Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-04-26
luton, but it was objected to by Mr.: Cameron
of Wisconsin, and it was laid over.
Adjourned until Monday. III
House or Reprcssntatiyes.

Mir. MacMahon, who had charge Of the bill,
stated thu, at the end of two hours Of discus
sion he would demand tho previous question.
Mr.. Kelly hoped the House would not second
the previous question, but that it would allow
extended discussion to be had on the bill.
| Mr.. Knott thought there might be grave
doubts as to whether the bill passed by the Sen
ate would effect the repeal of the bankrupt bill.
He would therefore move to amend the bill
no as to repeal title sixty-one of the revised
! statutes and tho act approved June, "a,
| entitled an act to amend IN act to establish q
uniform system Of bankruptcy. he would
also offer an amendment to the bill, that all
penal actions on criminal prosecutions arising
proposed to be repealed, mail continue in full
force until disposed Of.
Mr. Mcmahon stated that he was authorized
by tie judiciary committee to offer substitute
for the bill repeating the bankrupt law, and
providing that the bill shall take effect imme-
pending proceedings and suits, and stall take
effect after the FIRST OF July, 1879,
in regard to voluntary bankruptcy procee d.
ings. He said there were three classes of views
in regard to the bankrupt law. One class de-
sired the present bankrupt law; the second
third class, represented by majority of the
judiciary comm tee, desired it's repeal as to
voluntary proceedings, to take effect after the
lst of January, 1879. He spoke in behalf Of
those who thought bankrupt law was con-
trary to republican institutions. but he would
modify its repeal by granting limited time in
which persons might take advantage Of its benz
efta:
Mr.. Conger favored the substitutes People
all over the country we're DESTROYS of knowing
the exact time when this bill would take effect
that they might have time to file their petitions
for voluntary bankruptcy. The threatened
action of the House under the leadership Of the
gentleman from New York Woody was bring
| ing ruin on the country and destroying all in
dustries, agricultural and mechanical. This
threatening and impending effort of q class Of
enthusiastics who might be summed up in the
character of communists, free-traders and in
fationists and who threatened destruction to
the general industries of the country,
should cause members to pause
moment before they drove into voluntary or
involuntary bankruptcy men who had for years
| struggled to preserve their credit and pay their
debts.
Mr.. Frye advocated the substitute.
MIR. Lapham favored the Senate bill.
Mr. Chlttenden believed good bankrupt
law YVES IN absolute necessity. The substitute
Of the judiciary committee was the most dam
gerous proposition Of legislation which had
been presented to the torty-hfth Congress.
| There was nothing less in the proposition to
allow the voluntary feature to extend until
! January next than an invitation to
| high carnival of disaster, distress
and calamity. That was the invitation which
| Congress proposed to give to fifty Thousand
| merchants aud people involved in the ruin and
speculation Of the last twenty years. 1t would
| lead to results which no man could fOresee, and
would come back ON Congress and confound it:
MIR. Hunton moved to refer the bill to the
! judiciary committee.
MIR. Ewing sustained the motion to refer.
He characterized the pending bill fit sequel
to the resumption law; and would complete the
work of ruin which that law had contemplated.
The resumption law provided in effecI that
men who were so unfortunate as to have been
| In debt during the past three years, men who
| were SO venturols as to continue business;
should be broken up and their property given
to their creditors The pending bill enacted;
| in addition, that creditors should have mort
| gage upon the brain and muscle Ut the unhap-
py DEBTOR to the end of his lite.
1t was monstrous measure. The condition
of the masses of business men OF the country
was condition of insolvency. Not one man in
five of them could settle his debts by the sale
of all his property. And what was the cause OF
that insolvency. Was it the fault of the
debtors9 Was it because they had been over
venturous, because they had been reckless?
Not at all. The cause was the Legislation of
Congress. He cared not whether it was attrib-
utable to imitation or contraction, or to the one
followed by the other. The cause still was the
|
If property had been swept from them by the
visitation of God or by the act Of war, would
| Congress follow that sad and terrible event by
q bill to repeal the benefcent provisions
| of the bankrupt law? Would Con-
gress say that that was the proper
time to enact that the debtor, although his
property has been swept off without any fault
Of his own, should not be acquitted OF his debt
on the loss of all his property. No Congress-
would say that. That was the worst OF all
times to do such thing. 1t would say that If
ever people needed q bankrupt law they
needed it then. This was the situation of the
country to-day. The business men Of the
| country were in embarrassment and practical
insolvency. Very few Of them know even the
cause of the steady fall in value of everything
in which they deal, of the steady rise OF their
debts as compared with their property.
MIR. Cole asked Mr.. Ewing whether he assert
ed that not one out of five Of the business men
of the country could pay their debte
Mr.. Ewing asserted it, and believe
it.
Mr. Cole-Where do you get that kind Of
MI. EwingI got it from the fact that there
has been fall in the values Of property during
the past three years of not less than 6O pc!
cent. on an average.
MIR. Cole-And still assert that there is no
one out Of every five business men of tn
country who is not discharging his obligation
faithfully and promptly.
Mr.. Ewing-A large part of them are dis
charging their obligations promptly and faith
fully and that is largely due to the fact that the.
+ are sustained from being actually swept out o
business by this bankrupt law. Bankruptc,
has multiplied from the da5 that the resump
ton law was passed, and it goes on increasing
every month since then. 10 attribute thes
bankruptcies and failures to the bankrupt Ia,
e is unreasonable. think it would be the wors
policy now to repeal the bankrupt law. In tn
name of God, have not the struggling
e suffered enough? Is there not enoug
r discomfort in this land today Is not tn
c feeling of injury which has been inflicted b
the law sufficiently intense? Shall we aggra
9 vate it by telling these people that hereafte
i when they break down under the operations g
f our enactment, not through their fault, nc
o through their recklessness. not through cause
= which they can understand or appreciate, the
fall like Lucifer, never to rise again? Beware
IS Mr.. Speaker, of adding anything more to tn
discomfort which now pervades the buslnet
nen of the country, which now pervades II
masses of laborers and the masses of men WI
unfortunately are not laborers, because the
cannot sell their labor fog bread. Beware
adding to the fame already kindGng, and whie
may disturb the very foundation of order an
prosperity, before this resumption scheme
fully executed.
judiciary committee, and advocated its imm
diate passage.
Mr.. Kelly favored tho commitment of Il
bill to the judiciary committee. The Americ.
people had never been in so grand commerci
crisis as they were in to-day, never had tn
been suffering under more portento
state of things than that which overwhelm