The daily gazette., 1878-02-16
A Chapter from the Debate I'm
the senate.

4 tmO SGn1uCs
The question being ON the adoption of
the second section, Mr. Bayard spoke in
favor thereof, and said IL was the only
redeeming feature in the bill. He favor
ed an international monetary congress,
a5d5taSp and hSpsd the amendment would be
Mr.. Morrill, (vt, also favored its adopt
| ton.
Mr.. Salisbury Del) opposed it, and
said there was no necessity for attaching
this measure to an important financial
act. Let IL be brought forward as an In
dependent proposition.
Considerable discussion followed, par
ticipated In by Messrs. Merrimon, Ferry,
Blaine, Salisbury and Morgan.
| AT forty minutes after ten y. M. Mr..
Allison asked that 1t be understood by
unanimous consent that after IL o'clock
T.. M. the debate on the amendment be
limited to five-minute speeches.
Mr.. Edmunds objected, and said when
this operation turned out to be disastrous
TO every honest man In the country he
did not want to have IL said that it was
hustled through without being under
stood, AZ had been said about the act of
1873. Naughter)
Mr.. Edmunds said he would vote
against the proposed amendment because
| the conference was limited on our part
TO bi-metallic standard. The commits
sion was to be tied up, and the matter
was settled in advance.
Mr.. Allison modified the amendment
striking out the words "of legal tender
as" so that the conference should be
free to adopt a common ratio between
gold and silver with reference TO legal
tender.
Mr.. Mcdonald Qnd) submitted an
amendment to the clause making the sill.
yer dollar legal tender for all debts and
dues, public and private, except where
otherwise provided by contract, so as to
read instead of provided by,""express-
ly stipulated in contract"
In explanation of the amendment Mr.
Mcdonald said he desired TO have the
doubt about the payment of debts in the
silver dollar. i--l..
During a colloquy between Messrs
Howe (Wis.) and Blaine as TO the duty OF
the government to pay the bonds in gold
Mr.. Howe said If this government went
into the market and borrowed money II
would pay just what it promised to. II
IL borrowed sheep
Mr.. Blaine, You will pay back in pup
Mr.. Howe. If we borrow horses
Mr. Blaine. You will pay back In mules
(Renewed laughter.) I...s
Mr.. Howe. No, sir; we will pay just
what We promised to. s
At LAO Mr.. Allison again asked un.
animous consent TO have the debate con.
tinued under the five-minute rule after
twelve o'clock midnight. Mr.. Sargent
(Cal.) objected.
Mr.. Thurman (Ohio) said the Senator
from New Hampshire (Mr. Wadleigh)
was man of great courage to stand up
here and say TO two-thirds of the Senate
and two-thirds of the House of Repre-
sentatives that they were a set of swim
dlers by passing this bill.
He tMr. Thurrnar) thought he was a
man of average courage, buG he never
had the courage to tell two-thirds of the
Senate that they were n set of swindlers
The good humored manner in which
Mr.. Thurman uttered these words created
much laughter on the fieor.
The proceedings were further varied
/ by an amusing dialogue between Mr.
Thurman and Mr.. Blaine.
Mr., Window (Minn.) said he thought
it evident that this bill would not pas
tonight, as the question had been re
opened which for six weeks was discuss
ed under the resolution of the Senator
from Ohio (Mr. Matthews). He, there
fore moved that the Senate adjourn unit
twelve O'clock on Monday. Rejected.
The amendment of Mr. Mcdonald was
agreed to-yeas, 81; nays, 50, as follows
/
Maine, then Speaker of the House
equally ignorant with the rest Of 1si
Win the Senator share the ignoranc,
equally with us? t
Mr.. Blaine. L do not mean ignoran
as TO its effect. When the bill was passed
there was no such thing as a silver dol
: lar. My friend from Indiana (Mr. Voor
hees) had not had one in his pocket fol
! years.
: Mr. Voorhees, asked IL he could
call upon his friend from Maine (Mr
Blaine) as another witness who knew
nothing about the bill?
Mr. Blaine. did not know anything
about the bill at all. Uaughter.) would
like to exchange questions with my
] friend from Indiana, whose duty it wa
, rs member of the House to know about
the questions, and mine was to put
questions, Did he know anything about
il?
Mr. Voorhees,. very frankly say did
; not.
Mr.. Thurman said this was very Gu
rious catechism between the Senators
from Maine and Indiana as to whether
, either knew about the bill demonedZinl
silver. The truth was no human being
knew of it, because the bill did not do it
(Great laughter on the floor and in tho
, galleries.) When the bill was before the
,, Senate the general opinion was thai the
bill was simply to fix up the Mint laws
and no man in the Senate had the slight
! est idea that there was even squint il
, the bill toward the decentralization of sill
yer.