Morning journal and courier., 1885-12-22
FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS-.

| were made as follows: By Mr. Edmunds,- | from Judiciary, on his bill amendatory of l the law respecting bigamy and po1ygamy in | Utah; by MT. Hoar, from the same commit 1 tee, the bill introduced by him on December | 5, establishing a uniform system of bank ruptcy throughout the United States
 MT. Cullom introduced bill to provide for the establishment of postal telegraph system, constituting the Secretaries of State War and Postmaster General board to be known the postal telegraph commission, which is authorized and directed to purchase and acquire for the United States any exist ing lines under the provisions of the act of 1866, and subject to the approval of the President While such lines are to be purchased at their appraised value, it is expressly provided that no line shall be purchased until it has been shown to the sat- isfaction of the commission that such line has
 earned enough during the twelve months prior to the passage of the act to meet the
 necessary expenses of it's maintenance, recon
 struction and operation and earn five per cent. There are to be issued three per cent.
 thirty year bonds saleable at par to pay for
 the lines.
 The Senate adopted the concurrent resolu-
 tion of the House providing for holiday
 from to-day until January 5.
 MT: Logan offered a bill to pension prison
 CTS of war who were confined in Confederate
 military prisons during the war
 Mr. Vest offered a resolution, which was
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Rela-
 tions, commenting the course of the govern
 ment in it's correspondence with Austria
 Hungary in relation to the appointment of
 Mir Kelly as minister from the United
 States.
 MT. Hoar offered resolution, which was
 agreed to without debate, authorizing the
 Committee on Finance to investigate the
 abuses and frauds alleged to exist in the col
 lection of customs revenues of the port of
 New York, especially the subject of under
 valuation and reappraisement of imported
 merchandise at that port, and report to the
 Senate what changes if any should be made
 in the custom house in order to prevent
 frauds in the importation of merchandise
 and in the collection of customs revenue
 MT. Beck called up tho resolution offered
 by him directing the Committee on Finance
 to inquire whether the officials of the United States had compiled with the laws requiring that the coin paid for duties on imported goods should be set apart as a special fund and applied to the payment of the interest on United States bonds, etc., and followed with long speech in which he attacked the positions taken by the President in his mes sage to Congress and Secretary Manning in his annual report on the silver question. The laws of the land he said were equally bind | ing on the highest executive officers and the humblest citizen. The laws to which the resolution referred had not for many years been complied with by the treasury off clals. No more statesmanlike message had ever emanated from the executive mansion, in MT. Becks opinion, than Presi- dent Cleveland's first message but he did | not agree with the position of that message silver. Three-fourths of our busi- ! ness troubles from the fact that the laws | of the United States were not carried out by | the executive officers. Organizations of I bankers and bondholders and their we'll paid l press were opposed to silver and their | present crusade against that metal was l another evidence of the audacity of those or ganizations of wealth: organizations which 1 had always secured whatever they had de 1 manded. As to the question of paying the l bonds otherwise than in gold, MT. Beck quoted the opinion given in 1868 by Mr. Sherman, the present presiding officer of the Senate, that the bondholders should take l payment for money advanced in the same ! medium in which they had advanced the money. That opinion he thought as sound ioR as it was in 1868. There was not an ob- | igation existing in this country, national or that could not lawfully be paid Il gold or silver coin of the United States 1 An examination of our trade and compari- ! on of the exports and imports of this time with those of 1870 showed that the silver loilar now brought twenty per cent. more han it did in 1870. Yet our treasury off l ials told us that grave troubles were appre 1 tended by them if the present condition of hings should last much longer. The falsity l f tlis clamor could be readily proved ! y an impartial examination of the fig res given out by the treasury off ials themselves. The example of England ! yas held up to us by those officials, notwith- 1 tanding the fact that the workingmen of ( .ngland were paid their wages in silver coin ! 'ithout regard to the hHllien S"1-~ -S -'-~ leta1 Why, too, had not France been he reason was to be found in the fact tl.et af ts-s,sc.a ss..a.x>5 i'd not. The bondholders of the United I I tates controlled enormous amounts of ,oney and the best talent of the press, and aving now captured the executive branch the government they were clamoring for l ( old and gold alone in settlement of their I l iaims How was the surplus silver to get | t ut of the treasury if the Secretary of the treasury would not call in the bonds that ught to be called in and pay out the silvers he people and their representatives, owever, supported silver. No e1ecu- i've officer should be allowed to isregard the law. He was not making war pon the bondholders or the banks but he -ould if he could take from the banks their olitical power and their influence on the S urrency as shown when they secured Presi- ent Hayes veto on a memorable occasion. IT.. Beck disclaimed any personal interest in 1 ilver saying he had never owned a share in silver mine.
 Mr. Merrill remarked that Mir. Beck's 1 ( beech seemed to be very elaborate assault l Il the Secretary of the Treasury and the l resident, and that if the resolution in sup l l ort of which it was delivered should pass he Senate it would be equivalent to vote want of confidence in the President and
 is administration. He regretted that the : enator from Kentucky should have repre- ented the Secretary of the Treasury 8 little better than 8 common thief C nd the President and Secretary to I ether as having been bought up by he bondholders, but probably no Senator on the left" was at present prepared to enter nto defense of the present administration ] e would move reference of the resolution l { 0 the Committee on Finance. It was so re- erred Ii
 At 2:35 D. m on motion of Mr. Morrill, the 'cIock the doors were reopened and the Sen te adjourned until Tuesday, January 5.
 HoUsE.-States were called for bills to- ay and although but fourteen States were alled, there were ,004 bills introduced and eferred. A large majority of these bills were of private nature, while a still larger 1 ( majority were bills that have been before previous Congresses. About twenty bills or the erection of public buildings at as many different points were introduced.
 Young Stanton Pleads Guilty.
 PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 21.-Stanten, charged with the murder of Nash on October 16, 1884, l lear Germantown Junction, to-day with Irew his former plea and pleaded guilty of ; murder in the second degree. This plea was ccepted and sentence deferred.
 slosson Again Defeats Vfgnaux.
 CtEIrc,,co Dac 21 For the third time in l