kind of judgment upon it which is due to the magnitude of such a question.

"I desire that the bill as it passed the Senate originally should pass, because it protects the salmon and other fisheries in Alaska, about which there is no dispute; but this particular question is one of very great gravity and seriousness, and the Committee on Foreign Relations, or at least a majority of the entire committee, did not feel warranted in undertaking to consider it at this time."

Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, added: "I intended, when the amendment was properly before us, to say to the Senate that the Committee on Foreign Relations were of the opinion that while there was no objection at all to the Senate bill as it passed, it being for a clear and plain purpose, the question proposed by the House in the form of an amendment was a grave one and had no relation to the subject-matter of the bill, and ought not to be connected with it, had no connection really with it, and involved serious matters of international law, perhaps, and of public policy, and therefore it ought to be considered by itself.

"I was directed by the committee to state that the subject-matter, the merits of the proposition proposed by the House, were not before us and not considered by us, and we are not at all committed for or against the proposition made by the House. We make this report simply because it has no connection with the bill itself, and it ought to be disagreed to and abandoned and considered more carefully hereafter. I therefore ask for a committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses."

The Senate non-concurred in the House amendment, and a conference committee was appointed. On March 2 the conference committee reported as follows:

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska, having met, after full and free conference have agreed to recommend to their respective Houses and do recommend:

That the Senate recede from its disagreement to with an amendment to read as follows: the amendment of the House, and agree to the same

"SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes

of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominions of the United States in the waters of Behring Sea, and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season in each year to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month at least in one newspaper (if any such try on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against there be) published at each United States port of enentering such waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section, and he shall also cause one

one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein." And the House agree to the same.

The House conferrees, in submitting the report, made this explanation of the change in the House amendment to the original bill: "The effect of the amendment is to leave out of the House amendment the words that are descriptive of the boundaries of the waters of Alaska." In other words, it makes no claim to jurisdiction over the waters of Behring Sea as mare clausum. The conference report was adopted by both Houses, and the bill was approved by the President on the same day.

The Eleventh Census.-At the first session of the Congress, on July 11, 1888, the House passed a bill to provide for taking the eleventh and subsequent censuses. It was as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a census of the population, wealth, and industry of the United States shall be taken as of the date of June 1, 1890.

SEC. 2. That there shall be established in the Department of the Interior an office to be denominated the Census Office, the chief officer of which shall be called the Superintendent of Census, whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the head of the department, to superintend and direct the taking of the Eleventh Census of the United States, in accordance with the laws relating thereto, and to perform such other duties as may be required of him by law.

SEC. 3. The Superintendent of Census shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and he shall receive an annual salary of $6,000; and for the purposes of taking the Eleventh Census of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior may appoint a chief clerk of the Census Office at an annual salary of $2,500, two stenographers, ten chiefs of division, and one disbursing clerk, at an annual salary each of $2,000, ten clerks of class 4, twenty clerks of class 3, thirty clerks of class 2, with such number of clerks of class 1, and of clerks, copyists, and computers, at salaries of not less than $720 nor more than $1,000 per annum, as may be found necessary for the proper and prompt compilation of the results of the enumeration of the census herein provided to be taken. And the Secretary of the Interior may also appoint one captain of the watch at a salary of $840 per annum, two messengers and such number of watchmen and assistant messengers and messenger boys at salaries of $400 each per annum, laborers and skilled laborers at $600 each per annum, and charwomen at salaries of $240 each per annum, as may be found necessary to carry out the provisions of this act. And upon such compilation and publication of said census the period of service of said clerks shall end. All the clerks and employés of classes 4, 3, and 2, above provided for, may be statistical experts. The disbursing clerk herein provided for shall, before entering upon his duties, give bond to the Treasurer of the United States in the sum of $50,000, which bond shall be conditioned that the said officer shall render a true and faithful account to the Treasurer, quarter-yearly, of all moneys and properties which shall be by him received by virtue of his office, with sureties to be approved by the Solicitor of the Treasury.

