L88 



CONGRESS. (TiiE BOXD QUESTION.) 



trader th+ operation of the Sherman law of the 

 J.> n passed to the ea*h of 



J '. x; 



EH ; -, 



- It thus being by law, Mr. Speaker, and by 

 the policy of the Treasury Department ever 

 tine* the resumption of specie pavm- 

 t he rrrogniwd safe and nou nd practice to main- 

 tain in the TrvA-ury .-f the 1 



-10.000 of g.-ld. or aMifllrient amount 

 of fold to maintain the redemption of the obliga- 

 tions of the Government r vcmable in 

 gold, it has three time* within the la>t tl 

 months become necessary f r the Trea- 

 the United States to go into the market and 

 purchase p'ld. as any other banker would have 

 to maintain its reserve. :wd\e 

 has issued and sold in this country 

 f8QyOOO.Ou bUgatlona of thi 

 Government, g*< t "'C into the Tn-aMiry for them 

 milling over $UT000yMfti I 1 " 1 (I 1111 -xpcri- 

 ment, aa r\ now see, waa onlv a 

 Makeshift, and* a very brief and futile inak. -shift 



Unit 



-The gold acquired last January was taken 

 out of the Treasury I- mU-r. The gold 



bought last November has been taken out of the 

 Treasury in two months, so that any one can see 

 that these previous I HUM! issues have simply re- 

 Milted in exchanging pur gold for our own 



ier these < nces it became 



retary of the Treasury, in 

 order to' maintain the gofd reserve at the -um 

 required by law, in order to maintain a ready 

 nnd instantaneous reilemption of the legal- 

 tender-note obligations of the Government, in 

 order to carry out the pledge contained in the 

 flhat man law and in the law that repealed the 

 Sherman law, to maintain at a parity all the 

 coin circulation of this country, I sav it became 

 necessary for the Secretary of the Treasury to 

 seek some other supply of gold than that he 

 could obtain in this country. fnder tln-e 

 circumstances Secretary Carlisle has done 

 just what Secretary Sherman did. time and 

 again, when he was refunding the public debt : 

 just what he did when be was gathering the 

 make up this reserve in the Treasury; 

 be baa sought to purchase gold from other mar- 

 kets than our own. 



Now. Mr. Speaker, there is one point 



-tate appropriately here, 

 though not directly in the line of my remark-. 

 I have Mid that Secretary Sherman kept a gold 

 reserve of 40 per cent., and declared in 

 rive reports that he believed 40 INT cent . v. 

 necessary and safe reserve. When that *H">, 

 000 ,000 was set apart : when the *1oo.<" 

 by what aremed to be the instruct; 

 frees in 1888 waa set apart, it was a gold reserve 

 fund for the redemption of the greenbacks out- 

 taodjnc. $S4ft.000.6oO. and for the supp 

 $200.000.000 or more of standard silver dollars 

 then in Hrculat 



lay $100.000.000 g,,M in the Treasury 

 would Iwa rwerve fund, fir-t. for the redemj>- 

 ' $-'100.000,000 of outstanding legal-tender 

 notes of the Government : then, of $500.000,000 

 outstanding overvalued *il and in ad- 



dition to that, under the operation of the pres- 

 ent national banking law. of all the notes of all 

 the national banks of the country. If 40 per 



.llirient lianng re- 

 " man can <-.,|i,( lain 



Ailhthe.M- added charges and tlu-M- addi- 

 ti..n- to the redermalile DOtei f tli- < 

 nient. $100.0(KMMHi i- now more than 



racl made under which 

 i- Itcing put into t In -ul-l n a- 

 .tid.T \\hicli gold is to-day l.ein- haded 

 on shiplM.ard to come t<. lhi> count ry. a contract 

 \vhich is complete in itselT and can not I 



under ample aullioiily of 

 c\i-ting law. Tin- only <|ue-tion i> whet! 

 hhnll "iir option t< snl.slitute for 



thirt\ '. coin l>ond a thin;. 



r 1. t. gold lond. And the : 



that is simply this: That a- e\ery coin cont 

 made in this country since t he 'resumption 

 s| --ie payments i> in truth a gold cont i 



\ing half a million dollar- a year without 

 an\ additional liurden or liability OD 11 

 ernment. 



.Mr. Sp<aker. I repeat that thi- is simply 

 of saving a half million of dollar! 

 year in interest to the people of the I nit 



I, The gold dollar ha- l>-.n the-tandar 

 of payment in this country liv operation of la\ 

 for twi -iiiy-five years. There is not a conti 

 made by a" member of Congress for the pa\m,-nt 

 of money, there is not a contract in this cot 

 try to-day, where the money is not 



.lied, that is not a gold contract. Gold 

 the standard the legal standard by which 

 contracts are paid in this country, whether 

 payment be in gold or not, and gentlemen con- 

 stantly confuse in their discus-ions on this floor 



a very important distinction between tin 



ard of jiayment and the currency of payment." 



Mr. Hopkins, of Illinois, led in opposition t' 

 the measure. He said: 



" Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from West Vi 

 ginia who has just aodresjed the House in favt 

 of this proposition that is pending under tl 

 special rule adopted to-day devoted eon-iderahh 

 time in justification of the Administration in is- 

 suing bonds and replenishing the Treasury thei 

 by. I shall take no time iii attemptii 

 him on that propo-ition. That, as I um! 

 it, is not the question presented to the House to 

 pass upon. 



"We have been informed by the I're-ident 

 the I'nited States, in a special message to 

 gre-s which \\.M- read hen- a few days ago. that 

 cont met has been already made for the is-nance 

 of Uuid- : and the f)iie-tion -ubmitted to us 

 not whet her H new loan shall be ncgotiat. 



ued. but whether this Ton/ 

 will authori/c the I'n-ident to change tl 

 of the (u.vernment and issue a gold bond. 



"I am opp-ed to thi- re-olut I nn 



oppoje<l to this Government at this late day in 

 our financial transactions changing its policy 

 with reference to the i mmcc of bonds: and in 



f myoppo-jtjon I tie-ire the attention 

 the House, for a brief period only to give 



that impel me to hold that position. 



" I Miring the long period the Republican 

 controlled this country, commencing, as it di( 

 in the early days of secession, during all the 

 dark and stormy period of war and up to a fe* 

 years ago, it was enabled to enact laws and ad< 



