1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1003 

1'111< RANDOLPH. I gave way for a single purpose, and that was to go into executive session, with the understanding that what I have 

to say shaH be said to-morrow morning. If it is the desire of the 

Senate to hear me now, I have no objection, indeed I wou1tl prefer to 

go on to-night. , · Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. If the Senator from Iowa will 

allow me a minute I will give notice that to-morrow I shall ask the 

Senate to sit this bill out. 

Mr. WRIGHT. I am sure there will be no objection to that. Let us have the question on the motion. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is moved that the Senate proceed · to the consideration of executive business. • The motion was a~eed to; and the Senate proceeded to the con- sideration of executive business. .Alter two hours and twenty-five 

minutes spent in executive session the doors were re-opened, and (at 

six o'clock and thirty minutes p.m.) the Senate adjourned. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

THURSDAY, February 10, 1876. 

The Hoose met at twelve o'clock m. · Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. 

I. L. TOWNSEND, D. D. - The Journal of yesterday was read and approved. 

DISPENSING WITH THE MORNL~G HOUR. 

Mr. RAND.A.LL. Mr. Speaker, I desire to make a suggestion to the 

House, with a view to hasten the passa~e of the consular and diplomatic appropriation bill, which is likely to be considered to-day in 

Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. It is, that the 

morning hour for reports from committees for this day be dispensed 

with. You will recollect that yesterday an accommodation was reached by w]l!ch the gentleman from Maine [l'llr. BLAINE] will be 

allowed to occupy an hour in the committee, the consequence of which 

will be a further delay of the consular and diplomatic bill. The call 

of committees for reports is only temporarily postponed, and the 

Chair will corroborate my statement that the committee next to be 

called will lose no advantage by any l:luch postponement. 

The SPEAKER. The committees will retain their proper places 

in the call. 

Mr. R.A.ND.A.LL. My suggestion therefore is in the interest of the 

accommodation on one side and on the other. 

Mr. BURCHARD, of Illinois. Let the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. RANDALL] now move to go into the Committee of the 

Whole on the state of the Union. 

Mr. HALE. I think there will be no objection if that motion be 

made. 

GEORGE A. ARMES. 

The SPEAKER, by unanimous consent, laid before the House a Jetter from the Secretary of War, transmittinO', in response to are- quest of the Committee on Military Affairs dat~d January 28,1876, a report of the Judge-Advocate-General on the case of George A. Armes, 

late captain Tenth Cavalry; which was refened to the Committee on Military Affairs, and ordered to be printed. 

TERRITORIAL COURT IN ThTDIAN TERRITORY. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a concurrent resolution 

of ~he Legislature of Kansas, reque~ting C<?ngress to provide a territonal court for the people of the lndU111 Tern tory ; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

MILITARY HISTORY OF LIEUTENANT-COLOZ..TEL PULFORD, ETC. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting, for the information of the Committee on Military Affairs, the military history of Lieutenant-Colonel Pulford 

<?aptain Fre!ldenberg, Unite~ States Army, and Isaac S. Lyon, lat~ hentenant Signal Corps; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

COIN IN THE TREASURY. 

·The SPEAKER also laid before the House a let.ter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting, in response to Honse resolution of 

January 24, 1876, a .statement of the amount of coin in the Treasury 

at the close of bnsmess on the 31st of December 1tl75; which was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means ~nd ordered to he 

printed. ' 

CASH lN THE TREASURY, ETC. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting, in response to the resolution of 

the Honse da~d January 31, 1876, a detailed statement showing the 

actual amount of cash on hand in the Treasury, the several depositories, and mints, &c., of the United States on the 23d of January 1876 · 

which, was referred to the Committee of Ways and l'lfeans. ' ' 

EXPENSES OF BLACK HILLS COMIDSSIOX. 

The SPE~R atso l~id. before th~ House a letter from the Secretary of the Interwr, transm1ttmg an estnnate of appropriation necessary 

to defray the expenses of the Black Hills commission· which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations. ' 

FRAJ\'K _BAK.l!:R. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a Jetter from the Secretary 

of War, inviting attention to his letter in Executive Document o. 135, Forty-third Congress, second session, relative to the memorial 

of :Frank Baker, secon~ ~i~utenant of the Thirteenth Infantry, to be 

relieved from responsibility to pay $172.52, stolen from him while 

acting commissary of subsistence at Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming 

Territory; which was referrocl to the Committee on l'liilitru·y Affairs. 

CLA.IM OF MANUEL CHAVEZ. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary 

of War, transmitting for the information of the Committee on Military Affairs a copy of the report of Colonel Wag Swayne, an adjutant-general of the Army, upon the claim of Manuel Chavez late 

lieutenant colonel Second New Mexico Volunteers; which w::.S re- ferred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

DEPOSITING 1\:IO~TEY WITH ARMY PAYl\IASTERS. 

The SPEAKER also laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting the petition of Lieutenant-Colonel Hunt 

and other officers of the Army relativo to depositing money with Army ·pa,ymasters; w bich was refened to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

POLITICAL AFFAIRS IN LOUISIANA. 

The SPEAKER. The Chair has receivell a memorial from numer- ons citizens of the State of Louisiana, addressed to the Congress of 

the United States, praying for relief against certain alleged political 

evils existing in that St!tte; and they desire the presentation of it to 

the House and its reference, wfthout printing, to the Committee on the Judiciary. Is therejhjection'l . There was no objection, and it was so ordered. 

DIPLOMATIC AND COXSULAR APPROPRIATION BILL. 

l'llr. RAND.A.LL. I move t.hat the rules be suspended nnd t.bat the 

House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole on the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill. 

The motion was agreed t-o. 

The Honse accordingly resolved itself into the Committee of the 

'Vhole on the state of the Union, (Mr. HOSKINS in the chair,) andresumed the consideration of the bill (H. R. No. 1594) making appropriations for the consnL'l.I' and diplomatic service of the Government 

for the yoarending June 30, 1877, and for other purposes. 

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair will state that, by an aiTan9.ement 

made yesterday, the gentleman from Maine [Mr. HALE] will tirst be 

recognized. He proposes to occupy thirty minutes, and will yield the 

balance of his honr to the gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. LYNCH,] 

after which the gentleman from Maine tMr. BLA:um] will be entitled 

to the floor. 

1'111·. H.A.LE. Whatever I shall say, and I mean to be brief, will be 

upon this hill and the discussion which has borne upon it and itrl 

merits and defects; and I desire to say at the outset that whatever then~ may be in it of proper reduction I have no desire to oppo e and 

shall not oppose~ I may say that, in connection with the gentleman 

from Mississippi, [Mr. SL~GLETON,] who has charge of the bill, I was associated in the examination and preparation of it and in reporting 

it to the Whole Committee, and it was thought by him and by me that there were places where the appropriations of last. year could be 

cut down; not, I believe, that either of us-and I think in this I can speak for him as well as myself-had any lack of confidence in the 

management of the State Department under its present head. That 

management I believe to l}.ave been good in the years past. There 

has been no desire on the part of the pre ent Secretary of State to 

improperly magnify his Department. ~ut, considering the shrunken 

condition of our revenue, I believed there were certain things in the 

bill where a reduction could be made upon the expenditure -some- thing near 10 per cent.-and that the Secretary of State might be instl·ucted by Congress to run that Department for the coming year 

upon the basis of such a l'eduction. But, Mr. Chairman, the bill bas 

since then been torn and dismembered; and while I do not like to 

oppose anything that comes from the committee of which I am a mem- ber, and which is l~boring faithfully in the direction of economy, 

sometimes I am bound to believe striking in. the w1·ong phwes, yet 

t.here are certain things in thi..~ bill that I must objec.t to, aml certain 

things have been said in debate to which I wish to make some brief 

reply. 