Such bond shall be filed in the office of the first comptroller of the Treasury, to be by him put in suit upon any breach of the condition thereof.

SEC. 4. That the Secretary of the Interior shall, on or before the first day of March, 1890, on the recommendation of the Superintendent of Census, designate the number, whether one or more, of supervisors of census to be appointed, in each State and Territory and the District of Columbia, who shall be appointed

by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The total number of such supervisors shall not exceed one hundred and seventy-five. Each supervisor shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: "I, supervisor, do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and perform and discharge the duties of the supervisor of census, according to law, honestly and correctly, to the best of my ability" which oath shall be filed in the office of Secretary of the Interior. with the performance, within his own district, of the SEC. 5. Each supervisor of census shall be charged following duties: To propose to the Superintendent

of Census the division of his district into subdivisions most convenient for the purpose of enumeration; to designate to the Superintendent of Census suitable persons, and, with the consent of said Superintendent, to employ such persons as enumerators within his district, one for each subdivision, and resident therein, who shall be selected solely with reference to fitness, and without reference to their political party affiliations, according to the division approved by the Superintendent of Census. Provided, That in the appointment of enumerators preference shall in all cases be given to properly qualified persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States residing in the respective districts. But in case it shall occur in any enumeration district that no person qualified to perform and willing to undertake the duties of enumerator resides in that district, the supervisor may appoint any fit person, resident in the county, to be the enumerator of that district; to transmit to enumerators the printed forms and schedules issued from the Census Office, in quantities suited to the requirements of each subdivision; to communicate to enumerators the necessary instructions and directions relating to their duties, and to the methods of conducting the census, and to advise with and counsel enumerators in person and by letter, as freely and fully as may be required to secure the purposes of this act; and under the direction of the Superintendent of Census, and to facilitate the taking of the census with as little delay as possible, he may cause to be distributed by the enumerators, prior to the taking of the enumeration, schedules to be filled up by householders and others; to provide for the early and safe transmission to his office of the returns of enumerators, embracing all the schedules filled by them in the course of enumeration, and for the due receipt and custody of such returns pending their transmission to the Census Office; to examine and scrutinize the returns of enumerators, in order to ascertain whether the work has been performed in all respects in compliance with the provisions of law, and whether any town or village or integral portion of the district has been omitted from enumeration; to forward to the Superintendent of Census the completed returns of his district in such time and manner as shall be prescribed by the said Superintendent, and in the event of discrepancies or deficiencies appearing in the returns from his district, to use all diligence in causing the same to be corrected or supplied; to make up and forward to the Superintendent of Census the accounts required for ascertaining the amount of compensation due under the provisions of this act to each enumerator of his district.

SEC. 6. Each supervisor of census shall, upon the completion of his duties to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior, receive the sum of $125, and in addition thereto, in thickly settled districts, $1 for each thousand or majority fraction of a thousand of the population enumerated in his district, and in sparsely settled districts $1.40 for each thousand or majority fraction of a thousand of the population enumerated in such district; such sums to be in full compensation for all services rendered and expenses incurred by him, except that an allowance for clerkhire may be made, at the discretion of the Superintendent of Census. The designation of the compen

sation per thousand, as provided in this section, shall be made by the Secretary of the Interior at least one month in advance of the date for the commencement of enumeration.

SEC. 7. That all mail matter of whatever class, relative to the census and addressed to the Census Office, to the Superintendent of Census, his chief clerk, supervisors or enumerators, and indorsed "Official Business Department of the Interior, Census Office," shall be transported free of postage; and if any person shall make use of any such indorsement to avoid the payment of postage on his private letter, package, or other matter in the mail, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and subject to a fine of $300, to be prosecuted in any court of competent jurisdiction.

