Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-01-28
CONGRESSIONAL.
Bayard's Speech In the senate on the
Legal Tender Power OF Emitted States
Notes Bill Passed In the House DE.
voting Certain California Lands 10 Pub.
lie Park Purposes.
Senate.

WARRINGTON, January 27th.-Randolph, from the
Committee on Military Affairs reported back the
bill already published for the relief of Fitz John
Porte.
Logan made minority report. He dssented in
toto from the preamble, first, that the President
had no authority to organize Commission to exarl-
inc into the case by taking ex parte testimony; see
ond, that the action OF the Ourt-martal is not
versble by Congress third, that Congress has
right to pay person for services not rendered be-
cause of exclusion from the army.
The bill was placed on the calendar.
Ednuils offered resolution, which agreed
to, iustructinS the Committee Judiciary to in
quire whether in the settlement OF the adjustment
between the United States and the railroads. men-
toned or provided for in the Act OF February y,
1870 to provide for the settlement with certain rail
way companies, any discrimination difference of
treatment has been made by United States officers
in favor OF one or more such companies as against
Others and, ii So, what further legislation il any,
on the subject il eXpsdIent
Peudicton introduced q bill to authorize az
pointments of Medical Inspect in the navy 10 The
Office of Chief uf Bureau of Medicine and Surgery,
and to remove the disability Of the present incum
bent.
The Senate resumed the discussion Of the joint
resolution introduced by Bayard 10 Withdraw the e-
gal tender power Of United States notes, and Bay
ard spoke in favor Of the resolution. lie said his
obiect in urging the adoption Of the resolution
to bring about actual resumption. Whatever else
might be Effected by the resolution secondary,
and merely incidental 10 this one cardinal object
Sound prosperity must rest upon sound basis, and
real money is the only so nd currency. To resume
by the existing system is as idle as to boil water
with sieve. Paper notes essential auxiliary
to coin, hut they are not eoin-not money but
substitutes for it. Their acceptance must lie
based on their credit, on their couvenieuces, and
must be always volunt ry in order to be safe
referring to the fear expressed ty many OF the
money power, he said Capital is the result Of
labor and frugity Was there to be determination
against those individuals who had been more sue
cessfGl than others in the accumulation of prop
..,4, UNA fhp hat .pat 1gd ttta
poor aborer 10 become the owner Of tools, whereby
he accumulated his own little and CROWN, capital
IL gave his chdien e1ucation and made his old age
more comfortable, He did not iguore the fact that
the equal and wholesome distribution OF property
sought 10 be obtained by cur fctheTs through the
abolition Of pimogeHisure, entaiments perpetui-
ties, etc, had been TO great extent defeated, and
he inclined to think the system of incorporation
which we have introduced i'll all branches of indus
trial pursuits lad been nearly equal 20 the objects
of primogenture AID mortmain combined, in its in
fuence upon the aggregation of wealth into
a single and never dying grasp. But he could
not understand at wha' point the denunciatiOu
OF accumulation was prOpry to commence. He
attributed this unequal division Of property, how
ever, more to the use of uuconyerted legal tender
paper money than To anything else jefferson said
that by "broaking up the measure of value it
makes lottery OF all private property"
Bayard continued: attribute to this the danger
ous projects f,lacious schemes and attempts to ar
ray the force Of numbers against property which we
witness all over the country and which afford
such opportunities for demagogues to ply their
arts and excite all unthinkiD9 and suffering
people to the adoption of false remedies and
destructive measures of supposed relief
consider the construction Of the Constitution
by the Supreme Court in the legal tender cases to
be alarming and most dangerous, for understand
it to vest power to issue legal tender notes upon
the existence of some great emergency, of which
Congress is the judge. As the Constitu-
tion was intended for the restraint Of MAORI
ties, and 70 keep all power there not de E.
gated within assigned limits, it is obvious
that ths necessity for maintaining its provisions
is greater IN proportion to the excitement and
dangers Of the hour Yet by the Interpretation OF
the Supreme Court the hour Of trial Of the Constitu
ton is the hour of its failure. 1t is weak as
when it should he most strong. If this be the doc
trine cannot lie too prompt, now that the storm
is passed, the smooth and the wind favorable to
nut ship Of State in u condition to weather
further storms. Let us where now stand
Secretary McCuloch, in his annn9l report Of 1865,
having expressed the opinion that the leyaltender
Acts war measures, passed IN a great emer
gency, that they should be regarded only as TEN
porary. The House Of Representatives, under
suspension of the rules, by Ia yeas to only mays
resolved " that this House cordially concur in tie
views of the Secretary in relation to the necessity
of a contraction OF the currency, with view to
early resumption of specie payments as the bust
ness interests of the country Will permit and we
hereby pledge co operative action to this end as
speedily as possible Among the III supporters cf
this resolution find the following, who are TO day
members Of this body: Allison, Conklng, Dawes.
Ferry Morrill,, Rollins and voorhees,.
Bayard went on to show how this policy had been
abandoned and the ressued and kept in crculs
ton. During the debate which attended the passage
of the Resumption Act the present Secretary of the
Treasury (Sherman), VINO bad charge of the bill in
this body, was asked By several Senators. myself
among the number, whether by the redemption OF
United States notes under that Act, they were
finally to be retired and destroyed, and he declined
to give any construction whatever to the law that
point
Edmunds-Will the Senator from Delaware per
init to ask whether there is any doubt in his
mind as to what the construction Of that Act was!
Bayard-l am unable to say what its construction
was | thought it doublc-face juggle, in-
tended to catch the votes of cnntractionsts by
construction and of iIiiaiionists by another con-
structiOn. | thought it a snare, and not a
worthy treatment Of great subject.
EdinuBds-I voted for the Act of 1875 because it
seemed perfectly clear to me that the redemption it
provided for was redemption that took ouS in
point OF law from existence all United States notes
that should cime in the method provided for in
that Act.
Bayard-of the ability Of the Senator from Yer
mont to form an opinion man has r doubt At
the same time. repeat that the measure was SIN
ported here by the ge1ueInen who had lust been
advocating imitation 70 tue full exten, Of 500 Goo
000 There was no reference in my remark to the
opinion OF the Senator from Vermont | was refer
ring to the gentlemen put forward by the advocates
OF the bill t. answer for them, and who refused to
put construction upon it. The issue OF treasury
notes was at no time intended as permanent meas