Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-02-04
FOrty-Third Congress.

WEDNESDAY. Senate. Mr. Cameron in
troluced bill revising the salaries of di-
plomatic and consular officers. 1t fixes
the pay of the Consuls General ut London
and Paris ut $1,000 each. and OF the one
1T Montreal at $1,000.
Mr. Bavlrd spoke on the finance COM
mittees resolution. He said: In our tinan-
cial condition the country has reached the
forks of two roads and must choose which
20 travel over. The legal tender act was Il
war measure and should not he continued
All currency should be based on a gold
standard. 1t is the dutv of the country to
resume specie payment now. He saw
daily the necessity of retrenching our steps
for the tendency of the present condition
of things was to a dangerous centraliza-
ton. The people were more and more
becoming accustomed to looking To the
general government for aid in all their
enterprises. The government WAS tend
inc toward a vast monopoly, in the shadow
of which individual liberty would wither
and die. He believed that gold enough
could be accumulated in the treasury dur
ing the next four years to pay every obi
CATION. but the payment of debts not vet
due should cease.
Mr.. Morrill, of Vermont hoped some
measure would he adopted To preserve the
public credit and uphold the honor of the
country. He proved Mr. Boutwell, was in
1866 and in 1869 in favor of an early and
speedy resumption of specie payments
He said. also, that in the third year of Mr.
Boutwelrs secretaryship, he reiterated
some of these sentiments. while in his last
report he seems to have changed his views.
Mr.. Morrill, denied that imitation would
benefit the agricultural interests. claiming
that they derived a smaller profit from the
currency than any other class. The boards
of trade and other commercial bodies rep
resentlng the sentiment of the people have
/ demanded specie payments. He said the
rates of interest had increased even in the
state represented by Mr. Boutwell,, and the
state of finance and trade had always been
/ against us. The secretary of the treasury
/ had no right to issue the reserve The
claim of Mr.. Boutwell, that the country
was too poor to resume specie pavmeots
was ont of place. while we are building a
/ 100000 post-office at New York. a
S4,000,000 one ut Chicago and a So, 600. 600
or S6,000,000 at Boston, besides railroads
building everywhere. He regretted that
Mr.. Boutwell, was not among the advocates
of resumption of specie payments.
House. The army appropriation bill
which appropriates $2S.449, 900 was dis.
cussed and in the evening progress was
made on the bill for the revision of the
statutes.
THURSDAY. Senate. A resolution in
troduced by Mr.. Morrill, passed, for an
inquiry rs to the cost of illuminating gas
used by the government for which they
pay SlOO.OO0 year. Mr.. Carpenter said
he had found that newspaper corrcspon-
dents had been using government station
cry Such proved to be the fact During
this session 1t was shown that these horri-
bic writers who have been abusing con.
gressmen have each received paper and
pens to the full amount of 20 cents each
ms leak Will no doubt be stopped.
Mr.. Ferry of Michigan taking the chair
MI Carpenter proceeded to discuss Louis
lana affairs, his speech was based upon the
question OF admitting Pinchback. He said
there was legal government in Louisiana
and no legal Legislature in the state on the
loth OF January last. He quoted previou:
Prima facie cases, and contcnded thai
flnchback's was not prima facie, AS there
was no legal government or Legislature a
the time. He reviewed the condition O
affairs in Louisiana, proposing to Law III,
case before them in all its nakedness. anC
then if his republican friends thought hes
to take it upon their shoulders and march
through the next presidential campaign
he bid them JOY. He argued that the &C
ton OF both the Yarmouth and Lynch re
turning boards was illegal, and proceeded
to give in detail the proceedings of th,
supreme court of Louisiana and incident
relative to office-holding. as showing tb,
high standard of virtue there. One instanc,
OF the latter was that of Lynch, who hae
MS son appointed by Kellogg as inspecto
OF cattle, at a salary of 81. 1000 per wear
but subsequently thought it would not lool
well and had him resign. Lynch the,