SEC. 8. No enumerator shall be deemed qualified to enter upon his duties until he has received from the supervisor of census of the district to which he belongs a commission, under his hand, authorizing him to perform the duties of an enumerator, and setting forth the boundaries of the subdivision within which such duties are to be performed by him. He shall, moreover, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:

I, an enumerator for taking the census of the United States, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will make a true and exact enumeration of all the inhabitants within the subdivision assigned to me, and will also faithfully collect all other statistics therein, as provided for in the act for taking the census, and in conformity with all lawful instructions which I may receive, and will make due and correct returns thereof as required by said act, and will not disclose any information contained in the schedules, lists, or statements obtained by me to any person or persons, except to my superior officers. (signed)

Which said oath or affirmation may be administered by any judge of a court of record, or any justice of the peace, or notary public empowered to administer oaths; and which oath, duly authenticated, shall be forwarded to the supervisor of census before the date fixed herein for the commencement of the enumeration.

SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of each enumerator, after being qualified in the manner aforesaid, to visit personally each dwelling-house in his subdivision, and each family therein, and each individual living out of a family in any place of abode, and by inquiry made of the head of such family, or of the member thereof deemed most credible and worthy of trust, or of such individual living out of a family, to obtain each and every item of information and all the particulars required by this act, as of date June 1, 1890. And in case no person shall be found at the usual place of abode of such family or individual living out of a family competent to answer the inquiries made in compliance with the requirements of this act, then it shall be lawful for the enumerator to obtain the required information, as nearly as may be practicable, from the family or families, or person or persons, living nearest to such place of abode. The Superintendent of Census may employ special agents or other means to make an enumeration of all Indians living within the jurisdiction of the United States, with such information as to their condition as may be obtainable, classifying them as to Indians taxed and Indians not taxed.

SEC. 10. And it shall be further the duty of each enumerator to forward the original schedules, duly certified, to the supervisor of census of his district, as his returns under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 11. The compensation of enumerators shall be ascertained and fixed as follows: In subdivisions where the Superintendent of Census shall deem such allowance sufficient an allowance not exceeding 2 cents for each living inhabitant, 2 cents for each death reported, 15 cents for each farm, and 20 cents for each establishment of productive industry enumerated and returned, may be given in full compensation for all services:

Provided, That the subdivisions to which the above rate of compensation shall apply must be designated by the Superintendent of Census at least one month in advance of the enumeration. For all other subdivisions rates of compensation shall be fixed in advance of the enumeration by the Superintendent of Census, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, according to the difficulty of enumeration, having reference to the nature of the region to be canvassed and the density or sparseness of settlement, or other considerations pertinent thereto; but the compensation allowed to any enumerator in any such district shall not be less than $3 nor more than $6 per day of ten hours' actual field-work each, when a perdiem compensation shall be established by the Secretary of the Interior, nor more than 3 cents for each living inhabitant, 20 cents for each farm, and 30 cents for each establishment of productive industry enumerated and returned, when a per capita compensation shall be deemed advisable by the Secretary of the Interior. No claim for mileage or traveling expenses shall be allowed any enumerator in either class of subdivisions, except in extreme cases, and then only when authority has been previously granted by the Superintendent of Census. The Superintendent of Census shall prescribe uniform methods and suitable forms for keeping accounts of the number of people enumerated or of time occupied in field-work, for the purpose of ascertaining the amounts due to enumerators, severally, under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 12. That the subdivision assigned to any enumerator shall not exceed 4,000 inhabitants, as near as may be. The boundaries of all divisions shall be clearly described by civil divisions, rivers, roads, public surveys, or other easily distinguished lines.

SEC. 13. That any supervisor or enumerator, who, having taken and subscribed the oath required by this act, shall, without justifiable cause, neglect or refuse to perform the duties enjoined on him by this act, or shall, without the authority of the Superintendent, communicate to any person not authorized to receive the same, any information gained by him in the performance of his duties, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined in a sum not exceeding $500; or, if he shall willfully and knowingly swear or affirm falsely, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned not exceeding three years, or fined in a sum not exceeding $800; or if he shall willfully and knowingly make false certificates or fictitious returns, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of either of the last-named offenses, he shall be fined in a sum not exceeding $5,000 and be imprisoned not exceeding two years.