I need to say less because of the admirable speeches th:ot bavo pre- ceded me, and it waa certainly a wholesome sight to see the Nestor of 

the House, the gentlemen from New York [l\1r. ·wooD] and his newer and fresher, but hardly less able, colleaguefTom New York [.l'llr. HF.wITT] rising above what may be termed party policy and represeu ting in their able speeches the great commercial metropolis of America 

which they so well represent. 

The speech of the gentleman from New York [l'llr. HEWITT] wa8 so exhaustive in its analysis of the relations borne by our con ular system to the commerce an(} navigation of the country that but little on 

that subject needs to be said, except perhaps to illu trate by special 

instances the hardships that may come onder certain changes made 

in this bill. 

M.r. Chairman, t.his bill covers both branches of our foreign intercourse, tl.J.e diplomatic and consular. Let me say a word first on the 

diplomatic part of the bill. What is diplomacy 'r There has been a 
• 

1004 CONGRESSIONAL RECOR,D. FEBRUARY 10, 

good deal of talk about it for the last three days and it has been more or less jeering and sneering at it. Webster says that diplomacy is 

" the science or art of conducting negotiations between nations, particularly in securing treaties." Now, my friend from Indiana [1\fr. 

HOLMAN] in his interesting speech on this bill took occa:sion to refer, 

in treating upon certain missions, to diplomacy ''as tho relic of the 

Middle Ages, as a feudal creation." I use his words as I find them upon 

the same page of his speech. What does my friend from Indiana mean f In what way does he look upon that lung black night that 

envelopecl Europe from the fifth to the fifteenth century . Does he 

not know that it was a period when war was rife and when men and 

powers were restrained by nothing except counter and oppo ing men and powers! Does he not know that it was ::t time when war, bloodshed, aud murcler reigneu supreme; that there was no trade; that 

there was no commerce; that there was no diplomacy; that the people were oppressed and borne down ; that the iron hand alone bore sway, 

and the kings and that rulers then made no treaties, or only made them 

to l'r ak them! Docs he not know that superstition and bigotry r igned, and that, so · far :Hom diplomacy coming to us from tho e ages, it was only in latter centuries, when the intercourse between 

nations became softened throu~h the forms of diplomacy, that the 

superstition and bigotry and 1gnorance of the dark ages began to 

flee away f 

Moreover, Mr. Chairman, our own history shows what we have 

gained by diplomatic intercourse between this and other nations. 

'Ve resorted to it in our earliest and feeblest days, in the struggle of 

the American Revolution; we sent abroad our brightest men, and not :1 little of the success of the Revolution, perhaps next to the deeds of arms wrought upon this continent, came from the sagacity, and prudence, and enterprise of our repre enii.c'l.t~es abroad. Does not the 

gentleman know how much-and he is a historical student and must 

be aware of it-that Franklin, anu Laurens, and Deane, and AdaUlS, 

and other diplomats who represented us in Europe, made way for foreign intervention, and secured for 1lll the sympathies of France and 

Spain, Holland and other European powers 1 Yet he tells us that 

diplomacy is a relic of the Middle Ages and a feudal creation. 

Sir, we have followed U)' that system since. Some of the highest names in our history are the names of men trained abroad in our foreign service. Out of fifteen Presidents, Mr. Chairman, we have taken ~:~ix who were educated, skillful, trained diplomatists. There are some later instances which a broad and far-reaching vision like my friend's 

must keep in view. Wha,t does my friend from Indiana believe would 

have been our status in the early years of the rebellion, when the 

great political powers of Europe, especially England and Fmnce, 

stood ready for a pretext to intervene and give us added foes when we had upon our hands nearly as much as we could take care of¥ 

Mr. HOLMAN. Allow me to suggest that I acknowledged that, in ca e of a proper occasion arising, it always bad been and always must 

be the policy of the nation to be represented abroad. 

Mr. HALE. We had a iirission to England; it was not a temporary 

mi sion arising from the exigencies of the case, but one whicp had 

been long established. There had been borne upon our list of ministors the-re the names of illustrious men. Does not the gentleman 

know that at that time it was largely through the efforts of our minister, Mr. Adams, that the British government was held in chock f 

I can state here what I know to be the fact, that when there was dan~er thai; the rebel rams, then bein~ built in English ship-yards, 

wotUd be sent out by permission of tne British government, it was through the efforts of our minister-effort , I may say, al'vays largely 

in private society among tho British people-that he was able to make 

the British ministry understand that if those rams were allowed to 

go, if the least was let slip and they were put upon the sea, the British government might depend upon war. Mr. HOLMAN. Does not my friend know that our Government 

sent abroad quite a number of distinguished citizens to represent us to the British people as well as our minister resident 

Mr. HALE. I know that, so great WllB tho exigency, the State Department supplemented the able efforts of Mr. Adams by the services 

of other gentlemen; but I know that the skill and vigor which gave 

life and information and centrality to the whole effort came from our minister to England, Charles Francis Adams. In the light of this 

example and of others which have come to us from our past history, it 

will not do to cast slurs upon diplomacy as a useless and burdensome 

relic of the past. 

In commenting upon our diplomatic system the gentleman [Mr. 

HOLMAN] ha singled out the minister to Greece. He has called attention to that minister in remarks to which we listened with amuse- ment, because they were lightened up by a humor which the gentle- man rarely bestows upon us. But I a k my friend from Indiana, who is 

a fair, candid man, whether, when he had got through with commenting upon the diplomatic system of this country as illustrateu by our minister to Greece and his dispatches, his reflections were not that his 

humor bad been more conspicuous than his candor 'f I am bound to 

say that I believe, from what ha.s been read here from the dispatches 

of Mr. Meredith Rend, our minister to Greece, that be indnl(J"es pretty largely in accounts of ceremonials, and that those dispatc~es of his are illustrated by similes and metaphors, which indicate that he ha.s 

stndied Robert Herrick and Sir John Suckling and the poets of their 

age more than he has the condition of affairs and the commerce of 

Greece, if sh~ has any. 

But does not my friend know that a part of the diplomatic inter- course between nation , at any epoch, no matter bow important, bn.s 

always been given up to the polite details of society f Has he evt•r read the memoirs of the French minister to the court of Charlo::; ll. and ha-s he not found in them frequent pictures given of the polite life and ceremonials as well as of the corruption of Britishstatcsmeu, 

pictures that furnished material for the historian and are interesting 

reading to the student of history Does he not remember that Du.- rillou chronicles the receptions &nd dinners and fetes given by tlw 

comt and nobility, and that all other diplomatic corre p.ondence i1:1 

full of t.bem f And I say again~ did not my friend realize when h 

bad got through that his making game of the e dispatche of t]l 

mini ter to Greece was not a fair criticism upon, but only a lit.tl 

good-natured raillery at, the whole diplomatic system¥ The gentle- man knows that even here in Wa hington, bard-worked as we are and as he is, there a.re certain social amenities of life which we ca,nnot get along without, and yet they are not the whole of our lives. 

