Morning journal and courier., 1881-01-14
and Bell and rejected, and several motion

i, to go into executive session and adjourn were voted dewn.. The reading of the bill
 sFas then eoftint8d Mi. Dswes 6bseeted to
 the 6ofninittee's amendment taking $50,- 900 from the appropriation of $500, ,000 for I support of armories for the manufacture or
 purchase of magazine guns. The estimates, he said, were for $500, 900, which the House
 had cut down to $300,O and now it pro- | posed to cut down to $25O, GOO. He did not
 object to the amendment if made in addition
 to &50U; ;B50. Mf Dawes' motioh to strika
 out Of this amount" and insert .in addition
 to this amount" was rejected
 All the amendments reported by the com-
 mittee having been disposed of, MT. Saunders offered an amendment appropriating $50, GOO
 for suitable building for the use of the off 1 cers of the Department of the Platte, at Omaha, Neb Without disposing of this amendment, the Senate at $40 o'clock D. n. adjourned:
 HoUsE.-After disposing of reports and 1 other preliminary business the House took 1 up the funding bill. The pending amend
 ment was that offered yesterday by Mir. Ran dall, of Pennsylvania, authorizing the issue l of bonds in an amount not exceeding six hun ! dred and fifty million dollars, which shall bear interest at rate of three per centum, re- l deemab1e after = years.
 l In support of the amendment MT. Town 1 shend referred to the fact that the gentlemen 1 who were advocates of the national banks had 1 declared in this House that if 3 per cent. l bond was forced upon the national banks they l would go out of existence. He said they | would not go out of existence if the rate of l interest was fixed at per cent. At 3 per cent they would reap an immense harvest of l profit. The national banks to-day had money power greater than the difference be-
 tween 3 per cent. and 33 per cent. The banks hold a monopoly upon the circulating medi- 1 um of the country, and it has been well said that the power which holds coh- trol over the circulation of a country was the dictator of its finances. The national banks are the dictators of the finances of this country They are drawing much larger profits from their circu- lation than on the interests on deposits. The Treasury notes are limited They can neither be contracted or inflated. On the other hand the national banks have an unlimited power to increase or contract the circulation of the country They can infate to five hundred or six hundred millions, or can contract to one
 million. His amendment should calm the fears of the friends of the national banks
 upon this floor, for if the amendment
 was adopted there could be no cot1- traction, for the isstie of three hundred millions of certificates would take the place of national bank notes withdrawn from circulation. He was opposed to national banks of issue, for their notes were simply Treasury notes endorsed by the United States. Much has been said about the taxes the banks have paid, but MT. Townshend said he was prepared to show that up to this day from the date of their organization the banks had paid only forty-ive millions in taxation, while they have drawn from the Treasury in inter | est during their existence over $250, GOO, GOO. 1 So these banks are the gathers by over $2OO,- 900, ,O00 upon their circulation alone. If you add all the taxes paid to the Fede- stock and upon deposits and upon circulation, it will not exceed one hundred millions and the banks have 1 drawn two hundred and fifty millions or over. His amendment would put it in the power of | the Secretary of the Treasury to substitute l these Treasury notes for the national bank | circulation, so if the banks refuse bonds and | retire their circulation the currency will not | be contracted, for it is in the power of the | Secretary of the Treasury to make use of | the Treasury notes as circulating medium. l
 MT. Mills, of Texas, gave notice of an | amendment to fix the time at one year when | the option of the government should begin | and to make the bonds payable in ten years. l He fixed ten years because he did not desire | to leave an opportunity for funding bonds to | fall due in 1891.
 With regard to the economy of funding | MT. Carlisle argued that it was more econom- ical to refund at per cent, as proposed by | the bill, than to pay the bonds at existing | rates. It would cost $826, 750, 900 to take up | the debt at the present rates of interest, but | if it was refunded at per cent and $60, 0O0,- I GOO were paid per annum the debt would | soon be extinguished at cost of $758, 21O,- 900, or $68, 54O, 900 less than it would cost to extinguish it according to the plan of Mir. l Kelly. The question is, will we save to the people, by this process of refunding, this $68, $40, GOO in period of ten years or will we give it to the national banks as interest on the bonds, as was proposed by some gentle men? Even if the per cent. bonds should rise in the markets and command premium there would be saving of many millions.
 MT. Wood argued that it was wrong to as- sume the position, as some men had done that the revenues would continue to increase It would be dangerous experiment to at tempt to pass 8 bill on the theo- ry that future revenues would enable ! the taxation to be met. Are the gentlemen willing to tie their hands in advance and to make themselves responsible for continuation of the enormous burdens imposed by the present tax laws :? Will they place themselves in this attitude? Are the gentlemen on the Democratic side willing to say in advance that they cannot spare this revenue, and because of an infatuated desire to speedily pay the debt will they be willing to keep up taxation? He. hoped the bill of the committee would pass.
 The debate was then closed and the ques- tion was taken on MT. Townshend's amend ment to provide $4OO, 100000 of bonds and $500, GOO, GOO of certificates, and it was adopt | point that there was no quorum. Many of the Republicans refrained from voting. An impression was created that they intended to let the bill be made as obnoxious as possible and then vote against the whole thing. Amend ments were adopted giving the government option to redeem the certificates after one year and making them payable in ten years, and the motion of Mir. CIafin, that the option to redeem the bonds is to commence in five years, and they are made payable in ten years. MT. Randall's proyiso offered yester- day in relation to the notice of the termina- tion of interest on the two per cents. was adopted.
 MT. Dibrell offered to have printed an amendment imposing tax on incomes as fol- lows: On incomes over $3, 800 and less than $5,O0O, 3 per cent, and on incomes over $5, GOO 4 per cent, and the money arising therefrom is to be set apart to be used in pay ment of bonds and interest provided for in this act.
 The committee the rose, although dozen members were on their feet to offer amend ments and the House shortly thereafter ad- journed.