SEC. 14. That if any person shall receive or secure to himself any fee, reward, or compensation as a consideration for the employment of any person as enumerator or clerk, or shall in any way receive or secure to himself any part of the compensation provided in this act for the services of any enumerator or clerk, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $3,000, in the discretion of the court, or be imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

SEC. 15. That each and every person more than twenty years of age, belonging to any family residing in any enumeration district, and in case of the absence of the heads and other members of any such family, then an agent of such family, shall be, and each of them hereby is, required, if thereto requested by the superintendent, supervisor, or enumerator, to render a true account, to the best of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family, in the various particulars required by law, and whoever shall willfully fail or refuse shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding $100. And every president, treasurer, secretary, general agent, managing director, or other general officer of every corporation from which answers to any of the schedules provided for by this act are herein required, who shall, if thereto request

ed by the Superintendent, supervisor, or enumerator, willfully neglect or refuse to give true and complete answers to any inquiries authorized by this act or will fully give false information, such officer or agent shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $10,000, to which may be added imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year.

SEC. 16. That all fines and penalties imposed by this act may be enforced by indictment or information in any court of competent jurisdiction where such offenses shall have been committed.

SEC. 17. That the schedules of inquiries at the Eleventh Census shall be the same as those contained in section No. 2206 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, of 1878, as amended by section 17 of the act entitled "An act to provide for taking the tenth and subsequent censuses," approved March 3, 1879, with such changes of the subject-matter, emendations, and modifications as may be approved by the Secretary of the Interior; it being the intent of this section to give to said Secretary full discretion over the schedules of such inquiries: "Provided, however, That said Superintendent shall, under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, cause to be taken in the same schedule of inquiry, according to such form as he may prescribe, the names of those who had served in the army, navy, or marine corps of the United States in the war of the rebellion, and who are survivors at the time of said inquiry, and the widows of soldiers, sailors, and marines. The report which the Superintendent of Census (if directed by said Secretary) is required to obtain from railroad corporations, incorporated express companies, telegraph companies, and insurance companies, and from all corporations or establishments reporting products other than agricultural products, shall be of and for the fiscal year of such corporations or establishments having its termination nearest to the 1st of June, 1890: the Superintendent of Census shall collect and publish the statisties of the population, industries, and resources of the district of Alaska, with such fullness as he may deem expedient, and as he shall find practicable under the appropriations made, or to be made, for the expenses of the Eleventh Census. The only volumes that shall be prepared and published in connection with said census shall relate to population and social statistics relating thereto, the products of manufactories, mining and agriculture, mortality and vital statistics, valuation and public indebtedness, and to statistics relating to railroad corporations, incorporated express, telegraph, and insurance companies, and a list of surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and the widows of soldiers, sailors, and marines.

SEC. 18. That each enumerator in his subdivision shall be charged with the collection of the facts and statistics required by each and all the several schedules, with the following exceptions, to wit: In cities or States where an official registration of deaths is maintained, the Superintendent of Census may, in his discretion, withhold the mortality schedule from the several enumerators within such cities or States, and may obtain the statistics required by this act through official records, paying therefor such sum as may be found necessary, not exceeding the amount which is by this act authorized to be paid to enumerators for a similar service, namely, two cents for each death thus returned. Whenever he shall deem it expedient, the Superintendent of Census may withhold the schedules for manufacturing and social statistics from the enumerators of the several subdivisions, and may charge the collection of these statistics upon experts and special agents, to be employed without respect to locality. And said Superintendent may employ experts and special agents to investigate in their economic relations the manufacturing, fishing, mining, cattle, and other industries of the country, and the statistics of telegraph, express, transportation, and insurance companies as he may designate and require. And the Superintendent of Census shall, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, prepare sched

ules containing such interrogatories as shall, in his judgment, be best adapted to elicit this information, with such specifications, divisions, and particulars under each head as he shall deem necessary to that end. Such experts and special agents shall take the same oath as the enumerators of the several subdivisions, and shall have equal authority with such enumerators in respect to the subjects committed to them, and they shall receive compensation at rates to be fixed by the Superintendent of Census with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the same shall in no case exceed six dollars per day and actual traveling expenses.

