The Portland daily press., 1874-04-02
forty Third COngress-First Session.
SENATE.

several petitions were presented asking in
creased appropriations for the removal Of the
distractions of He'll Gate.
| a Joint resolution was agreed to ALLOWING r
M. and Stephen A. Douglas to ha We their cot.
ton claims adjudged by the Court of Claims.
The Bills for the redemption and reissue of
y: 5. notes and for free banking were taken up
me pending question was the amendment Of
mr.. Gordon to that of Mr. Logan, providing
Ior the organization of national banks in any
State or Territory having less proportion of
banks than Maine, and the issue of currency
a. basis of population and wealth, until each
ctate and territory has an amount of circula
'ion equal to that of Mamie.
h. WI aI:i laws moved to amend the amendment
Dy striking out Maine and inserting "Penn-
sy,vahia. Mr.. Davis said according to his
ton under Mr. Gordon's amendment about
$zzS0Co,O0O but if his Davis) amendment
wouid De adopted the additional circulation
would De $4,000 600, based upon New York
about 1924, 100000
| =, MI sherman said upon the basis of Maine
o one addit,onal circulation would be about $685.
OO0oo oO upon the basis of New York $l1O-
oUYoS ~ ana upon the basis of Pennsylvania
Mr Gordon accepted the amendment pro-
posed by Mr.. Davis.
Mr.; Morton said the people wanted money
ana the country could come to specie payment
| when it could. There was no use to talk alb mt
specie payment now He had noticed in pa
| per OF yesterday that imitation meant war that
s aaa De resisted by force of arms. Such
s;1hts were not more unreasonable tian
similar ones made in the Senate
| MT Sargent said it was time to enter one en-
ergetic protest against tine assumption of the
ee11Pahsionists that they were in the majority
My My were they in the majority? Because
massachusetts was unrepresented on this floor,
one senator being dead and tn other at home
SICK and not paired while those on that side
| haa every one of their number present and
| paired ~
| Mr.. Logan said this debate, day after dav.
was a determination on the part of the minority
| to underestimate, aud he saw no use in going
| over the same argument every day.
The amendment of Mr. Logan having been
| offered as substitute for the Sd section of the
| Committee bill, and, he having accepted an
| amendment of Mr.. Gordon, also the amend
| ment of Mr. Davis, which provides national
bank circulation in those States and Territories
having less than their proportion. shall be up
on the basis OF population aud wealth until
each State and Territory has an amount of
| such bank circulation equal to that of Penn
sylvania, leaving the section as reported by the
Committee, with the exception of substituting
pennsylvania Tor New York, was rejected by
| yeas Is nays 26, as follows:
Yeas-Boreman, Carpenter, Conover, Cooper,
Davis, Dennis, Ferry of Mich, Gordon, Har-
vey, Hitchcock, Lewis, Logan. MITCHELL Nor
ton, Norwood, Oglesby, Patterson, Pease,
Sprague, Tipton-25.
Nays-Anthony, Bogy, Chandler, Conklng,
Cragin, Fenton, Frelinghuysen, Goldthwaite,
Hagar, Hamilton of Md. Hamilton of Texas,
HamlIn, Howe, Jones, McCreary, Merrlmon,
bury Schurz, Sherman, Stewart, Thurman,
Wadleigh and Windom-26.
Mr. Morrill, of VT, offered an amendment
providing that the maximum limit of fraction
a! currency issues for circulation shall be fixed
al $500, 100000 and that the excess outstanding
be Withdrawn as early as practicable.
Mr.. Jones of Nevada, made a speech to the
effect that the rebellion would have been put
down for ST. 800, 000 900 less thanit cost but for
the manufacture of irredeemable paper money
which allowed debtors to pay creditors 80 to 80
per cent less than he owed. He believed it the
duty of the Senate to investigate this matter,
because another rebellion might be raised and
little investigation would show it might be
put down at less cost than the former one,
which cost double the amount it should have
done. He favored hard money and a return to
specie payment in January or July 1876.
Mr.. MorrilPs amendment fixing the volume
of fractional currency was rejected, yeas 10,
nays 30.
Mr.. Sherman moved an amendment repeal
ing portions OF sections 81 and 80 of the ma.
tional currency act so as to require that the ma
tional banks shall keep their lawful money re-
serve within their own vaults, forbidding them
to keep their measures elsewhere, and providing
that no national bank shall redeem its notes at
any other place than over its own quarter
MI Sherman gave notice that be would offer
other amendments, one of which would be to
reinstate the I'd section of the bill in modified
form 80 as to provide for return to specie uay-
ment in 1877 or even 1878. Again he would
like to see the 4th section reinstated and mod-
fed by striking out '70'' as the ratio of legal
tenders to be returned and insert in lieu there
of "50.''
Mr. Logan offered as an amendment the bill
introduced few days ago by Mr. Merrimon,
requiring national banks to keep per cent. OF
their circulation in the treasury of the United
States to be used in redemption thereof, but
subsequently withdrew it.
Chandler moved to adjourn-yeas %, nays
25. Adjourned.
HOUSE.
MI Ring of s. c., presented counter state
ment of the Republican Central Committee of
South Carolina to the so-called memorial of tax
payers. 1t declares that the tax payers have
no one but themselves to blame in not aiding
the work of reconstruction and that the figures
given by the memoralists fare distorted and
skillfully arranged to deceive.
A bill enabling the Russian memoralsts to
effect permanent settlements on public lands
was reported and made the special order for
| next Wednesday.
A bill supplemental to the mining law was
| discussed dnring the morning hour.
The House took up the currency bill and was
! addressed by Mr. Phelps of New Jersey against
| the bill and against initiation of currency.
Mr.. Hawley of Conn.,, followed on the same
side of the question. He argued that if the ma
ton was pledged to the early resumption of
| specie payment, 1t was pledged to the rrdemp-
tan of legal tender currency and that pledge
| should be kept. The action of the conven- ions
| of both the political parties was in favor of a
| speedy return to specie payments. He char
acterized as unconstitutional the $44 900 900 in
| fiction. He declared lie could not vote for the
| pending bill He knew it had one COON thing
| in it9and that was the feature introduced bv
| Mr. Phelps providing for the monthly issue Of
| $4,000, 900 OF gold notes as substitute for an
| equal volume Of legal tender notes redeemabe
in two years. So far the bill was good, for it
| planted mustard seed of REDEMPTION. 1t be-
gan to look toward real money by and by, but
| with the general provisions of the bill he was
| not satisfied. He.was not satisfied with any
bill which did not bear in the mind the primary
duty of re cunning to the true standard Of value.
| The practical redemption proposed in this bill
| he had seen on the line of the Pacific Railroad
| but there they termed it ''three card monte"
He would vote every dollar of mere paper
| money out OF his town and out OF his State
| before he would consent to 10 cents of inha-
ton, and he would stay at home from Congress
| all the rest of his life rather than do it. He
warned the House that if it passed this bill it
! would be taking step with more evil to the
country than the Kansas Nebraska bill which
! bad been so big with controversy ana war.
| Would they, he asked ever find it easier to go
| back towards specie payments tnan now. He
declared he would not vote for any man for
office. even his dearest fir end who did not have
sound principles on the question of a return to
| specie payment.
| A colloquy arose between Mr.. E. R. Hoar
and Mr. Eldridge in regard to the legal tender
decision of the Supreme Court, Mr.. Eldridge
declaring that the decision would have been
| different if two new Associate Justices had not
seen appointed at that time, and Hoar that the
DECISION was made before the appointment.
Tse House at o'clock took recess The
evening session will be for action the bill for a
revision of the laws
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE,