Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-05
XLVIIITH CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, February 4, 1885.
senate.

| (Mr. Edmunds) asked unanimous con-
sent to invite TO the floor Of the Senate
the Chief Justice of the Dominion of
Canada, who was in the Capitol. Unani-
nous consent was given.
The Chair laid before the Senate the
Presidents message relating to Mrs.
Grants offer to the Government of the
swords and other military and civil tes-
timonials lately belonging to General
Grant. and recommending Congress TO
pass a bill to enable the President to
place General Grant on the retired list.
Mr.. Hoar, from the Committee on
Privileges and Elections, reported that
the credentials Of Mr.. Evarts, the new
NEGLECTED. senator from New York State,
had been examined and found defective,
not being signed by the Governor and
countersigned by the Secretary of State
of New York, as required by the Re-
vised Statutes while the detailed pro-
ceedings of the Legislature, which are
furnished. are not necessary. The Gre
dentials and report were laid on the Ia
BILE, Mr.. Boar saying that the deiicien-
cies would doubtless be supplied before
Mr.. Eyarts's term should begin.
The Senate, on motion Of Mr. Gull
lon, resumed the consideration of the
interstate commerce bill. The bill
having been perfected, it was reported
to the Senate from the Committee of the
Whole, read a third time, and passed
40 to IL. The vote in detail was as
follows
Yeas.-Messrs. Aldrich, Allison,
Blair, Call, Cameron Of Wisconsin,
Chace, Conger, Cullom, Dawes, Dolph,
Edmunds. Frye, Groome, Hampton,
Harris, Harrison, Hawley, Hill, llOar,
Ingalls,, Jackson, Jonas, Jones of Flori-
da, Jones of Nevada, Lamar, Lapham,
Mcmillan, Henderson, Miller of Cali
fornia, Miller of New York, Mitchell,
Morrill,. Pike. Platt, Plumb, Pugh, Rid
dleberger, Sawyer, Sewell, Sherman,
Slater. Vest. and Wilson'S.
NdyS.-Messrs. Bayard, Butler,
Cockrell, Coke, Colquitt, Mcpherson,
Maxey, Morgan. Pendleton, Salisbury,
Vance, and Van Wyck-l2.
The Texas-Pacific land-forleiture bill
was laid before the Senate, but was dis
placed by a vote Of 81 to % by the
House bill for the retirement and re-
coinage of the trade-dollar." The
bill as amended by the Senate provides,
also, for suspension Of the coinage Of
the standard silver dollar.
Mr.. Ingalls, moved to strike out the
fifth section, which is the section suS-
pending the coinage of the standard
dollar.
Mr.. Morrill, addressed the Senate on
the bill. He accepted the Senate com
mittee's amendments to the House bill,
he said. on the idea that something
should Immediately be done by Con-
gress upon the subject, though he
thought that more heroic legislation
would be more salutary. In the course
of his remarks Mr.. Morrill, said - For
my own part confess that do not feel
that the Government Of the United
States is under the slightest legal or
moral obligation to redeem the
silver coin known as the trade
dollar. 1t originated solely from
the supposed demand for export,
and was stamped under the act of Feb
ruary 10, 1878, as containing 420 grains
of silver. and at the time was equal to
1856 cents in United States notes, or
1925 in gold. 1t is true that by some
inadvertence it happened to be included
as a legal tender by the coinage act of
1873, the same as subsidiary silver
coins, to the extent only of Is, for
three years, or until July %, 1876,
when even its limited legal-tender
character was repealed. Up to
that time the whole amount issued
was sI5,4IS,450 About this time sill
yer began to depreciate in value, and
United States notes had so much appre-
ciated the paper dollar was worth more
than a trade-dollar. Spectators, there
fore. carried the silver bullion to the
minis and exchanged the same for
trade-dollars. not for export, but for
the purpose of profit, if not fraud, so
that the amount coined in the fiscal
years of lS77-'7S was over 100000
600, swelling the total to s35, $50, $50.
The Government beirg paid for barely
the cost of coinage, never had any inter-
est or profit in trado-dollars--never re-
ccived them at theTreasury norpaid them
out-but furnished them only to parties
who ostensibly wanted them in this form
to take silver bullion out Of the country
and as a special favor to the silver
miners. Somebody Numbered. There
are supposed to be from seven to ten
million of these trade-dollars now held
by our own people, partly by those
who have received them at full value
and partly by those who have received
them in barter and trade, or who as
brokers have purchased them at dis
count; buthowever held, whether help
lessly or hopelessly, or otherwise our
mints were left open for the birth and
three-year's growth of this public
nuisance, and perhaps some mode Of its
removal should be provided"
In the further course of his extended
remarks, Mr.. Morrill, defended the
Treasury Department from the charge
of not having given the silver dollar a
fair chance to circulate, and cited sta
tistics to support his defence with.
The silver dollar. he said. is Ikea . bad
penny" 1t would not stay in circula-
ton if the people were not ready to re-
ceiye and hold it. Paper money
was much more convenient. There
were some difficulties in the way
of securing the concurrence OF
other nations for ga larger use Of
silver, but not so much as heretofore,
and if the present bill should became a
law the incoming Administration would
no doubt endeayor to carry IT out IN
good faith. In seven years, with un'
precedented effort, about Al 600, 900 Of
silver dollars had been pushed into cir.
culation. We have coined within The
same time, and piled up in the Treasury
in addition thereto, sl50, 900, 900 more
and could we be equally successful
hereafter as we have been for sever
years past it will require twenty-five
years to exhaust our present stock.