SEC. 19. That the enumeration required by this act shall commence on the first Monday of June, 1890, and be taken as of that date, and each enumerator shall prosecute the canvass of his subdivision from that date forward on each week-day without intermission, except for sickness or other urgent cause; and any unnecessary cessation of his work shall be sufficient ground for his removal and the appointment of another person in his place; and any person so appointed shall take the oath required of enumerators, and shall receive compensation at the same rates. And it shall be the duty of each enumerator to complete the enumeration of his district, and to prepare the returns hereinbefore required to be made, and to forward the same to the supervisor of his district on or before the 1st day of July, 1890, and in any city having over 10,000 inhabitants under the census of 1880, the enumeration of population shall be taken within two weeks from the first Monday of June; and any delay beyond the dates above respectively, on the part of any enumerator, shall be sufficient cause for withholding the compensation to which he would be entitled by compliance with the provisions of this act, until proof satisfactory to the Superintendent of Census shall be furnished that such delay was by reason of causes beyond the control of such enumerator.

SEC. 20. That the sum of $6,000,000 is hereby fixed and limited as the maximum cost of the census herein provided for, exclusive of printing, engraving, and binding; and it shall not be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior or the Superintendent of Census to incur any expense or obligation whatever, in respect to said census, in excess of that sum; and the sum of $1,000,000 is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated to be immediately available, and continue available until the completion of the Eleventh Census.

SEC. 21. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized whenever he may think proper, to call upon any other department or office of the Government for information pertinent to the enumeration herein required.

SEC. 22. That the Superintendent of Census, with the consent of the President, inay at any time remove any supervisor of census, and fill any vacancy thereby caused or otherwise occurring; and the supervisor of the census may, with the consent of the Superintendent of Census, remove any enumerator in his district, and fill the vacancy thereby caused or otherwise occurring; and in such cases but one compensation shall be allowed for the entire service, to be apportioned among the persons performing the same in the discretion of the Superintendent of Census.

SEC. 23. That upon the request of any municipal government, meaning thereby the incorporated government of any town, village, township, or city, or kindred municipality, the Superintendent of Census shall furnish such government with a copy of the names, with age, sex, birthplace, and color, of all persons enumerated within the territory in the jurisdiction of such municipality, and such copies shall be paid for by such municipal government at the rate of 25 cents for each one hundred names, and all sums so received by the Superintendent of Census shall be accounted for in such way as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct, and covered into the Treasury of the United States to be placed to the credit of, and in addition

to, the appropriation herein made for taking the Eleventh Census.

SEC. 24. That the Secretary of the Interior may authorize the expenditure of necessary sums for the traveling expenses of the officers and employes connected with the taking of the census, and the incidental expenses essential to the carrying out of this act, including the rental of convenient quarters in the District of Columbia and the furnishing thereof, and an outfit for printing small blanks, tally-sheets, circulars, etc., and shall from time to time make a detailed report to Congress of such expenditures.

SEC. 25. That the act entitled "An act to provide

for the taking of the tenth and subsequent censuses," approved March 3, 1879, and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed; and all censuses subsequent to the Eleventh Census shall be taken in accordance with the provisions of this act unless Congress shall hereafter otherwise provide.

This measure was amended and passed the Senate Feb. 18, 1889. The third section was amended as to make them come after "a chief clerk." In by changing the words "one disbursing clerk" so section 4 the oath is prescribed for Superintendent as well as supervisors. At the end of section 5 the following clause was added:

Whenever it shall appear that any portion of the enumeration and census provided for in this act has been negligently or improperly taken and is by reason thereof incomplete, the Superintendent of the Census, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may cause such incomplete and unsatisfactory enumeration and census to be amended or made anew under such methods as may in his discretion be practicable.

