The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-01-09
CONGRESSIONAL.
House.

The speaker proceeded as the regular
order to call committees for reports.
Mr.. Money, of Mississippi, chairman of
the committee on pestoffces and post roads,
reported back the bill regulating the rates OF
postage on second class mail matter. Re-
ferred to the house calendar.
Mr.. Poehler of Minnesota, from the COM
mttee on Indian affairs, reported back the
bill authorizing the secretary of the interior
to fulfill certain treaty stipulations with the
Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior and
Michigan.
Mr., Wood, of New ork, appeared in his
seat this morning.
The house at 1890 went into q committee
of the whole, Mr.. Covert of New York, in
the chair, on the funding bill. The formal
rsadng having been dispensed
with 1t was read by sections for amendment
Mr.. f. Wood offered, under Instructions
OF the committee on ways and means,
an amendment fixing the rate of
interest. bonds and notes authorized
to be issued by this act at 8 per cent, it be-
inc 81 per cent in tho printed bill,
Mr.. Buckner, of Missouri, inquired if it
was in order 81 this time to test the sense of
the house as TO whether the bonds should be
loEg bonds or short bonds.
The chair replied it WAS not.
Mr.. Clsflin, of Massachusetts,, opposed the
amendment. He was opposed, no said, to
txing the Interest at 3 per cent.
Mr.. Tucker, of Virginia-Doe the gen.
temsn want larger rate?
Mr.. Clatlln Il propose that the rate in the
hill shall stand there 10 an oppo.ing amend
msnt
Mr.. Clsain had read the amendment
which he proposed to offer leaving the inter-
est at 33 per cent, and providing that bond
shall be redeemablo after five
pears and payable in twenty years.
No business man, he thought, believed it
possible to float bond at 8 per cent.
Mr.. Kelley commented on the fact that in
the purchase of over S108. 100000 of bonds
IN the year ending October last, the
secretary of the treasury had to pay over
Sli2 OGo, of about 81 per cent. premium.
Mr.. Warren suggested that the rate of in
terest should be fixed at q per cent. II
was impossible to sever the rate of
interest from the time. If this bill
were to pass no should be
in favor of the amendment of the gentleman
from New York, (Mr. Wood, although he
would oppose the bill.
MIR. Wood suggested that, for the sake of
convenience, his amendment, coming from
the committee on ways and means, should by
unanimous consent be considered as agreed
to. Ii it was seriously intended to act on this
bill, the hours should not be wasted in
fruitless and unnecessary discussion.
Mr. Clahin objected.
Mr. Frye thought that the question might
as well be met now as between and
50 per cent. bond. A per cent. bond must
necessarily run for twenty or thirty years.
VoIing for per cent. bond would be vot-
ing for a long bond.
Mr.. +. Wood thought the gentleman was
in error in that assumption. He wished to
call the gentleman's attention to the report
OF the secretary of the treasury, in which he
said that he believed that short time
certificates, having less than ten years
to run, could be negotiated at
per cent. He, (Wood,) thought q
u short time per cent. bond could be
negotiated, particularly if accompanied by
some attributes which would make it ac-
ceptabe and desirable. He hoped that the
gentleman from Maine (Frye) would not en-
deavor to have the house commit itself to a
position which was untenable.
Mr.. Frye said that he had voted in favor
of 8 per cent. bonds before the recess,
During the recess ho had seen large number
of business men in New York, Boston and
New Rnglsnd, and he had come to the
deliberate conclusion that it would
be certainly impossible to float
8 per cent. bonds running less than
thirty years. He believed it, and he believed
that an attempt to float per cents. would be
disaster to the government. No country
on earth had ever placed a 3 per cent. bond
on the market at par, and he was fully con-
vipced that per cent. bords could not be
placed, and if congress undertook to do it
and failed it would be disaster. He believed
in lending the secretary of the treasury dis
cretion up TO 81 per cent.
Mr.. Keifer, OF Ohio, offered an amend.
ment so as to fix the interest at rate not ex-
ceeding per cent He believed that A per
cent. was as lawful rate of interest as bonds
could be fosted at in the west. 1t would be
impossible to sell bonds at lower rate and
have then maintained at par.
A vote was taken on the amendment and
it was defeated by vote of 100 to l59.
Mr.. Mills, af Texas, argued that it would
bs $40, 100000 cheaper to let the debt stand
AT and q mar cant and nav n in Hva voars