CoXCKKSS. (TiiE BILL AI-THORIZI.M; I.->ri-: or BONI-. i 



193 



that wo diil. and every vote that we cast yesterday. 

 \\"t> wore told yesterday by -peeehes ujion the Re- 

 publican side that the tariff bill which we then 

 1 would give the necessarv revenue to carry on 

 the Government, that it made x44.000,000 in addi- 

 tion to that which we now receive. We were told 

 by the distinguished gentlemen upon the Demo- 

 cratic side that we did not need the bill, that we 

 have $70,000,000 already in the Treasury to pay the 

 expenses of the Government. But we passed the 

 bill, and now we were cither wrong yesterday, and 

 the Democrats were right, or we are wrong to-day 

 in attempting to pass" this bill; for. after having 

 1 the tariff bill to give $44.000,000 more of 

 revenue, we now propose to pass a bond bill to give 

 them $50,000,000 of certificates, and God knows 

 how many hundred millions of dollars of short-time 

 bonds, to build up a Treasury that we said yester- 

 day and voted also a horizontal raise would fill 

 up inside of a few months.'' 



The debate was continued through the 27th and 

 until three o'clock on the 28th, long addresses be- 

 ing made by Mr. Grosvenor, of Ohio: Mr. Patter- 

 son, of Tennessee: Mr. Swanson, of Virginia: Mr. 

 Lacey, of Iowa : Mr. Johnson, of North Dakota ; 

 Mr. Wheeler, of Alabama : Mr. Terry, of Arkansas; 

 Mr. Wellington, of Maryland : Mr. Wilson, of Idaho ; 

 Mr. Bowers, of California : Mr. Adams, of Pennsyl- 

 vania : Mr. Gibson, of Tenin ssee : Mr. De Armond, 

 of Missouri : Mr. Xorthway, of Ohio; Mr. Tarsney, 

 of Missouri: Mr. Shafroth, of Colorado; Mr. Bro- 

 sius, of Pennsylvania ; Mr. McLaurin. of South 

 Carolina; Mr. Cannon, of Illinois; Mr. Bartlett. of 

 New York: Mr. Tawney, of Minnesota; Mr. Bailey, 

 of Texas : Mr. Payne, of New York: Mr. Ki 

 of Connecticut ; Mr. Crisp, of Georgia : Mr. McCall, 

 of Massachusetts; and Mr. Dalzell, of Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



When the question was taken there were 171 yeas 

 and 136 nays. 48 not voting. 



In the Senate the bill was referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Finance and reported back Jan. 7 with 

 an amendment and recommendation that it should 

 pass as amended. The report was to strike out all 

 after the enacting clause and insert : 



" That from and after the passage of this act the 

 mints of the United States shall be open to the 

 coinage of silver, and there shall be coined dollars 

 of the weight of 4124 grains troy, of standard sil- 

 ver, nine tenths fine, as provided by the act of Jan. 

 18, 1837, and upon the same terms and subject to 

 the limitations and provisions of law regulating the 

 coinage and legal-tender quality of gold : and when- 

 ever the said coins herein provided for shall Vie re- 

 ceived into the Treasury, certificates may be issued 

 therefor in the manner now provided by law. 



'SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

 coin into standard silver dollars, as soon as practi- 

 cable, according to the provisions of section 1 of 

 tliis act. from the silver bullion purchased under the 

 authority of the act of July 14. 1890. entitled 'An 

 Act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the 

 issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other pur- 

 poses.' that portion of said silver bullion which rep- 

 .ts the seigniorage or profit to the Government, 

 to wit. the difference between the cost of the silver 

 purchased under said act and its coinage value, 

 and said silver dollars so coined shall be used in the 

 payment of the current expenses of the Govern- 

 ment : and for the purpose of making the said seign- 

 iorage immediately available for use as money, the 

 tary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and 

 directed to issue silver certificates against it. as if 

 it was already coined and in the Treasury. 



''>. That no national bank note shall be here- 

 after issued of a denomination less than $10. and 

 all notes of such banks now outstanding of denomi- 



VOL. xxxvi. 13 A 



nations less than that sum .-hall be, as rap!' 

 practicable, taken up, redeemed, and canceled, am] 

 not os of x 10 and larger denominations shall 

 sued in their -tend under the direction of tin; Comp- 

 troller of the Currency. 



- . 4. Thar the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

 redeem the United States notes, commonly "called 

 'greenbacks,' and also the Treasury notc> i>sued 

 under the provisions of the act of "July 14, 1890, 

 when presented for redemption, in standard silver 

 dollars or in gold coin, using for redemption of said 

 notes either gold or silver coins, or both, not at the 

 option of the holder, but exclusively at the option 

 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. 1 - 



Senator Jones, of Arkansas, spoke upon the bill 

 Jan. 10. In regard to the issuance of bonds pro- 

 posed by the bill he said in part : 



" It is claimed, I believe, that this bill was framed 

 and passed through the House in response to the 

 wishes of the President of the United States. It is 

 also said that the bill is entirely unsatisfactory to 

 the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 from the fact that the bonds provided for are not 

 specifically payable in gold. It seems that the Presi- 

 dent considers the Treasury in an unsatisfactory, if 

 not in a critical, condition. The majority of "the 

 Finance Committee of this body believe that the 

 financial condition of the people generally is any- 

 thing but what it should be, and we regard it as 

 the first duty binding on the consciences of mem- 

 bers of Congress to undertake to provide a remedy 

 for the widespread distress now existing through 

 the country, especially if it is in any sense the re- 

 sult of congressional action. If a condition of rea- 

 sonable prosperity can be restored among the n 

 of the people there will be no difficulty whatever 

 about the condition of the Treasury. The present 

 deficiency results, in our opinion, from the much 

 greater evil of the unsatisfactory condition of the 

 people. The bill amended as proposed by us will, 

 we firmly believe, bring this relief, and for that rea- 

 son we urgently urge its passage by the Senate. 



It would seem that the advocates of a single gold 

 standard regard the issue of bonds as a panacea for 

 every ill. that with them it is a remedy ready in every 

 emergency. No matter what financial difficulty is 

 to be mot. an issue of bonds is at once and promptly 

 proposed. Those who think as I do, on the con- 

 trary, look upon them as an unmitigated evil, espe- 

 cially as they have been and are now about to be 

 issued. An issue of bonds is doubtless a boon to 

 that small class of persons who have large incomes, 

 which they have not the knowledge, industry, or 

 courage to use profitably, who long for investments 

 upon which they may draw interest without any 

 greater labor than clipping coupons ; but to no other 

 class is an issue of bonds desirable. 



" It is true that the Government is not collecting 

 as much revenue just at this time as is needed, and 

 some steps should be taken to provide for the de- 

 ficiency. The Secretary of the Treasury, however, 

 in his official report, shows that this deficiency will 

 be temporary and not continue beyond a few 

 months. 



" The amendment proposed by the committee, if 

 enacted into law. will amply provide for this, for 

 the issue of about 50.000.000 silver certificates against 

 the seigniorage now held in liars in the Treasury is 

 one of its features, while the deficiency estimated 

 by Mr. Carlisle is far below that sum. A sale of 

 bonds, as proposed by the House, could accomplish 

 no good result, and. in my opinion, would be pro- 

 ductive of much evil. 



The issue of bonds can not alter existing condi- 

 tions, and the causes which have brought about the 



