CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



167 



there have heen some very extraordinary 

 things about this bill and about this raising of 

 salaries. I think there has been about the 

 greatest legerdemain in the way of legislation 

 that I have ever seen, and now at this late 

 hour for the Senator from New Hampshire to 

 get up and make an argument, apparently 

 against the bill, but really to carry all the 

 Democratic votes for it, is the most extraor- 

 dinary of all." 



Mr.' Hamilton, of Texas : " I hope the Sena- 

 tor from New Hampshire will possess his soul 

 in peace. The Republican party has survived 

 worse things than this." 



The Vice-President : "The question is on 

 concurring in the report of the committee of 

 conference." 



The question being taken by yeas and nays, 

 resulted as follows : 



YEAS Messrs. Alcorn, Ames, Bayard, Blair, 

 Brownlow, Caldwell, Cameron. Carpenter, Clayton, 

 Cooper, Davis, Flanagan, Gilbert, Goldthwaito, 

 Hamilton of Texas, Hill, Hitchcock, Lewis, Logan, 

 Itachen, Morrill of Maine, Norwood, Nye, Osborn, 

 Pool, Ransom, Bice. Robertson, Sawyer, Spencer, 

 Stewart, Stockton, Tipton, Trumbull, Vickers, and 

 U~, <t 36. 



NAT Messrs. Anthony, Boreman, Buckingham, 

 Casaerly, Chandler, Conkling. Cprbett, Cragin, Ed- 

 muods, Ferry of Michigan, Frelingbuysen, Hamil- 

 ton of Maryland, Hamlm, Howe, Kelly, Morrill of 

 Vermont, Patterson, Pratt, Ramsey, Saulsbury, 

 Schurz, Scott, Sherman, Spragae, Taurman, Win- 

 dom, and Wright 27. 



ABSENT Messrs. Cole, Fenton, Ferry of Connect- 

 icut, Harlan, Johnston, Morton, Pomeroy, Steven- 

 aon, S limner, and Wilson 10. 



So the report was concurred in. 



In the Senate, on February 3d, the bill 

 supplementary to an act entitled " An act to 

 provide a national currency secured by a 

 pledge of United States bonds, and to provide 

 for the circulation and redemption thereof," 

 approved Jane 3, 1864, and to secure an elas- 

 tic currency, to appreciate national obliga- 

 tions, and to reach specie payments without 

 commercial embarrassment, was considered. 



Mr. Thurman, of Ohio, said: "The bill 

 contemplates a resumption of specie payments 

 on the 1st day of January next, because, if the 

 United States is to -pay coin on the 1st of 

 January next on United States legal-tender 

 notes, and the banks are to be bound to re- 

 deem either in coin or in United States legal- 

 tender notes, that is equivalent to a resumption 

 of specie payments by all the banks. It is neces- 

 sarily so. It is so because if the United States 

 is to pay specie on its legal tenders upon pre- 

 sentation, then there will be no material dif- 

 ference in value between the legal -tender 

 dollar and the gold dollar. There may be some 

 slight difference, but it will be almost imma- 

 terial. Then you will have the United States 

 legal-tender notes, a specie-paying currency, 

 at par with specie; and if, therefore, the 

 banks are to pay either in coin or in legal- 

 tender notes, if they are to pay in specie or 



what is equivalent to specie, it is a complete 

 resumption of specie payments on the 1st day 

 of January next throughout the whole length 

 and breadth of the United States. 



" Now, Mr. President, I am very apprehen- 

 sive that that is too radical a measure. I am 

 very apprehensive that such a resumption as 

 that wonld end in one of two things : either 

 in crushing no small number of these banks 

 which would be unable to pay specie, or in 

 Congress relaxing the law after it had passed 

 it, and legalizing by some means or another 

 the suspension of specie payments on the part 

 of the banks, or else in repealing the very act 

 which is before us requiring the Government 

 to pay specie in redemption of legal-tender 

 notes." 



Mr. Cole, of California, said: "The bill 

 provides that the Government shall pay in 

 coin or something else." 



Mr. Thurman : " But what I say is, this is 

 said to be a bill to resume specie payments ; 

 if it is a bill to resume specie payments, then 

 it contemplates the resumption on the 1st day 

 of January next. If that is not the object, if 

 the purpose is not to resume specie payments 

 on the 1st of January next, then it is simply a 

 bill to convert greenbacks into interest-bear- 

 ing bonds. If that is the case, are we pre- 

 pared to do that ? Are we prepared to con- 

 vert the $300,000,000 or $400,000,000 what 

 is the exact amount ? " 



Mr. Sherman, of Ohio : " Three hundred and 

 fifty-six million dollars." 



Mr. Thurman: "Three hundred and fifty- 

 six million dollars of greenbacks into interest- 

 bearing bonds?" 



Mr. Sherman : " The bill provides that they 

 shall be paid out again." 



Mr. Thnrman: "I know it provides that 

 they shall be paid out again, but then they can 

 be con verted again into interest-bearing bonds, 

 and where are you going to stbp? Every time 

 they are paid out they may be reconverted 

 into bonds, and where is to bo the end of the 

 public debt if this process of paying them out 

 and reconverting them into bonds is to go on 

 from time to time at the pleasure of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury? " 



Mr. Sherman: "If my colleague will allow 

 me, I will state that they can only be paid out 

 for the extinguishment, purchase, and pay- 

 ment of the public debt, or for the payment 

 of the current expenses of the Government. 

 As a matter of course, the revenues of the 

 Government being sufficient to pay the ex- 

 penses of the Government, a sufficient revenue 

 both in gold and paper money will come into 

 the Treasury. Any of the notes received for 

 bonds may be paid out for current expenses. 

 Now, the revenue is supplied from the current 

 receipts of the Government. It may bo that 

 the gold revenues may be used to purchase 

 and pay the public debt, while the paper rev- 

 enue might be used to pay the current ex- 

 penses of the Government, our currency reve- 



