The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-02-04
CONGRESSIONAL.
JANUARY 2GTI.

Grimes, resigned, were presented, and
he was sworn in. 4 resolution of the
Kansas Legislature was presented,
asking the removal Of the capital TO
the Fort Leavenworth Military Reser-
vatiOn. y petition was presented
asking that suffrage be extended to
women; also petition of Thomas A.
Hendricks and other members OF Cle
Indiana bar for an increase Of the sal
aries Of the Judges o. the SupTemeand
Circuit Courts. Mr.. Buckingham, OF
Conn, introduced bill Supplements
~ Of the currency act of June 3, 1854,
and under il authorizes free banking.
It provides no banks shall exist with
a less capital than 500, 600, and the
circulation shall not exceed A per
cent, Of the capital actually paid in
Another section prohibits National
Banks paying interest on deposits
Certain provisions are made relative
10 the securities TO be deposited. the
currency bill was taken up. Sumner
said the bill was inadequate, and pro-
posed an amendment providing for
the enlargement of National Bank
circulation: 500, ,O00, 600, for its equit-
able distribution and for the with
drawal Of greenDacks for every bank
note issued, ultimately having bank
notes only in existence. Mr.. Sher-
man defended the bill, and Mr.. Thur
man opposed the amendment and ad-
vOcated the passage of the bill. Mr.
Morton gave notice of an amendment
to increase the amount of additional
circulation to 100000 instead Of
S45, 100000. Mr.. Morrill,, of Maine,
made some remarks about the increase
of circulating notes in New England
Mr.. Warner advocated the redistribu-
ton of the currency as a matter OF
Justice The Senate then adjourn
cd.
In the House esolutions Of inquiry
were adopted ~ to the appointment Of
a Land Commissioner, to be charged
with a special duty of facilitating the
acquisition ofhomesteads by the freed
men and other landless people in the
Southern States, and of inquiry as to
the extent and value of the imports Of
foreign commodities suscepti BILE of
production in the United Staes. The
House then went into Committee OF
the Whole, and Mr.. Butler, of Massa-
chusetts, replied at great length to the
speech of Mr.. Dawes. Mr.. Butler
said the estimates made by JOhnsOn's
administration were based on uneX-
pended balances, and read a letter
from the Secretary of the Treasury TO
show this. Grants estimates had no
balance to he based on. He referred
to a clerical error of Sl5, 100000 in the
POstOffice estimate, increasing ii by
that amount. As TO the Treasury De
partment, he proceeded to show the
excess in the estimates was caused by
the legislation of Congress in ordering
the erection of public works, such as
the New York and Boston POstOffices,
&c. which made difference against
last year of over Sc, 5000 He esti-
mated the expenditure of the second
year Of General Grants administra-
ton, compared it with the apprOpria-
tiOns for the first year, and endeavor-
ed to reply by item to the general
charges made by his colleague. 1t
would be seen that, instead of this adj
ministration calling for more than it
had last year to carry on the Govern
ment, il asked for and recommended
an appropriation of a sum which was,
in fact, over $4,000, 900 less than that
of last year, or $50, ,OOO, 600 less than An
drew Johnson estimated. The bal
ance Of the speech was a criticism Of
Mr. Dawes course in this and other
matters. Mr.. Dawes replied briefly to
the personal part of the speech, and
gave notice he would to-day reply to
Mr. Butler, cOnfining himself to these
three points-the reason for making
the speech, its truth and its pro-
priety.
JANUARY 9TH.
In the Senate the House resolution,
prohibiting assessments upon or col
iections from subordinate officials to
make presents to their superior Off
GERS, was passed. John +. Lewis was
sworn in as Senator from Virginia.
The discussion of the currency bill was
continued. Mr.. Howe wanted no sum
specified, but to let the people "waste
all the money they wanted in bank
ing" Sawyer advocated the bill as
proposed to be amended by Morton.
Morrill,, of Vermont, advocated the
proposition of the Finance Committee.
Morton wanted to modify, by author
izing S62,0OO,OOO additional when
wanted, from the North and East. He
said in order to equalize the distribu-
ton, the West ought to have double
its present circulation. He opposed
the provision in regard to coin notes.
He said the Pacific States, in an un-
friendly spirit, refused to receive the
currency. Casserly, of California, eX-
planned that the Constitution of Cali
fornia before the war prohibited paper
currency, and said that this was not
in consequence of any unfriendly feel
ing to the United States. Soon after,
the Senate adjourned.
In the House, among others, bills
were introduced to establish lines of
ocean steamships, and requiring Ma
tional Banks going into liquidation to
deposit lawful money in place of their
circulating notes, and to take up their |
bonds. The word oath i'll the Virgin
ia bill was declared to include affirm
alton. Messrs. Platt, Mines and
Ridgeway were sworn in as members
from Virginia. a long and fierce dis |
cussiOn arose on the question of adj |
mitting Porter as member from that |
State. After much talking about the |
course of the Democratic party during |
the war, Porter was sworn in. \ bill |
abolishing the franking privilege was |
passed by a vote of ia to IA. 1t pro- |
vides that after July first nothing |
1OhdtcUer shall 90 through the mails |
free. The House went into Commit |
tee of the Whole, and Mr.. Dawes then |
replied to the speech of Mr.. Butler |
Yesterday, undertaking to prove that |
his own speech, which had been ar
ranged yesterday, was made on a fit |
ting occasion; that the speech was
true, and that it was proper that he |
should make it. He showed that he
spoke for all his associates on the COM
mittee; that the former speech was
not a reckless arraingment of the de-
partment; that the committee spent
the whole of the holiday recess in adj
vising with members of the Cabinet,
and the President himself, as to reduc-
ton of the estimates; that every head
of department but one had been con-
suited by some member of the COM
mittee; that he did not visit the Sec
retary of War, because Belknap had
only Just come into Office, and the
President himself said he was satisfied
the estimates of that department could
not be reduced. He said he had not
drawn any comparison between the
expenses of JOhnsOn's administration
and Grants ADMINISTRATION. He proved
the necessity of the position taken by
the committee, by showing that a
comparison of the appropriations
made last winter for the first year of
our administration with the estimates
submitted for the second year thereof,
indicated an upward tendency of eX-
penditure instead of the downward
tendency to which the Republican
party is pledged, and vindicated the
prOpriety of his first speech by show
ing how the committee had labored
with the President and his Cabinet,
and how Congress itself is responsible
through the laws it passes for every
dollar of the proper expenditure made
by any administration, and that it
was necessary to arrest the attention
of Congress and the country, because
the committee was everywhere met in
its efforts at economy by the assertion
that the Executive could only carry
out the will of Congress. He reviewed
his former speech, and proved by re-
ference TO the page and line of the
official book of estimates that every
material figure was correctly given.
T.