St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-03-27
TRIUMPH OF THE INITIATION
lists
The $500, 900, 900 Bill Passed by the
House.
Senator Morton Favor, Initiation.

Senator Morton Favor, Initiation.
WASHINGTON. March %. 1874.
TIIF DEBATE ON THE FOUR HUNDRED
MILLION RESERVE.
Senator Morton disappointed those
W no haas expected the commencement
of II debate on the new financial bill by
:; set speech in favor of imitation. Sen
atoI Schurz replied. and quoted largely
from speeches which Morton made in
wears past in favor of resumption Of
specie payments, and III opposition t,
any expansion of the currency. This
production of Senator Morton'S old
financial views. So directly in oppeSi-
ton to those which he had lust adj
Vancrd. gave rise to Il spirited collOquv
between him and Senator Schurz. The
latter then showed that there is al
abundance of money all over the coln-
try seeking safe investments. which il
could not find. The great difficulty. he
said. was NOT Il want of money but {;
want of credit. and no expansion of til,
currency will bring il to men who d,
not now possess it. Senator Bayard
followed. dcnouncing the issue of any
of the torty-folIr million reserve by til.
Secretary of the Treasury as Il tiagr;IEt
outrage. which neither lawyer nor Law
man could hesitate to condemn. Sena-
tor Conkling not only hesitated to con
denim. but he defended the act. and
demonstrated 10y the reports of Con
gre>Sional proceedings that the Secrc-
tary was legally justified in acting a.
he did. At this rate there is To he Il
week : more debate at least in the Sen
ate on finance.
THE PASSAGE OF THE BILL IN THE HOUSE.
Ncanw lille the House Devoted its en-
tire time to the consideration CI the
bill reported 10y the Committee on Ways
and Means. providing for the ltmaliZH-
ti"n of the forty four million legal ten
den reserve aud fixing the maximum OF
legal tender circulation at four hundred
millions Ailer Il pr"lrartcd parlianrn-
tarV struggle and the defeat 81. the two
amendments offered. the bill VAS passed
lay Il vote of l6- yeas to - mas. | he
amount of legal tenders outstanding
TODAY j. thrce hundred and eighty two
millions. This bill. if passed 10y the
Senate. which d"Uhtle>s will hc the
fact. places the remaining eighteen
millions III the currency balance IL the
Treasury. and drprivc> the Secretary
al the Treasury of ANY further discIc-
ton l." draw upon the >"-callcd reserves
for any purpose " harcvcr. This vote
i = fair test of the strength at limitations
in tn, House. I he Committee we've
not Willin" that any amendments should
hc offered. save such a. wouid prop">c
Ia tiN the maximum of circulation At Il
lower sum than tom hundred millions
rIIE DEFEATED NME>pME>T>.
There we've NV" amendments of This
sort. One. introduced 10y Mr.. Dawes.
pIupo~cd 10 liN til" minimum AT the
present legal minimum of three hun
dIrd and litty->iN millions. and Ia
direct the withdrawal and cancellation
of the outstanding portion of the forty -
t"ur million reserve ~ speedily H. the
cNigcmrir> OF the Treasury would per
nit. The second amendments proposed
10y Ellis II. koh,It> of New York. fixed
The na\imum limit of legal tender eli
cuiatiuu 1T the amount outstanding this
morning. three hundred and eightN-tvo
millions. Both of these amendments
wee. defeated. the Dawes amendment
h. vote of - yeas to IL BAYS. and
the Roberts amendment hN Il nearly
similar vote of - yeas Ia ~ NAYS. II
WAS manifest that the advocates of free.
banking ard further imitation had sui
ticicuJ strength To prevent amy rcduc-
ton below the total of the present
maximum circulation with the addition
of The legal tender reserve.
me CAUSES FOR TIIt HE-IIT
There were very many who voted tul
this tnu hundred million hill VIII"
would hN n" r,i"lu> vote for Il further
increase of the currency. The motives
contrasting The votes We're very complex.
some voted Yea who favored an all
>olutc increase of the currency. Some
VIII" were np,">cd To an increase voted
aye f"l reasons OF eNpcdicncy. Others
v"t. Il tnI the hill from the political rr;l-
son thcl desired To indoI>c the action
of the executive officer of the, Treasury
The hill throughout the contest was
managed With glcat parliamentary skill
| hose Wh" thought Ia defeat il. either
on the pant "t the contl;lcti"niSts or
extreme iiliatiomi~ts. were completely
nui generated. General Butler made an
Intellectual effort To defeat the hill in
the INTERESTS OF Increased imitation. but
WAS utterly unable To- get out of the
parliamentary straight jacket in which
ii" had been placed. The rules did not
permit hin To dcli\ cr the speech which
he had ready. and he could only inject
out of order. i'll explanation of his vote
ia" following words: Representing
New England. voted fer this hill hr-
cause | did not like T." ding hen in The
face of the whole country" The New
England members. with the cNcrptiur
of Mr.. Butler. voted solid against any
increase.
TIE BILL ~ PASSED.
The following is the text of the bill
y hill to fix the amount of legal ten
der notes ut f"ur hundred million dol
lars. Whereas. The existing uncertainty
as to whether the amount of legal ten
der notes nov authorized by law to he
kept in general circulation is three