Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-31
STARTLING FACT REVEALED.
Alteration of Bill after it Had 8ecUm,
Lhw-Gsnor and Effect of 1t Destroyed,

Alteration OF q BIZ After 1t Had BecUme .
a Lhw-GSnor and Effect of 1t Destroyed.
National Republican.
The Hen. Preston B. Plumb, of Kansas,
last Wednes day offered the following
resolution, which was ruled out On q
point Of order, but admitted yesterday
under the call of the states and referred
TO the judiciary committee:
Whereas. the annual report OF the Secretary
OF the Treasury made to this HOuee elbows that,
acting In q cord with the views of the Presi-
dent, he has paid out of the revenues collected
frC m imposss the sum Of 81 So, 0l1 in premiums
to holders of government bonds, assuming that
in no other way under the existing laws c2n the
requirements of he sinking fund be met; and
whereas, by tue terms of ihs rstunding act,
passed July Il, $50, as EhoWn by thu record of
The final vote thereon, RIl of she sOnds called
per cents" of which there are now outstand
ing the sum of S 1881 $50, are payable at the
pleasure of the Uniteu States for thirty years
IRON The date of their issue, provision W ich
If understood and acsed upon in accord
ance with its manifest wording and Ia
teutioD, makes possible rot only the
payment OF he sal bonds as fast as any su =
plus available for SUCH purposemay accumulate
in the Treasury, but also the refunGing of the
same at a rate of interest that would save to
the taxpayers more than $50, COO, 600 and whsye-
as the said IetunciDg set has, as It appears,
without due authority, been SO altered anu
published in the statutes at large as to read,
Pay bile at the pleasure of the United States
after thirty years." Instead Of "for thirty
year :" as voted, thus entirely subVerting the
manifest meaning of the provisi n of saiu act,
which provides for the redemption of the
bonds bamed; therefore be 1t
Resolved, that committee Of i've members
of this House be appointed by the Speaker,
whose duty Il shall be to make careful exam
nation of all thu facts relating TO the passage,
engrossment and enrolment of the funding act
50 calf d-9nd all acts In force bearing upon
| the question of the right of the government to
| redeem its tstanding interest-bearing OBJ
cations, with q view to taking such steps as
may be required to ascertain the trus state of
| the l. W on that subj eCt, and for that LuTpose
| the committee has power 10 send for pere0n5
and pspers, examine all records and origin al
| documents, and to obtain tue copies of the
same, as well as to administer oaths the COM
| mittee to report to this House with such rec
ommendat atoms al may be deemed advisable in
| the premises.
A representative OF the Republican
called on Mr.. Plumb and asked him what
object he had in Offering, and what in
duced him to offer the resolutions.
az read last summer an editorial in the
National Republican," said Mr.. Plumb,
"which claimed that the laI, as found in
the statutes, authorized the Secretary Of
the Treasury to call for redemption out
standing bonds in the order prescribed by
| law, which caused me to investigate thst
question, and in doing so determined to
examine carefully the refunding act Of
July IA, 1870, and all the facts attending
its passage. In thus pursuing the investi-
| CATION l noticed hist the report OF the
committee of conference between the two
houses on the funding bill, and which was
Sgreed to in the House OF Repre-
! sentstives by a yea and nay vote
in providing for issuing $1,000
900 900 Of 4 rer cent. bonds de,
cIared that said bonds were redeems lie
st the pleasure of the United States for
thIrtv years from the date OF their issues,
while In the act as published in the
statutes a. large the proposition "iOr" is
omitted, and "after" is inserted in its
stead. This essential variance between
the act as voted upon and as printed in
| the statutes at large so interested me that
determined to ascertain il possible which
was correct, and fer that purpose went 70
the State Department Sra there examined
/ tie enrolled bill as signed by the Speaker
Of the House, the President Of the Senate,
and as approved by the President. TIC
nv great surprise 1 found that the word
'ior," as above described, had been
erased, and the word safter" inserted il
its stead, so thst the enrolled bill reads
"aiter," instesd of rffor," as 1t is in the
conference report on which the House
voted.
"Thinklng 1t possible that the enroll
ing clerk had found that the record made
by the Secretary of the Senate conta ned
the word after and had made the erssurS
ard alteration in the bill before it was
signed, next had recourse to the record:
made by both the Secretary OF the Senate
and the Clerk OF the House in the origi-
nal daily journal of the proceedings o.
their respective bodies and in both these
original records the word 'tor' stat d:
unsltered and presumably just IS it was
when the yeas and nays were recorded
on the foaI passage of the bill and Wher
the enrolled bill was signed"
chow do you account for this varisnc'
you discover" was asked.
"I do not pretend to know how II oc
cured" he ssid, "I do not think an
member OF Congress, living or Dead ha