St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-07-31
The Senate Substitute for the Morrison
Surplus Resolution Passes the
Upper House.
IF Agreed to by the representatives, it
Will Change the Treasury's
Policy.
It Provides Among Other Things for
Redeeming Trade Dollars
at Par.
An Analysis of the Vote on the
Amendments and Final
Passage.
The Surplus Resolution.
Special to the Globe.

the substitution of the senate finance COM
mittee surplus resolution for that of Col.
Morrison and the house was something of
surprise, because the majority was larger
than was anticipated whichever side it was
on. but the prediction that about as many
Republicans would vote for the Morrison
resolution as Democrats would vote for the
senate committee substitute was verified.
Party lines were pretty badly broken up.
Fourteen Democrats voted to substitute the
senate for the house resolution and thirteen
Republicans voted not to do so. The
Democrat senators from Georgia, South
Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, Maryland,
Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, Alabama
and Mississippi voted for the senate subst-
tute, and the senators from Louisiana di-
vided. On the other hand the Republican
senators from Illinois, Michigan, Kansas,
Nevada. Virginia, Nebraska, Oregon and
Colorado voted against the substitute, and
lnferentially for the Morrison resolution
and the output of the surplus.
THE SENATOR'S FROM IOWA DIVIDED.
OF the Indiana senator's, the Republicans
voted for the senate substitute and the
Democrats against it. The net result was
ten majority for the senate substitute.
When it came to its passage it had a much
larger majority, the vote being 40 to 20 be-
cause some of the senators who
preferred the Morrison resolution
were willing to take the senate
substitute if they could not get the former
and it was, perhaps, helped some by the
amendment providing for the redemption
of trade dollars. and it was undoubtedly
helped little with the silver men by an
amendment offered at the last moment by
MI. Allison adding to the words, ito extraor-
binary emergency" the other words, mot
now existing" so that
THE DISCRETIONARY POWER
of the secretary to suspend the resolution
entirely is limited to some other emergency
then that which now exists. namely, some
which is not even thought of or
remotely anticipated. AS it has been fixed
up, the secretary will have some trouble
making head OF tail out of it. The Morri-
son resolution provides that whenever the
surplus now calculated exceed S1OO, 600, 900
the secretary was to call bonds at the rate
of $40, 600, 900 month so long as the sur
plus was over 500, 600, 600. The senate
has qualified this by saying that he shall
not be required to call $40. 900, 900 of bonds
till his surplus amounts to S110, 000, 900,
and his discretion he may have a working
balance in excess of the $4,000 900 not
to exceed $40, 900, 600, or in other words,
he may have a surplus of $3.50, 900, 600,
and finally, in case of any extraordinary
emergency such as does not now exist. the
secretary may. if he deem it necessary to
preserve the public credit, suspend the
operation of the resolution. The secretary
has got to
DECIDE ON THE EMERGENCY,
and whether it is different one from the
present which Mr.. Allison, who offered the
three qualifying words, said was no emer-
gency at all. So that it all comes to this:
From one point of view it requires him to
reduce by bond calls the present suplus of
SIS, 900. 600 including the security for the
greenbackS, to the amount of $50, 900, 600.
Mr. Beck and number of other silver men
of both parties voted against the amended
resolution because it did not, in
their Judgment, reduce the sur
plus sufficient, and because it
did imply that the government was bound
to redeem the greenbackS in hard money,
and was under some sort ofla pledge to keep
on hand 500, 600, 900 in real money as
guarantee Of redemption of the three hun
dred odd millions of the governments nom
Understanding promisSory notes. With
these gentlemen was Mr.. Butler, who voted
against the resolution for quite different
reasons. The twenty senators who voted
against the resolution on its passage con-
sisted of thirteen out-and-out silver Demo-
six out-and-out silver Republicans and one
administration Democrat.
THE PROCEEDINGS.
WASHINGTON. Jnly 3O.-The senate re-
Nd 1of+
luton directing the payment of the surplus
in the treasury Oh the public debt, and was
addressed by Mr.. Teller Tin continuation of
the speech begun by him Yesterday in
favor of the original resolution and against
the amendment reported by the senate COM
mittee on finance.
He had never insisted that the government
should pay silver for its bonds, although he
had insisted that it had a right to do so and
that the bondholders would have no right to
complain. But, if the government saw fit
and was able to pay gold for its bonds, he had
no objection. He had demanded nothing for
silver which he had not demanded for gold.
He wanted to keep the two metals on an
equality, because in his Judgment it would be
as disastrous to destroy gold as to destroy sill
yer. But he said that the government could
pay this S136, 600, 900 for bonds at the rate of
SIC. 900, 600 month without paying 81 in sill
yer; that is, il it chose to do So The techni-
calties of finance so regarded it. The question
simply was whether the government should
pay its debts from the money in hand. That
course was the plainest dictation of common
sense and old-faShioned honesty. Mr.. Vance
spoke in support of the resolution as it came
from the house. 1t was plain and simple, and
the plain people of the country understood it.
He was constantly told that this was his ad-
ministration. that he had helped put it in
power, and that as it was the only Democratic
administration which the country had had for
a quarter of century, it was entitled to and
should receive his cordial support. That was
all very true.
THE ADMINISTRATION
was entitled to and should have his best sup
port in all things, but not at the expense of
his honest convictions. In other words, he
desired to be an honest man as we'll as
Democrat. Quiet laughter on the Repub-
lican side.] He believed that the action of
the house in passing the joint resolution (2O7
to 65) reflected the wishes of the people,
and he proposed to be obedient to the popu-
lar behest. He was therefore in favor of the
resolution as it came from the house, pure
and simple, and he was opposed TO the amend
ment because it increased, instead of dimin-
ishing, the treasury reserve, and because it
left the whole matter to the secretary of the
treasury just as now, and that secretary had
declared again and again that the public debt
must be paid in gold. Mr.. German addressed
the senate in favor of the resolution as
amended. The debate was interrupted to
permit the chair to announce the appoint
ment OF Messrs. Dolph, Teller and Cockrell as
confereeS on the bill to forfeit the lands of
the Northern Pacific railroad. The debate
was resumed and continued by Mr.. McPher-
son, in favor of the amendment proposed by
the committee on finance, and by Mr. Whit
horne, in favor generally of the house reso-
luton, and particularly in advocacy of the
bill to restore the proceeds Of cotton in the
treasury, and by Mr.. Call on the silver cues
ton generally, but especially against the
resolution and the amendment, and in favor
of leaving the whole matter in the hands of
the secretary treasurer. Mr.. Edmuuds
moved to
AMEND THE AMENDMENT
to the "surplus" resolution by substituting
the president for the secretary OF the treas