National Republican., 1877-11-08

Ia Ion to the reference Of bill prescribing the
form OF credentials for Representatives, which
was reported from tho Conmittoc on Enlos by
Mr. STEPHENS and referred to the Committee
on Elections.
Mr.. LEONARD desired to disavow n spirit
Of captiousness, and criticised the pro;forma
method in vogue IN tho House of putting u
motion TO reconsider and lay that motion on
the table.
Mr.. sAYLER, who was In the chair yes.
tcrdav, Gcfcnded tho practice and tho action
of tho Chair.
Mr.. STEPHENS moved to discharge the
Committee on Elections from tho considera-
ton of tho bill, and to refer 1t TO the Judiciary
Committee.
This motion was agreed to.
Mr.. LEONARD. Mr.. Speakor-
The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Geor-
gia Is recognized
Mr.. STEPHENS. move to reconsider the
vote just taken aud to lay that motion on the
| table
Tho latter motion was formally put and
agreed to.
Mr. GARDNER was next recognized, and
proceeded to address the House on the hill re-.
peallns tho third section of tho resumption act.
| He advocated ths repeal of the section, believ-
ing that tho resumption 6et had failed to nc.
com plish what was expected Of u oy Its friends
ut tho time of its passage. He was not In 6yor
of initiation, neither did he think the country
was prepared for contraction. The lcgal.ten-
der notes he argued were issued rs a war
measure and only sustained Us such, and II
they were redeemed under the resumption act
| tho courts would not sustain their reissue.
Mr. COX, of Ohio, agreed with hiscoleague
as 10 the necessity for currency intcrchangea-
bic coin, and desirability Of return to specie
payment He admitted the ambiguity of the
language of the clause. He recognized the
ability Of the minority opposed to any assump-
AZ.
thought II desirable to take such steps rs could
be carried to successful result. He
then explained the principles Of his pro-
posed substitute which retains the free bank.
| ing principle of the resumption act and pro-
vdes for resumption on graduated scale, com
mencing to redeem January 1,lS7S,at % cents
| iT gold for the greeback dollar, and increasing
the rate one-half cent on the dollar each six
months thereafter until they are redeemed Mt
par This, he believed, would bring about ma
| tural and healthy resumption in manner bost
calculated 10 promote the int of tho country
| lie was prepared TO say now that he favored
the idea that when resumption was reached,
the legal tender character Of tho greenback
notes should cease. Party lines had, he said,
been broken down, and ho appealed to men,
bcrs to agree, regardless Of party lines, upon
some plan for improving the currency OF the
| country.
| Mr.. cox considered non -fnctuating cur
rcncy essential, and was In favor Of holding
what we had got, and would not open the
doors to initiation or anything that would lead
to fuctuation in the value Of the currency.
| lIo said the process of resumption proposed by
| him would afford o constant test whether the
currency was in excess of tho business wants
of tho country. II 1t was, the surplus woulf
come In for redemption. and If II was wanted
| the currency would not be presented. The
legal tender noto was contract 10 pay in coin
the value expressed on Its face. Tho time
when 1t should be so redeemed was not stated
To fix that time now rested with Congress as
the representatives of the people.
Mr.. RIDDLE reviewed and criticised the
| legislation on the currency since 1865, declar-
ing II unprecedented In uuhairncss, injustice,
and partiality, and said for all this the Repub-
| lican party was responsible.
Mr.. PIERCE said he had voted TO take tho
bill out Of the morning hour, not because he
believed in the principles OF tho
bill, but because he was opposed to anything
looking like gag law; and because he believed
that tho truth had nothing to fear in n discus
sion with error. He did not think all the
light was on either side of this question. 1t
was question OH which tho country needed
light, and he thought discussion here would
give some additional light. He then proceeded
to a defense Of the :national bauk-system and
said 233 banks had surrendered on account OF
excessive taxation, which was greater than on
| OLncT bptClcs VI piopSiby III thS NVuh'is
Mr.. KELLEY said taxation had not driven
| bank out of existence. The banks in Phila.
delphia had Just paid their semi-annual divi.
dends, ranging fronia Ave to ten per cent, with
large surplus. Ono bank there had recently
made an extra dividend of one hundred per
cent He maintained that such profit as this
WAS not calculated to drive capital out Of en-
ployment.
Mr.. PRICE said these were exceptional cases
and did not dispr0ve tho rule. He reiterated
tho statement that taxation had driven, and
was driving, national banks to surrender tbeil
circulation. These banks had put over eighty
millions in the Treasury.
Mr.. KELLY asked II it was not paid will
the gold given them by the Government fo
putting In circulation notes printed by th'
Government and redeemable in worthless
lying greenbacks"
Mr.. PRICE said they were printed by tn,
Government but paid for by the banks will
eighty millions additional. which was NOR
r than any other system of banking.
Mr.. PRICE next proceeded to reply to Mr.
PHILLIPS, denying that the currency Of France
was three times that of tho United States. Th'
, circulation OF France was, he said, $32.52 pc
cdpiia and of the United States S2l90 pc
capita. 1t was q fact, which every gentleman
would admit, that except France the circula
l ton Of the United States was greater than an!
I. civilized nation on the face Of the earth. Tn
! currency OF the country to-day stood bette
than it had at any day since the first gun wa
{ fired on the flag. Gold to-day was but lU2s
l Ho wanted to see no going back. We had ap
proximated specie values, and with specie valu
specie resumption would not DO difficult
/ A very lively passage occurred between MI
! KELLEY and Mr.. Price, in which the forme
, reminded Mr.. PRICE of the suffering and dis
tress which occurred through the attempt t
resume made by the British Government IL
1919.
Mr.. PRICE responded that he was not ol
, the floor of the British Parliament legiGlatin
= for England, but in the Congress OF the Unite
States; not for country which could b
crossed In day, but one reaching from tn
: Atlantic to the Pacific, from The icy regions a
: fthe North to the tropics n country like n
;, other and one which there choud be no othe
D like, iUr there was no place to put il. Lou
applause and clapping OF hands.)
0 Mr.. KELLEY said large ~ the country wal
K the American eagle could spread its wings Owe
d every acre and scream defiance to all creation
y Renewed laughter)
y Mr. HARRISON snid the mistake that wa
always being made in supposing this countr!
c over which the gentleman from Iowa ha
= lown his eagle, was unlike any other. lie n
!. icrred to the financial systems of France
~ | ENGLAND and I,rrmauy and held them IN to ]