I can fancy that the gentleman from Indiana, who is a gentleman, 

and aa such received in good ociety, might some day receive au invitation reading somewba,t like this: 

The Secretary of State requests the honor of the company of Mr. HOLMAN at dinner on Thursday next, at seven o'clock. 

And I can fancy that gentleman replying in terms somewhat like 

these: 

Mr. HOLMAN berrs to acknowledge tho receipt of the invitations of the Secretary of State, and will"be pleased to dine with him on Thursday next, at even o'clock. 

Now, suppose that the constituents of my friend from Indiana, looking at Wa hington life in as narrow a light as the gentleman looks at 

diplomatic life, should get holcl of this invitation and this accept- ance. Would they not say, "Is that what our Repre entative i doing 

in Washington; is that what we pay him $5,000 a year fori hy 

should be declare, as he does in this acceptance, that it is a high honor 

for him to be invited to dinner by a black-republican Secretary of 

State, and above all at 7 o'clock, when he knows that at this time of 

day all honest men from Indiana ought to be in bed." [Laughter] 

Why, my friend knows tha.t the invitation and the acceptance are the coin passing current in society among gentlemen; and he knows 

that his constituents, looking at it in the light that I have attempted 

to picture here, would get no true view of his valuable service to 

them and the whole country, which we all so fully realize. .Mr. 

Chairman, such things do not go to make up the sum and substanc 

of diplomacy any more than dinners and parties in Washington go to 

make up the laborious life which some of us lead here. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Will my friend allow me a moment! 

Mr. HALE. I have but little time. 

Mr. HOLMAN. Just a moment. If my friend's constituency should 

discover that l!.e was engaged exclusively in attending receptions of 

distinguished statesmen of Washington City and writing descriptions 

of those elegant entertainments-that this was all they got for the 

$5,000 a year they pay him, I think they would request him to come home, just as I propose to do with reference to Mr. Meredith Reaxl, 

who seems to devote himself exclusively to describing fetes of the 

little monarchy to which he is accredited. 

Mr. HALE. My whole point-it may have escaped the gentleman-is that these ceremonials chronicled by Mr. Meredith Read are not what we get from diplomacy, but that there is a much better field 

embraced by it. The maintenance of friendship between ;nations and 

nations is kept by the representation that is sent from one to another. 

The same vein adopted by my friend from Indiana has been followed by the gentleman from Illinois [MR. SPRINGER] ye terday. I 

have no time to bestow upon him. He saw fit to entertain this House 

with apocryphal stories of the late lamented Mr. Lincoln, stories not 

seemly in this pre ence. I make no application to him such as I have 

made to the gentleman from Indiana, because I presume tpat his con- stituents will hardly find that he is in the reception and acknowledgment of such invitations. 

The gentleman from New York [Mr. Cox] followed in likem,anner, 

and the humor and tht) fun he made for the House-and which we all 

enjoyed, I among the rest-will atone for many transgressions in the pa~:~t. w ·itb his quick eye he discovered an appropriation in one of the 

consular and <liploma·tie bills for pre ents to the officers of the Sultan 

of Tu.rkey upon the exchange of a treaty; and in some pretty bad 

French and in some pretty good wit be kept the House in a roar for a time upon these sul>jects. Now, uoes nottbegeutleman know that 

this, like the i'lstance selected by my friend from Indiana, is a singular instance, and one that will not be founq again in the records of the 

diplomacy of this country for p rhaps t\\renty-five year . Mr. Chairman, it is the wi dom of two thousand years that when we are with 

Romans we should do as Romans do. Now, it has always been the 

fa-shion from the days of the Queen of Sheba for orlen~al nations, up- on the exchange of treatie , to exchange gifts-presents of gold, 

fran.h.-incense, and myrrh, for aught I know; and the Turkish government has maintained that practice up to the present day. 

Why, sir, no treaty is exchanged with the Turkish government by 

any power, wherever it may be, when the e presents do not follow. 

It is simply a question whether u pou mutters of extradition or of postal 

arrangement or of commercial intcrconrsc, where:. treaty is needed 

in order to specify and fix our rights, we shall yield to this eastern 

practice which has gone on for centmies or shall make no treaty. 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1005 

.AP, the gentleman has said we took nothing back because it is not our en tom; but in order to secure a treaty with the Turks we had to 

make some pre ents amounting to twelve or fifteen thousand dollars. 

But the gentleman will not find such an instance anywhere else. This wa an exceptional thing; and no attack shoulq. be made upon the 

diplomatic system because we saw fit in this matter to do as other 

nations do. 

So much for the diplomatic side of this bill. I wish that I had time 

to go into the salaries that we pay tO' our ministers and secretaries as compared with England, but I have not, and fortunately other gentle- men have already touched upon the comparison. 

A few words upon certain features of the consular portion of the 

bil . I do not pretend that our consular system is perfect. It would 

be very strange if it were. It is intended to represent our Government in every foreign port where our commerce may go or where need 

may arise that our citizens should be protected. The domain is wide 

and vast. It would be a strange thing if there were not some places 

where we have consuls that could he dispensed with. It would be 

equally strange if there were not pla~es where we have no consuls and 

yet do need them in view of our growing commercial intercourse. But 

I want to call attention, through a column of figures which I have 

here, to the remarkably good management of the consular department under the Secretary of State as to thA collection of revenues and fees from that source. In 1858, although our commerce wa then, so far as our own shippu1g was concerned, larger than it is now, the 

fees from this source were only 110, 02.!59. It ran along, gradually 

creeping up~ through 1863, 1867, 1870, and 1873, until finally it has 

attained the figure of 715,202.94. So well administered is now our consular system that though in 1858, seventeen years ago, under the 

administration of Mr. Buchanan, when our commerce in American 

ships was larger than it is to-day, there wa{'! collected but $110,000 in 

fees, there was collected in 1874 715,000. There is no branch of the 

Government that shows better than the consular system as managed 

by :Mr. Fish. He has made it more than self-sustaining. It is one feature, and only one, of the most sustainedly successful administration of the State Department in all our history. 

Mr. BLOUNT rose. Mr. HALE. I have only five minutes left, and therefore will a{'!k 

the gentleman from Georgia not to interrupt me. So much for the general management. I have but a few moments 

left, I am told, of :~py time, and therefore can only emphasize a single 

thing in this bill to which I wish to call the attention of the gentle- man from Mississippi, [Mr. SINGLETON,] who ha{'! the management of 

it, as well as that of the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, [:Mr. RANDALL,] where it can be corrected and improved. The 

gentleman from Indiana [Mr. HOLMAN] stated that no place had been 

cut off where we had any commerce or receipts, but I know he has 

mistaken the facts to a considerable extent, although undoubtedly 

he believed it was so at the time. 

Now, 1tfr. Chairman, one of the distinctively important things our consuls attend to in foreign ports (and as the representative of a people enga.ged in navigation and sea-faring life I feel strongly upon 

it) is the relief and protection afforded to American seamen in distress. And the first thing my eye rests upon in looking at the list of 

expurgated consulates in this bill is that of three of these consulates 

where in the years 1873 and 1874 the consuls expended for the relief 

of American seaman over ,000. Those seamen would not have been 

found there in distress unless these port were lying in their way. 