In section 11 a clause was added giving compensation of five cents for each surviving soldier, sailor, or marine, or the widow of a soldier, sailor, or marine enumerated. The following clause was inserted in section 17:

He shall also, at the time of the general enumeration herein provided for, or prior thereto, as the Secretary of the Interior may determine, collect the statistics of and relating to the recorded indebtedness of private corporations and individuals, and make report thereon to Congress; and he shall collect, from official sources, information relating to animals not on farms.

In section 23, after the word "color," the words or race were inserted. In the main however, the various Senate amendments were verbal and technical and merely designed to perfect the text of the measure. To meet the increased expense involved in the important amendment to section 17, the limit of census expenditure was increased to $6,400,000. Feb. 28 the House concurred in the Senate amendments. Department of Agriculture.-At the first session of the Congress, the House passed, May 21, 1888, a bill "to enlarge the powers and duties of the Department of Agriculture, and to create an executive department to be known as the Department of Agriculture." This measure made the head of the Agricultural Department a Cabinet officer and transferred to that department the Weather Bureau. September 21 the Senate amended and passed the bill, striking out the provision transferring the Signal Service. The House non-concurred in the Senate amendment, and a conference committee was appointed. The conferrees, on the part of the House, held out for a time for the original pro

217

vision for a transfer of the Weather Bureau from the War Department to the Agricultural Department; but, failing to move the Senate conferrees on this point, they tried to secure an amendment transferring the Geological Survey and the Fish Commission. But they could obtain no such concession, and finally accepted the Senate amendment. The conference report was adopted Feb. 1, 1889, and the President approved the measure Feb. 11.

Pensions.-At the first session of the Con

gress the Senate passed the following bill to increase pensions in certain cases:

Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act all persons who, in the military or naval service of the United States and in the line of duty, have lost both hands, or the use of both hands, shall be entitled to a pension of $100 per month.

Jan. 28, 1889, the House amended the bill by amendment Jan. 31; and the measure was apstriking out the clause "or the use of both proved by the President, Feb. 13.

hands.' The Senate concurred in the House

At the first session of the Congress, Mr. Blair, of New Hampshire, introduced a bill for the relief of women enrolled as army nurses. On Jan. 28 he reported from the Committee on Pensions a substitute prepared by Mr. Cockrell, of Missouri, which was passed as follows:

That all women nurses during the late war and prior to Aug. 4, 1865, who were approved by Miss D. L. Dix, "superintendent of women nurses," or her authorized agents, or specially appointed by the Surgeon-General or other proper United States authority, and who rendered six months' service as such, or who, prior to the completion of such term of service, were disabled in such service and honorably discharged by reason of such disability, shall be granted a pension during life at the rate of $25 per month from the passage of this act, according to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of

the Interior.

SEC. 2. That such women nurses as are now receiv

ing pensions under special or general laws at a less rate than $25 per month, and may be entitled to the benefits of this act, may, on proper application to the Commissioner of Pensions, receive the said sum of $25 per month.

SEC. 3. No fee, compensation, or allowance shall be paid to, received, or accepted by any agent, attorney, or other person instrumental in the prosecution of any claim for pension under this act. And it shall be the duty of the Interior and War Departments to render all proper aid to applicants.

Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont, said in regard to the bill: "I should be glad to have my friend from New Hampshire explain to the Senate the principle on which this bill rests, making a distinction in favor of female nurses as against male nurses, and as it respects the putting of these lady nurses on the pension-roll. Some of them, I have no doubt, are just as well entitled to pensions as are thousands of soldiers who fought all the time or who came home and have as yet no pensions. I dare say there may be some good ground for it, but I confess I do not quite understand it."

Mr. Blair said in answer: "I am not in a situation to debate this bill, because I only have the opportunity of thus getting it before the Senate; but the Senate will remember a great many efforts during the previous session, and I am