The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-02-10
CONGRESSIONAL.
The Senate.


WASHINGTON, February 9.-Cameron
of Pennsylvania, called up the resolu-
ton directing the committee on finance
to inquire whether itwould be expedient
to expend the surplus revenue of the
United States, or any portion thereof,
for the purpose of reviving the shipping
and export trade by allowing rebate
from the tariff duties on foreign goods
imported in ships built and owned in
the United States, and by also allowing
premium on American-grown pro-
ducts and articles of American man.
ufacture exported in American vessels.
Referred to the committee on finance.
Van Wyck received unanimous con-
sent for the consideration of the House
bill to prevent the unlawful closure of
public lands, better known as the 'fenc-
ing bill. u The amendments of the Senate
committee were coneurred in. At
O'Clock the bill went over and the I'M
finished business was laid before the
Senate, being the anti-silver coinage bill,
and Mr.. Beck proceeded to address the
Senate.
Beck supported those provisions
of the bin calling for the re-
demption of the trade dollar, but
strongly opposed the suspension
of the coinage of the standard dollar.
The proposition to suspend the silver
coinage had no necessary or proper con-
nection with the trade dollar bill, which
the House had sent over. He believed
the trade dollar had now passed from
the hands OF the people, who were COM
PEELED to part with them at discount,
and were now in the hands of bankers
and brokers. He had felt confident that
these bankers would be able to make
themselves heard by Congress and the
result proved that he guessed
Alright. 1t was said that the trade
United States, but had been
given legal tender character by acct
dent or inadvertence, and that, there
fore. we ought not take to them up.
There was no accident or inadvertence
about it, Beck said, they were made
coins of the United just as gold was so
coined. The provisions prohibiting
counterfeiting applied equally to the
trade dollar as to the gold eagle. Whe /
Congress concluded to limit the issue of
the trade dollar to the quantity re-
quired for export, it did not take the
coin character or coin value from them,
and certainly as to all those that had
actually been issued, it could,
with no reason whatever, be said
they were not coins of the Uni
| ted States. The Secretary of the
Treasury had been constituted by claw
| the Judge of the number which he
should issue, and he had chosen to is
sue IS, OOO, 600. Beck wanted specially to
know what the ''inadvertence" was that
had been alluded to.
! Morrill, said that by ''inadvertence"
he (MorrilD meant that as the trade
dollars had been minted solely for ex-
port, it was wrong to have given them a
| legal tender quality at all.
Beck said that would be equivalent to
saving no silver should be minted
at all, The difficulty, he added, was our
own. Fiscal agents had conspired to
DEFY the laws of the United States and
the present proposition to suspend the
| silver coinage was the result OF that con-
spiracy. He inquired why banks should
be permitted to conspire against the
laws. There were already laws enough,
but not one of our public officers wanted
to execute those laws. The people
needed new officers.
Morgan said he had at the last seS-
sion submitted resolution calling for
an inquiry into the matters alluded to-
which resolution had been referred to
the finance committee, where it still
was. 1t now appeared, on the state
ment of a member of that committee
Beck, that the committee was cogniz
ant of the commission of crimes by
banks, that the President also was
coonizant of it, but the crimes were not
punished. Morgan said there was nc
use in multiplying the statutes, merely
that the Senate of the United States
itself ei w might dishonor them by con.
stantlg and persistently ignoring theil
existence.
A long discussion ensued regarding
the Interpretation of the Senate ruiz
forbidding the proposing Of genera
Legislation on appropriation bills:
A discussion arose on point of order