What we are to consider is that if we had kept no consuls there the e American seamen, which my friend from Indiana is as mucli bound 

to protect as I am, would have bad no reliet; and what would have 

become of them neither he nor I can say. 

Sir, there are few more picturesque events in our commercial enterprises than that alluded to by the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. GARFIELD,] when, in the year 1871, our fleet in the North Pacific Ocean, 

consisting of thirty-four vessels, wa{'! suddenly, without warning, by 

inclemency of the weather-the winter coming early and sharplyblocked in by ice that could not be broken through, and their officers 

and crews had to abandon the entire fleet frozen up in the northern 

sea; and in boats and rafts and such way as wa{'! possible one thousand American citizens poured into Honolulu. Tiley were naked, 

they were hungry, they were sick, they were worn down by the privations they bad endured, and eight hundred and seventy-nine of 

them were relieved at an expense of nearly $130,000, a large sum of 

money; but who begrudges it'i Does my-friend from Indiana 'I • 

Mr. HOLMAN. The gentleman from Maine knows that we have 

not disturbed that consulate at Honolulu at all. 

1tfr. HALE. I know it is not proposed to abolish the consulate au Honolulu, but I am only using this particular instance as an illustration of the general needs of our commerce. Suppose, for example, 

that the appropriation had been cut down so low that nothing could 

be done to relieve those American seamen at Honolulu I - Suppose the 

rule then, as it is proposed now, had been rigidly enforced, that no 

deficiency of appropriation should be allowed f Or, let me say in an- swer to the gentleman from Indiana, [.Mr. HOLMAN,] suppose that 

tho. e distressed seamen, instead of going to Honolulu, bad gone to a port where we had abolished the consulate, who, then, would have re- lieved their distress 'I 

This is not the only instance of the kind. If I had an hour instead. 

of the brief time to which I am limited, I could read from the papers 

of the State Department case after case where relief has been affordei!. 

under precisely similar circumstance , in smaller urns perhaps in 

each case, but where the relief has been as groat for the few individuals as in this particular ca ·e for the many. Now, 1\fr. Chairman, 

when we come to the details of the bill, I hope the gentleman from 

Indiana will not object to the restoration of any of the e consulates 

where it can be shown that in recent years our consuls have been able 

to protect and succor his and my fellow-citizens. That is as important a matter for this Government t.o attend to, tho protection of and 

relief of American citizens in foreign. ports, as anything to which it can direct its attention. It does not become us to save :fifteen or twenty thousand dollars on an appropriation billli ke this by neglecting any such important duty on tho part of the Government. There 

is no real gain to so arrange matters in this consular diplomatic appropriation bill to leave matters abroad so that our citizens in distress 

shall apply for help where we have no repre entati ve of the .Government . .Mr. RANDALL. Let me ask the gentleman from Maine a question 

right here before-he conclude , and it is this, whether a consular agent 

with fees cannot perform the service to which he allude quite as well as any consul at an enormous salary f 

Mr. HALE. The trouble about consular agents with fees is that you 

cannot get a responsible man who will always be at hi post to attend to his duties where the fees are small. 

Mr. RANDALL. Then there must be a vast number of irresponsible agents of the Department of State scattered aU over Europe, Asia, 

and Africa. • l\fr. HOLMAN. The gentleman from Maine knows that the power 

of the P1·esident to appoint such consular agents is without limit. 

The CHAIRMAN. The time of the gentleman from Maine has ex- pired. The gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. LYNCH) is entit.led to 

the floor for thirty minutes. 

Mr. LYNCH I regret that it is necessary for me to make any re- marks upon this subject at all. I certainly would not have done so but for some remarks that fell from the lips of my honorable colleague 

[Mr. SINGLETON] who reported this bill fmm the committee; a gentleman, by the way, for whom I have the highest regard, and in whose 

judgment, upon some thing , I have unlimited confidence. He is 

doubtless aware of the fact that there is not a member upon this floor 

from whose views upon any subject I dissent with more reluctance 

than his. I confess, Mr. Chairman, that I shall not confine myself to 

the subjects contained in this bill, but will endeavor to combat some of the arguments that were so forcibly and eloquently presented by 

my colleague in favor of the passage of this bill as reported from the 

committee. I will ask the Clerk to read a short passage from my colleague's speech to which it is my purpose to reply. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

It may be proper, Mr. Chairman, to state the reasons why we consiaered it neces- sary to em bark m the work of retrenchment. We cannot cast our eyes to any portion of this country and view the pecuniary circumstances anu surroundings of our pr.ople without being fully convinced ana understanding that it is neces.sary we should do something for the relief of an overburdened people. I do not know how 

it may be in other sections of the country except as I see by the reports in the news- papers, but for my own section I know the people there· are so overtaxed and so overburdened with debt that it is almost impossible for them in many instances to obtain even the common necessaries of life. 

And again: 

This is not all. There are other causes for our poverty antl our distress. One of 

them is the fact that we have not had home rulers; that we have been governed 

and controlled by a set of men who, like tho worthless drift-wood that lies rotting 

upon the banks of a stream, at the flood-tide of reconstruction wa,s gathered up and precipitated upon us. These men came among us for no other purpose than 

for spoils; and they were not scrupulous a,s to the means by which they obtained 

them. We have been controlled by them. They have manipulated the Legisla.- tures of our States, because they have been in the a.<>cendency in several of them; ana the consequence has been that we were overburdenetl wiUl taxes, our money extorted from us unjustly, and we are left in such condition that to-day we are scarcely able to meet the taxes levied upon our real estate. 

1\fr. LYNCH. Now, Mr. Chairman, to give additional emphasis, 

doubtless, to the above, my colleague remarked that be is a southei'n 

man, every inch of him, from the crown of his head to the sole of his 

foot. To this I have no objection. I, too, am a southern man. I 

admit, however, that I am not in the ordinary acceptation of that 

term. That term, I am aware, in its ordinary acceptation, inoludes 

only that portion of the white people who r sided south of Mason 

and Dixon's line anterior to the rebellion. But, to speak practically 

and not theoretically, I can say that I too am a southern man-by 

birt.h, education, inclination, and interest. 

I will say, 1tfr. Chairman, that it is not my purpose, in discu sing this 

subject, to attempt to revive any of the unpleasant feelings engendered by the war. Far from it. I am anxious to see the day come when all those unpleasant feelings that were created by that struggle, 

when everything in the nature of race prejudices will be buried in 

the grave of forgetfulness never again to be remembered. I am anx- ious to see the day come when the rights and privileges of all classes 

of citizens will be recognized and universally acquie ced in from one end of the country to the other, so that we all can gladly and truthfully 

say, this is our beloved country, with which we are well pleased. I am not unmindful of the fact that I occupy a seat upon thh; floor 

to-day not by the votes of colored men alone, but by those of white men as well; not by the votes of those who fought the battles of the 

Union alone, but by the votes of a large numbel' of those who fought bravely the battles of the confederacy as weH; not by the votes oj 
1006 CONGRESSIONAL R,ECORD. FEBRUARY 10, 

. , outspoken, pronounced republicans alone, but by the votes of a large 

number of those whom we are pleased to designate liberal and moderate conservatives as well. I hope therefore that my collea.gue will uot object when I claim the right to speak not only for the colored 

people, not only for republicans, but for a large number of liberals 

and con ervatives as well. 

