The House

Washington, Feb. 17.- The House o Representativas of the Fifty-second Congre&s has deereed that the first irivestigation into the operations of the McKinley law shall be condueted by the Committce on Agriculture. This arrangement has tlie informal sanetion of the Pemocrats of t.lie Wan mj Means Committee, as tlie inquiry o: Chairman Ilatch and his committee is to be directed particularly to the effect that the hig-h tariff has had upon the agricultural interests of tne country. It is understood that later on the Committee on Manufactures would be authorized to conduct an inquiry as to the efteet of the tariff ]aw on the ma nufactures and skilled wag'e-workers, and thns in the end reports will be made on the various phases of the new law by as many different eommittees. Mi-. McMillin presided over the Iiouse to-day, in the absence of Speaker Crisp who was confined to his room by a lieadache. After sorae formal business. Mr. Hatch, of Missouri, brought the tariff question to the front by to snspend the rules and adopt a resolui the Committee on Agriculture to report the effect upon agricultura of the present tariff law. Mr. Kynum of Indiana deraanded a second and the request of Mr. Hatch that a second be considerad as ordered ivas objected to by Mr. Kilgore of Texas. Mr. Kilgore and Mr. Ilatch were appointed tellers and reported the vote as 122 to 2. The Republicans did not vote: but no , one raised the point of '-no and Mr. Kilgore vas recog-nized to oppose tli e resolution, but declined to avail himself of the recognition, stating that lie was not opposed toir. althoug-h he believed that it was originally of. fered as a piece of buucombe. ■ ,