CONGRESS. (THE DINGLEY BILL.) 



of the Treasury Department, and said notes, com- 

 monly called ' greenbacks,' when so redeemed, shall 

 be reissued as provided by the act of May 31, 

 1878." 



It was also proposed to amend the title, making 

 it read : " An Act to provide for the free coinage of 

 silver, and for other purposes." 



A motion by Senator Quay, of Pennsylvania, to 

 recommit the bill to the committee with instruc- 

 tions to report the original bill and the amendment 

 as separate propositions was objected to and brought 

 up again Feb. 6, when Senator Morgan, of Alabama, 

 offered au amendment adding the following to the 

 resolution : 



" And with the further instruction, that the com- 

 mittee report the following as an amendment to the 

 House bill No. 2749 : 



" ' That there shall be deducted from the customs 

 duties that are or may be imposed by law upon ar- 

 ticles imported from other countries into the United 

 States for consumption 10 per cent, of such duties 

 when such imports are made in vessels of the United 

 States or in vessels of the country in which such 

 imported articles were produced : Provided, That 

 the country in which such articles are produced 

 shall by law provide so that silver bullion the prod- 

 uct of mines in the United States shall be admitted 

 to coinage in the mints thereof on equal terms with 

 gold bullion, and shall be received, without dis- 

 count or discrimination, in payment for all customs 

 dues on articles imported into such country, as full 

 legal-tender money.' " 



Senator Stewart offered the following resolution : 



" Resolved, that the Secretary of the Treasury be, 

 and he hereby is, directed to furnish the Senate an 

 estimate of the probable increase of the revenue if 

 bill H. R. 2749, entitled ' A bill to temporarily in- 

 crease revenue to meet the expenses of Government 

 and provide against a deficiency,' should become a 

 law ; and what would be the duty per pound in 

 United States money on the different grades of im- 

 ported wool according to the present market price ; 

 and is the proposed duty on wool provided for in 

 said bill sufficient to compensate for or corre- 

 spond with the increased duties proposed on woolen 

 goods. 



On Feb. 13 Senator Morrill, of Vermont, moved 

 to take up the bill ; but the motion was defeated 

 by a vote of 21 for to 29 against, 39 not voting. 



Feb. 19 Senator Carter, of Montana, offered a 

 resolution to recommit the bill to the committee, 

 with the request that it be read for information and 

 lie on the table. Feb. 25 Senator Morrill again 

 moved to take up the bill for consideration, when 

 the motion was lost by a vote of 22 in favor to 33 

 opposed, 34 not voting. 



After the announcement of the vote, Senator Mor- 

 rill said : 



" Mr. President, permit me to say that when on 

 the 13th of this month I made the motion to take 

 up the tariff bill, and it was lost by a vote of 21 to 

 29, I then thought the bill was hopelessly defeated, 

 but I felt that it was my duty in so important a 

 matter to give an opportunity for any change of 

 mind on the part of the voters. 



" Xow, it is perfectly obvious that the Repub- 

 lican party is in a minority in this Senate. The 

 bill on Feb. 13 was defeated by 5 Populist and 4 

 silver Republican votes. I do not think there has 

 been any change so far as the vote now discloses 

 since that occasion. I think that the Republicans 

 on the Committee on Finance will be willing to 

 ome juiy decent bill to add something to the 

 revenue of the Treasury Department, whether it is 

 in conformity to their views or not as to the princi- 

 ple ->f tariff, and will be ready to support any such 

 bill which we have an opportunity to support before 



the session shall close. But so far as this bill is 

 concerned, I wish to say that I do not think that it 

 will become me to ask the Senate for any further 

 consumption of time." 



Senator Teller, of Colorado, replied, accusing Sen- 

 ator Morrill of attempting to read out of the party 

 those Republicans who voted against the considera- 

 tion of the bill, and the Republican metropolitan 

 press of reading out of the party those who voted 

 for the free-coinage amendment to the bond bill ; 

 and charging that the revenue bill was brought in, 

 not to be passed, but for the purpose of political 

 advantage. 



Senator Sherman, of Ohio, said : 



" Mr. President, as a member of the Committee 

 on Finance I disclaim all partisan feeling in respect 

 to the bill which the Senator from Vermont moves 

 to bring before the Senate. That bill does not belong 

 to any party ; it is not the representative of any 

 party. The only merit in the bill is that it pro- 

 poses to furnish $40,000,000 of revenue for the sup- 

 port of the Government, enough to meet the cur- 

 rent expenses of the Government. I do not think 

 any one can claim that that bill is a Republican 

 measure, or that it is to be voted for by any one on 

 that ground, or that it has any merit whatever ex- 

 cept the fact that it would relieve the Treasury from 

 the deficiency now occurring and accruing and in- 

 creasing every day. It is a bill prepared for an occa- 

 sion, not a political one. The gentleman who pre- 

 pared that bill in the House of Representatives did 

 it in order to secure revenue for the support of the 

 Government. I say now, Mr. President, I shall vote 

 for any tax whatever which may be proposed by 

 anybody, whether Democrat, Populist, or Repub- 

 lican, which shall supply sufficient revenue for the 

 support of the Government. 



" It is a disgrace to our civilization, it is a dis- 

 grace to the country itself that we are now expend- 

 ing $30,000,000 a year more than the receipts of the 

 Government, and that Congress, now in session, 

 with both Houses fully armed with power to fur- 

 nish the revenue, is idle and refuses to act. 



" Every man within the sound of my voice knows 

 that we need more revenue. Here is a statement 

 showing that since the 1st day of last July, and up 

 to the present month of February, 1896, there has 

 already been a deficiency in the current revenues of 

 $20.696,000, and that before the end of the fiscal 

 year at the same ratio the amount of the deficiency 

 will be $30,000,000. 



" If such a condition should occur in Great Brit- 

 ain or in any other country where they have a par- 

 liamentary law, it would dethrone any party in 

 power, and an immediate effort would be made 

 either to increase the income tax or to provide some 

 other form of taxation to meet the current expenses. 

 Yet now and every day and every hour since the 

 passage of the present law, and even before, in 

 view of its passage, we have been running in debt 

 and increasing our debts. There is no occasion 

 for it. 



" A tax on tea and coffee would be paid cheer- 

 fully by the people of the United States. Any tax 

 whatever, the most obnoxious that could be col- 

 lected, would be supported by the people of the 

 United States rather than to see the funded debt 

 increased. Already $263,000.000 of bonds have 

 been issued during the present Administration. 

 The issuance of the great body of those bonds was 

 made necessary by a deficiency of revenue, and as 

 for the remainder, it was caused by the doubt 

 whether, under this process of financiering, we 

 should be able to maintain the standard of our 

 money in this country. 



" My honorable friend the Senator from Ver- 

 mont has done all he could to pass the bill. 