Now, sir, let us see something abont what my colleague said in re- rrard to the impo ition of taxes by adventurers-by persons who ha.}'e no interet in the soil. In speaking of carpet-baggers- those who 

h ave imposed heavy, oppressive, and unreasonable taxes upon the 

people of the South-! cannot believe that my colleague intended to 

include the State be has the honor so ably to represent in pa.rt upon 

thi floor. I ask is he aware of the fact that nine-tenths of the offi- es in the State of Mississippi are now aml have been ever s_ince the 

re-admission of that State into the Union held by southern men- men who are t.o the manor born, many of whom fou()'ht bravely the battles of the confederacy, and who, according to whn,t they say, are not a harned of it.Y 

Mr. SINGLETON. If you will allow me, I desire to say that I know 

exactly to the contrary. 

Mr. LYNCH. I regret that my colleague is not better informed. 

[Laughter.] Why, sir, my colleague can say that a majority of them are held by republicans; but if he says they are held by carpet-bagger , it is a mistake. Some of them are, but about nine-tenths of them are held by southern men. And I ask him is he not aware of the fact 

that these men, representing a large percentage of the wealth, the int elligence, and the virtue of the people of that State-is he not aware of the fact that they are a class of men whom the democratic pt:Lrty were proud to acknowlcdO'e in days passed and gone as among their 

brightest intellects and their ablest leaclers T Why, sir, when we speak of men who are holding offices iu the South, anu especially in 

the State of Mississippi, we will find a large majority of those office 

held by this class of men. Although not identified with my collen,gne's 

part y now, yet they upheld the cause 9f the South-that cause for 

which he no·doubt fought, or at least with which be sympathized- as bravely as those who are identified with the political organization 

of which he is an honorable member. I will say, Mr. Chairman, that I commend my colleague in his zeal 

to inaugurate economy, retrenchment, and r eform. He has my co- operation and support as long as be confines himself within the bounds 

of r eason and moderation. I n,m with him heart and soul to bring 

about economy, retrenchment, and reform w berever it can be effected. 

But when he comes forward and tells u that the pa&mge of this bill 

is <lemanded in consequence of the hen,vy taxes under which the p~ople of the South and Mi si sippi especially are laboring, this demands some little reply, some notice. Now, sir, let us see what these tn,xes are of which my colleague so eloquently complained. Let us see why it is that he comes forward and a ks that a large number of our important consulships shall be 

abolished and that the compensation of our foreign ministers shall be 

reuuced in order to relieve the overburdened t:ox-payers of the South 

and of Mississippi especially. Let us see wherein that statement can b e substantiated and sustained. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, the taxes in the State of Mississippi levied for 

the upport of her government are nine and a quarter mills, or $9.25 on each 1,000 worth of taxable property, four mills only of which are for the support of the State government, two mills for educational 

purpo es, and the other three and n. quarter mills to pay the intere t on th public debt and to create a sinking fnnd for its liquidation. . Now my collengue says that this is a heavy burden, and appeals to 

the House to come to the relief of the tax-payers of the South, and e peciaJJ.y of the State of Mississippi. He say that if you could stand 

wherehe stood, if you could seethe anxious countenances of the taxpayer of :Mississippi, when the tax-collector was crying off their 

property to the highest bidder, and see the tears faUing down their 

pallid cheeks, you would sympn,thize with them, and reduce the pay 

of the e office1·s for their relief. He say that the people of the South are suffering, and we must make these retrenchments, these reforms, even though it be done at the expense of the honor of this great na- tion, and I hope my friend from Virginia [Mr. TUCKER] will pardon me for using the word nation in this connection, but the word has 

b ecome so familiar to me that I cannot help it. · But my colleague says that the people must be relieved, that these 

burdens must be taken off their shoulders, and thn,t the way to do it is to 

:obolish these important consul:otes n,nd reduce the compensation of our foreign inin.isters. Now, sir, in fact the people of Mississippi pay 

directly comparatively nothing to support the General Government. 

I admit that, according to the theory of the gentleman from New York, 

[Mr. Cox]-and I do not wish to be understood as combating itwe pay doubtle sa great deal indirectly, in consequence of the tariff 

imposed upon articles necessary for borne con umption. We pn,y some- thing in that way, but so far as direct taxes are concerned, I repeat, 

the people of :Mississippi pay comparatively nothing. Still that is no r eason why we should not be in favor of retrenchment; but tha,t was not m y co11eague's line of a.rgument. His argument was that it was local taxation imposed upon us by those who came there in the floodtide of reconstruction, for the purpose· of living upon the subst:tnce 

of the people. Now, for my colleague's benefit, I have h ad a little 

comparison ma-de, a comparison of the tax system of Mississippi in 

18GG, when my colleague's.pn.rty held undisputed control of the State 

government, and in 1875, when the party with which I am identified 

had control of it. In 1865 the total amount of taxes levied was about $2,634,000, as follows : 

i~~ ~~~:~T~~tT~~~EHm::Hm~:~~~j~jj::::~:H~\ ~ : m 

My colleague says that we can raise seven million bales of cotton 

in one part of the State alone, which is about three millions more than I 

suppose we could raise in thew hole State; but I presume be is better po ted on this subject than I am. In 1875 the total amount of taxes levied according to this comparison or estimate was about $1,711,500, 

distributed as follows: 

Upon rf'~7 and personalty ...........•. . .. . .. ·-- --- -- ~-· ---- .. . ..... $1,461,500 

B~~~ ~~~ ~~~~:: ~: ::.· ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~: ggg 

~~:!} ::~::i }:~~ ~ ~~~~ :::: : · :::::~:::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::: i: ~R ggg 

Difference . . . . · .•. ..•... _ ... __ ... _ .. . ... _ .. . .... _. _. ___ . ___ .... ____ ~. 500 

Then, Mr. Chairman, the people of Mis issippi paid in 1875 about '922,500 less than they did in 1865. 

My colleague spoke of the public debt, the debt under which the people of the South are groaning and laboring, especially in Mississippi. Mr. Chairman, the public debt of my State is to-day less than 

half a million dollars exclusive of what is called the Chickasaw and 

common-school funds, and yet he asks us to go to work and relieve 

the burdens of the people of Mis i ippi by reducing the appropriation for the diplomatic and consular service of the Government. 

Mr. Chairman, I wish to tell my colleague what I believe to be the 

true remedy for the evils complained of in the Southern States. The 

true remedy, I think, is for a pnblic opinion to be inaugmated that 

will crush out mob law and violence and enforce obedience to the 

laws of the country. What we want in the South is a public opinion 

that will cause every man, wherever be may have been born, what- ever may be his color, whatev(3r his politic , to feel perfectly safe and secure in the exercise of his rights and privileges as an American citizen. 

I can assure my colleague that what we want more tbn,n anythiniY 

el e iH to have these politicn,l agitators, the e instigators of strif~ the e promoters of confusion and disturbers of public peace, forced 

to tn,ke back. seats. What we want is to bring about a public entiment that will render impo ible the existence of White League , Ku-Jilnx Klans, and other dangerous, mi chievous, and rebellious 

oganizations. It is in con equence of an unsettled state of affairs, of an unhealthy public opinion that ha tolerated the existence of these dangerous organizu,tions and justified these crimes that have been 

committed upon the rights of private citizens, that the development 

of that portion of our conntTy has been prevented. · 

Yon may make as many reductions in the appropriations as ~u 

plea e. But until there shall be brought about by a revolution in the public sentiment of the South a better condition of affairs, that part 

of our cotmtry will never prosper a it should. What we need is to 

have the people of that port ion of onr country, the tax-payers, tho e who are interested in the soil, tori e up in their might and to declare 

that the e men who go about from place to pL'tce appealing to t t e pas ions anu prejudices of race and riding into power upon the demerits of others an~ not upon any merits they may themselves pos- sess shall be forced to tha.t position which they deserve. That is what we want, and I hope my colleague agrees with me that we must have 

the good men of the South of both races unite so a to render impossible the elevation to power of a claHs of men who go about creating 

confusion, stirring up strife, and trying to keep the country all the 

time in an unsettled condition. When this shall have been brought about, then and not until then 

will merit, honesty, capacity, efficiency, be made the test of political 

preferment, and not a man's capacity to appeal successfully to mce prejudices and the baser instincts of mankind. I can assure my colleague that what we want is to have his party inaugurate a libeml, 

fair, generous, reasonable policy that will tolerate an honest difference 

of opinion upon political questions. We want his pMty to pursue a policy that will convince the c9lored voters that their identification as a mass with any one political organization is no longer a matter of 

necessity. 

S'ir, I expreRS it as my honest opinion that the identification of the colored people as a mass with one political organization, especially so far as local matters are concerned, is not so much a matter of choice as it is, in consequence of rlcmocratic hostility to them as a race, a 

matt.er of necessity. The affiliation of the rna es of the white people in the South with one political organization is not so much a matter of choice wit.b them as it is the result of the existence of a public opinion which in some localities does not tolerate an honest differ- ence of opinion upon political questions except at the sacrifice of 

social position and snccess in bu iness. These are the evils that must be removed. • White men must be 

allowed to disagree upon political questions without being socially 

ostracised and destroyed in business. Colored men must be convince<l 

tllat they too can divide in political matters ·without running therisk of losing their rights and privileges under the Government. \Vben 
1876. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 1007 

thi can be done all will be well and the South will prosper, but not 

till then. 

We hear a great deal about emigration to tlle South. But how can we get emigrants to go there; how can we get capital there, when men must know before they go that tlleir status in society, their success in business will depend upon their political affiliations 'f How can you get them to go there when it is understood beforehand that a public expression of an honest political opinion, unless it happens 

to be in accordance with the popular views of the hour, means social 

ostracism and destruction in lmsino s 'f How can you get capitalists 

to invest in southern communities when they are informed beforehand that public opinion there will sustain and tolerate a class of men who make it their business to ignore the Constitution, disregard the 

law , def-y the decrees of courts, outrage the rights of private citizens, 

and revolutionize State, county, and municipal governments 'f 

ir, I say let u have peace, let u have toleration, let us have an honest difference of opinion without being soci-ally ostraci ed and 

without being destroyeu in busines , anu then the South will prosper a other sections of the country uo, and not till then. These are tlle 

evils under which we are laboring and under which we are now struggling. . Now let me appeal to my colleague, [Mr. SINGLETON,] forheisaware 

of the fact that I look upon him as one of the Lest men in the House; 

that I have the highest respect and admiration for him; that I love 

him, [laughter;] I hate to uisagree with him; it pains me to be com- pelled to dissent from him-let me appeal to him to endeavor to get 

his party lea-der and party manager to re-adopt and faithfully adhere to that grand old democratic doctrine of former days "the Union, 

the Constitution, and the enforcement of the law ." 

The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman from Maine [!Ir. BLA.D."'E] is re- cognized, and in his behalf the Chair desire to say that, inasmuch as the gentleman's time is limited. to one hom, lle specially requests that 

he shall not be interrupted. 

1-Ir. BLAINE. Mr. Chairman, the houor of the National Government. and the prosperity of the American people are alike menaced 

by tho e who demand the perpetuation of an irredeemable paper cur- rency. Por more than two years the country has been suffering from 

prostration in business; confidence returns but slowly; trade revives 

only partially; and to-day, with capital unproductive and labor un- employed., we find ourselves in the midst of an agitation respecting 

the medium with which business transactions shall be carried on. Until this question is definitely adjusted it is idle to expect that full mea me of prosperity to which the energies of our people and there- sources of the l:1nd entitle us. In the way of that adjustment one great section of the democratic party-possibly itscontrollin~ power- stubbornly standsto-day. The republicans, always true totlle primal 

d.ut y of supporting the nation's credit, have now cast behind them all 

minor differences and dissensions on the financial question, and have 

gradually consolidated their strength against inflation. The currency, 

tllercfore, becomes of necessity a prominent political issue, and tho e democra who are in favor of honest dealing by the Government and 

honest money· for the people, may be compelled to act as they did in 

tllat still graver exigency when the existence of the Government itself wa at stake. 

While this question should be approached in no spirit of partisan 

bitterness, it has yet become so entangled with party relations that no intelligent discussion of it can be had without giving its political 

history, and if that history bears severely on the democratic party, its 

uefenders must answer the facts, and not quarrel with their presentn.-

tion. Firmly attached to one political party myself, firmly believing 

that parties in a free government are as healthful as they are inevitaLle, I till think there are questions about which parties should ag1·ee never to disagree; and of these is the essential nature and value of the 

circulating medium. And it is a fn.ct of especial weight· and signifi- cance that up to the paper-money era, which was precipitated upon us duriug the rebellion as one of war's inexorable necessities, there never was a political party in this country that believed in any other 

than tlle specie standard for our cunency. If there was any one principle that was rooted and grounded in the minds of our earlier 

statesmen it was the evil of paper money; and no candid man of any 

party can read the Constitution of the United States and not be con- vinced that its framers intended to protect and defend our people 

from the manifold perils of an irredeemable currency. Nathaniel 

Macon, one of the purest and best of American statesmen, himself a soltlier of the Revolution and a member of Congres continuously 

during the adininistrations of om first six Presidents, embracing in 

all a period of nearly forty years, expre sed the whole truth when he 

declared in the Senate that "this was a bard-money Government, 

founded by hard-money men, who had themselves seen and felt the 

evil of paper money ~d meant to save their posterity from it." . To this tmiform adherence to the specie standard the crisis of the 

rebellion forced an exception. In J ann ary, 1862, with more than a half 

million of men in arms, with a daily expenditure of nearly two millions of dollars, the Government suddenly found itself without money. Customs yielded but little, internal taxes had not yet been levied, 

public credit was feeble if not paralyzed, our armies had met with one sig~al reverse and nowhere with marked success, and men's minds were 1ilied with gloom and apprehension. The one supreme need of 

the hour was money, and money the Government did not have. What, then, should be done-rather what could be done 't The ordinary 

Treasury note had been tried and failed, and those already is ued were discredited and below the value of the bills of country bank . The Government in tllis great and perilous need promptly called to 

its aid a power never before exercised. It authorized the issue of one hundred and fifty millions of notes, and declared them to b a 

legal tender for all debts, public and private, with two exceptions. The ablest lawyers who sustained this measure d.id not find war- rant for it in the text of the Constitution, but, like the late Senator 

Fe senden, of my own State, placed it on the ground of "absoluto, 

overwhelming necessity;" and that illustrious Senator)leclared that, 

"tlle necessity existing, he bad no he itation." Indeed, sir, to hesi~ 

tate was to Le lost, for the danger was that, if Congress prolonfl'ed 

the debate on points of con titutionaJ con trnction, it,s deliberati~ns might be interrupted by the ound of rebel artillery on the oppo ite 

shore of the Potomac. The republican Senators and Representative , therefore, dismissing all doubts and casuistry, stood together for the 

country, and if taunted, as they were, by the democracy and disloyalty 

of that day, with violating the Constitution, they pointed. to that law 

whioh is older than con titutions. Ad.opting the sentiment, as they 

might have quoted the imputed language of John :Milton, they believed that" there is the law of self-preservation, written by God 

himself on our hearts ; there is tho primal compact and bond of so- ciety, not graven on stone, nor sealed with wax, nor put down on parchment, nor set forth in any express form of words by men when 

of old they came together, but implied in the very act that they so came together, pr~supposed iu all subsequent law, not to be repealed. 

by any authority, not invalidated by being omitted in any code, iua - much a-s b:om thence are all codes and all authority." 

But.the promptinO'S of patriotism, the pres ure of nece ity, the 

"despotism of duty,J? which thus decided the course of the republi- cans failed to influence the democrats in Cong1·ess. Marsbn,led and 

led by Mr.-Pendleton, since become the great ad vocate of inflation, 

the democratic Representatives voted in well-nigh solid column against 

the legal-tender bill. Bankruptcy to the Trea ury was impcndino-; 

eighty millions of unpaid requisitions lay on the Secretary's desk ;o a large part of the Army had not received a doll:1r for six months; supplies were failing; recruiting halted; the spirits of the people d.roop d; 

while the Executive Department., charged with the conduct of the 

war, urged that critical campaigns, then in progress, would neces- sarily end in disaster unless relief could be afforded. in this wav. But 

democratic consciences were too tender, and d.emocratic scruples too 

intense at that time to permit such a fearful infraction of the Constitution as the passage of a legal-tender bill, even to save the Union 

of our fathers and thus preserve the Constitution it elf. The necessities of the Government were so great and expenditures so enormous that another hundred and fifty millions of le~al-tender 

notes were speedily called for and granted. by Congress, the demo- crats again voting under ~Ir. Pendleton's lead against the mea nre. With varying fortune the "last year of the war wn.s reached, with 

three hundred millions of legal-tender in circulation. With the strain 

of our public credit and the doubts and vicis itudes of the stil:uggle 

these notes had fallen far below par in gold, and it became appar nt 

to every clear-headed observer that the continued is ne of legal-ten<l · ers, with no provision for their redemption and no limit to their 

amount, would utterly de troy the credit of the Government and 

involve the Union cause in irretrievable disaster. But at that moment 

the military situation, with its perils and its prospects, was such that 

the Government must have money more rapidly than the s:1le of 

bonds could furnish it, and the danger was that the sale of boud.s 

would be stopped altogether unless some definite limit could. be a signed to the ~sue of legal-tender notes. Accordingly, Congre ·s sought, and successfully sought, to accomplish both ends at the same time, and they passed a bill granting one hundreu millions additional 

legal-tender circulation- making four hundred millions in all-and 

then incorporated in the same l:1w a solemn assurance and pledge 

that "the total amount of United States notes, issucti and. to be 

issued, shall never exceed four hundred millions of dollars." And 

to this pledge every democratic Senator and Repre entative assented, 

either acti>ely or silently, a.s the Journals of both Houses will show. 

The subsequent readiness of many of tho.:se gentlemen to trample on it must be upon the broad principle of ethics that the Govm·nment 

should keep those pledges which are profitable and disregard tho e which it will pay to violate. 

\Vhen the war was over and the Union saved, one of the first duties 

of the Government was to improve its credit and restore a sound cur- rency to the people; and here we might have rea-sonably expected 

the aid of the democratic party. But we did not receive it. Irreconcilably hostile to the issue of legal-t,enders wllen that form of credit was needed for the salvation of the country, the democracy, a soon as the counti·y wa-s saved, conceived a violent love for the e notes, 

and. demanded an almost illimitable issue of them. 1\fr. Seymour, :18 

the democratic candidate for President in 1 63, scouting the f ur hundred million pledge, stood on a platform demanding that sixteen hundred millions of five-twenties be paid off in legal-tenders ; and he so heartily approved this policy, that in his letter of acceptance he de~lared that ''he should strive to carry it out in the future, whcr ver he might be placed in political or private life." His position a t thn,t 

time was approved by every democrat of high or low degree in New 

York, was unanimously re-affirmed in their State convention, wa sus- tained by all their newspaper organs, and was the recognized creed 
1008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. FEBRUARY 10, 

of the party, East as well as West, Mr. Seymour and his political a ociates in New York have changed their grotmd, ~tnd now proclaim an honest financial creed; and, after the manner of the Pharisee, they 

broaden their phylacteries, make loud professions of supe1·ior zeal, 

and thank God reverently that they are not as their sinful brethren 

of the Ohio democracy-tho e financial Sadducees, who continue tu 

reject all idea of resurrection or redemption for the legal-tender. 

I have thus briefly ref rred to the past, Mr. Chairman, only becau e !think it has au important bearing on the present aml the futme. I 

do not assume that the republican party can possibly discharge its 

pending responsibilitie by merely pointing to its formeT grand 

achievements. "Let not virtue seek remuneration· for the thing it 

was.'' But I do claim that on this financial question t.L.e course of 

the republica.n party in the past is a guarantee for the future, and 

that equally the course of the democratic party, of both wings and 

all shade 1 is a menace and a warning to the people. 

If, however, the New York school of democrats, repenting of their 

former course and seeking better ways for the future, are ready to 

give hone t help in the restoration of a sound currency, they will be 

gladly welcomed and their faith will be tested by works before this· se sion of Congress closes. They will not, however, deem it st.ran()'e or harsh if, remembering their past record, we feel an uncomfortable sense of disti·ust as to their entire sincerity in the future. This distru tis increased when we witness the brazen boldness with which,. 

in full view of their repudiation record of bnt yesteruay, they a some a stilted tone of superior honesty on the financial question, and affect 

patronizing language toward the republicans who saved the nation 

from the lasting blight of Mr. Seymom's triumph in 1 G8. Still further deepened and strengthened is this distrust when we remember 

the formal alliance which the New York democrats have renewed 

with the democrats of the South, to whom our whole financial system 

i but a reminder of what they themselves term their subjugation, 

and who from past action and preserit tendency are unfitted to IJc the 

safe 1·epo itory of the nation's pleclges for tbe payment of its war debt. We have pa eel into a new era and to recall the southern 

democracy, with their appalling record, to their ancient control in 

this country would be as decisive a step backward and ni~htwaru as it would have been for the English people to smround William of 

Orange with a Parliament made up of adherents to tbe lost bouse of. Stuart, or as it would be to-day for the French .As embly to thrust on McMahon a cabinet devoted to the fortunes of Henry Fifth. 

.As I said at the outset of my remarks, Mr. Chairman, the country 

is suffering under one of those periodical revulsions in trade common to all commercial nations, and which thus far no wisdom of legislation has been able to avert. The natural restlessness of a people so alive and alert as oms looks for an instant remedy, and the danger in 

such a condition of the public mind is that something may be adopted 

that will ultimately deepen the disea e rather than lay the grounclwork for an effectual cure. Naturally enough iu such a time tho 

theories for relief are numerous, and we have marvelous r cipes offered whereby the people shall be enabled to pay the dollar they owe with less than a hundred cents; while those who are caught with such a delusion seemingly forget that, even if this be so, they must likewise receive less than a hundred cents for the dollar that is due them. 

Whether the dollar that they owe to-day or the dollar that is do them 

to-monow will have the greater or le number of cents, depends on the shifting of causes which they can neither control no1· foresee; and 

therefore all certain calculation in trade is seb at defiance, and those 

branches of business which take on the form of gambling are by a. financial paradox the most secure and most promising. 

Uncertainty as to the value of the currency from day to day is 

injmious to all honest industry. And while that w.il.ich is known as the debtor interest should be fail'ly and generously considered in the 

shaping of measures for specie resumption, there is no justice in asking for inflation on its behalf. Rather there is the gravest injustice; 

for you mruft remember that there is a large class of most deserving 

persons who would be continually and rem01 elesslyrobbed by such a policy. I mean the Labo1· of the country, that is compelled to live from 

and byitsdailyearnings. The savings-banks, whichrepres ntthesurplu owned by the laborers of the nation, have depo its to-day exceed- ing eleven hundred millions of dollars-more than the entire capital 

stock and depo its of the national banks. The pensioners, who represent the patriotic suffering of the country, have a capitalized investment of six hundred millions of dollars. Here are seventeen hund1·ed 

millions of money incapable of receiving anything but instant and 

lasting injury from inflation. Whatever impah·s the purchasing 

power of the dollar correspondingly decreases the resources of the 

savings-bank depo. itor and the pensioner. The pensioner's loss would 

be ab olute, but it would probably be argued that the laborer would 

receive compensation by his nominally larger earnings. But this 

would prove totally delu ive, for no po ible augmentation of wages 

in a time of inflation will ever keep pace with the still greater in- rea ·e of price in the commodities necessary to sustain life, exceptand ma1·k the exception-under the condition witnessed during the 

war, when the number of laborers was continually reduced by the 

<lem::md for men to se1·ve in the Army and Navy. And those hone tminued people who recall the sta1·tling activity of trade and the large 

profits during the war, and attribute both to an inflated currency, 

commit the error of leaving out the most important element·of the 

calculation. They forget that the Government was a customer for 

nearly four years at the rate of two to three millions of dollars per 

day-buying countless quantities of all staple ai'ticle ; they forget 

that the number of consumers was continually enlarging a our armed 

force grew to its gigantic proportions, and that the number of prorlncers was by the same cau e continually growing le , and that thu was presenteu, on a cale of unprecedented magnitude, that imple 

problem, familiar alike to the political economist and the villaO"e 

trader, of the demand being greater than the supply, and aeon eque~t ri e in the price. Had the Government been able to conduct the war on n gold basis aud provided the coin for its nece sarily lar{l'e anu lavish expenditure, a rise in the price of labor and a riSe in th~ value 

of commodities would have been inevitable. And the rise of both 

l:tbor and commo<liti sin gold would have been for the time as marked as in paper, adding, of course, the depreciation of the latter to its 

scale of prices. 

'Vhile the delusion of creating wealth by the issue of irredeemable 

paper cunency may lead to any number of absurd propo ltions, the 

advocates of the here y eem to have settled down on two measures-or, 

rather, one mea ure compo eel of two parts-namely : To abolish the 

national banks, and then have the Government is ue legal-tenders at once to the amount of the uank circulation, and add to the volume 

from time to t.ime tbereafter "according to the wants of trade." Tho 

two propositions are o inseparably connected that I shall discuss 

them together. 

'l'he national-bank system, Mr. Cbairman, was one of the re ults 

of the war, and the cr(}dit of its origin belonS"s to the late Salmon P. 

Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury. And It may not be unprofitnr 

ble just here to recall to the House the circumstances which at the 

time made tbe national banks a necessity to the Government. At 

the outbreak of the war there were considerably over a thou anu State banks of variou degrees of responsibility, or irre ponsibility, 

scattered throughout the country. Their cha1·ters demanded the re- demption of their bills in pecie, and under the pre sure of this 

requirement their aggre{l'ate circnlatiou was kept within decent limits, but the amount of it wa in mo t instances left to the discretion . of the directors, and not a few of these banks i ned ten dollars of 

bills for one of specie in their vault . With the pas age of the legaltender act, however, followed by an· enormous is oe of Governq~.ent 

notes, the State bank woul<l no longer be required to redeem in 

specie, and would therefore at once flood the country with their own bills and take from the Government its resource in that direction . To restrict .and limit their circulation, and to make the banks a helpful as possible in the great work of sustaining the Government finance , the national-bank act was pas eel. This act required, in effect, that every bank should loan its entire 

capital stock to the Government; or, in other word~, to inve tit in 

Government bonds; and then, on depositing the e bonds with the 

Tr asurer of the United tate , the bank might r ceiv not exceeuing 

ninety per cent. of their amount in circulating notes, the Governru nt 

holding the bonds for the protection of the bill-holder in case the 

bank should fail. And that, in brief, is precisely what a national 

bank is to-day. I do not ay the system is perfect. I do not feel 

called upon to ru h to it advocacy or its defen e. I do not doubt 

that as we go forward we may find many points in which the sy teru can be improved. But this I am bold to maintain that, contra ted 

with any other system of banking this country has ever had, it i immeasurably superior; and whoev r ask , as some democrats now do, 

for its abolition, with a view of getting back any y tern of State 

banks, is a blind leader; and a very deep ditch of eli order and eli aster 

awaits the followers, if the people should ever be so blinded as to ta,ko 

that fatal step. 

It is greatly to be deplored, Mr. Chairman, that many canuiu men have conceived the notion that it would be a aving to the people if 

all banks could be dispen ·ed with and the circulating medium IJe furnished by the Government is uing legal-tender . I do not top here 

to argue that this would be in violation of the Government pled~e 

not to issue more than four hundTO<l millions of its own note . I merely 

remark that that pledge i binding in honor until legal-tenders are redeemable in coin on pre entation, and when that point is reached 

there will be no de ire, a there will certainly b no nece ity, for the 

Government issuing additional note . The great and, to my mind, unanswerable objection to this cheme 

is that it places the currency wholly in the power and under the 

direction of Congre s. Now, Congress always ha been and always 

will be governed by a partizan majority, representinO' one of the political parties of the conn try; and the proposition therefore reuuces itself to this-that th€' circulatin~ medium, instead of havinO' a :fi.xed, 

determina-te character, shall be sbifted, and chang d, and manipulated 

according to the snppo eel n eel of "the party/' I profe , Mr. Chairman, to have some knowledge of the Ame1·ican Congre ; it general 

character, its personnel, it cop , its limit, it power. I think, on the 

whole, that it is a far more patriotic, intelligent, and uprigbt bo<ly 

of men than it generally get c1·edit for in the country; but at the same time, I can po ibly ·onceive of uo assemblage of respectable gentlemen in the United States more utterly unfittecl to rl term.iue 

from time to time the amount of circulation required by "the wa,ntR 

of trade." But, iucleed, no body of men could be intru. ted with that 

power. Even if it were po ible to tru t their discretion, their integrity would be constantly under uspicion. If th y performed their 

dut.ies with t.he purity of an angel of light, they could not nccess-

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