The Indianapolis journal., 1890-06-17
PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS
Mr.. Edmunds Repels the Imputation
that theSenate Is Influenced by Trusts.
Mr.. Allison's Reasons for Favoring the House
Silver Measure-Sundry Civil Appropria-
tion Bill Amended by the House.

WASHINGTON, June 16.-In the Senate to-
day the House amendments to the bill to
establish the customs collecting district of
Puget sound were non-concurred in and q
conference asked.
A message from the House asking further
conference on the antitrust bill was pre-
sented, and the request was assented to
after remarks by Senators Edmunds and
Vest. Mr.. Edmunds said that it had been
stated, and seemed to have been believed In
some quarters, that the Senate amendment
to the House amendment to that bill
had the effect to repeal or to modify pro-
vision of the Dterstate-commerce law pro-
hibiting pooling. The amendment, he said,
had no such effect whatever. He
thought it due to the House of
Representatives and to the Senate to say
that. Referring to some remarks made in
the House, Mr.. Edmunds said that he had
seen it stated in newspaper-that was the
only way he could properly allude to the mat
ter-that the Senate amendment had been
got through the Senate by the influence
of railroads and corporations; that the Sem
ate was subject to that sort of influence.
and that not much else could be expected
from the Senate in that behalf. He wished
to recall TO the attention of the Senate the
fact that every piece of important legisla-
tion In the last ten years or more that had
affected great corporations. had been in the
outset the work of the Senate. The bill
which had brought the Pacific railroads
into some sort of obeyance to the laws and
TO some sort of sense of their obligations
-k
the Senate. The interstate-commerc bill
was Senate bill. 1t was. therefore. en-
tirely unjust for anybody to say anywhere
land perhaps he digDifed it a little too
much by alludiDg to it at all-that any act
of the Senate, or any act of any Senator
could be referred to at any time to
the newspapers. The only force which he
had known to be exerted, and he had
knowledge of 1T, had been somewhat or
Panized and persistent and powerful effort
on the part of railroad and other corpora
tions, through well-known agents. and in
tiuences well known to him, to induce
simple-minded people somewhere-of
course he was unable to say where-to de-
feat the Senate amendments, and to mis-
lead those people into opposition to it by
betraying them into the false notion that
they were defending the people In defeat
ing an amendment which the railroads did
uOb W Wdnb.
The deficiency appropriation bill for PEN
sions and the census was reported and
passed.
Mr.. Dawes introduced a bill to retire
General Banks as malor-general of the
United States army, and presented a petit
tion of the members OF the Massachusetts,
Legislature in aid of it. Referred to the
committee on military affairs.
The House silver bill was taken up, and
Mr.. Daniel resumed the speech begun by
him last Friday. Abiding to the expected
passage of the bill to-day, Mr.. Daniel said
that the day was one of great victorious
triumph fol-. the representatives of Democ--
racy, and for those who. through good
report and evil report, had steadfast-
" maintained the money of the people.
1t was day in which a compliment was
paid to the legislation of 1878. known as
rhe Bland act, greater than any that could
De embodied In language. Those who had
opposed the policy of that act in the be-
ginning and those who had continued in
opposition thereto through many long
Years. now. came forward to pour their
aibations of praise on the altar of the tri-
0mphant Democracy that was the author
Df that bill and that had been its unyield-
ing friend. That the world moved and
this was land Of progress had never been
better demonstrated than by the fact tha {
the great leader of Republican financial
policy in the United States, alluding to
Senator Sherman, who had carried the
single gold standard over two continents,
had come forward IN his speech and laid
down at the foot of the double standard
and proclaimed that he was, at last. an ad-
vocate of silver money.
Mr.. Allison next addressed the Senate.
He said he should vote for the House bill
as amended by the Senate finance commit
tee as he considered il the wisest and best
solution to the question. By the payment
of the public debt the national bank cir
eulation was gradually passing away. The
question to be considered was what cur
Tency could be safely substituted for the
national bank circulation. The judgment
of the finance committee was. and he
thoughtit would be the judgment of the
Senate, that if the government issued paper
money 1t should Issue 1t on something that
was, in and of itself, convertible into legal
tender money. Therefore the bill proceeded
on the idea that whatever paper money
should be issued should be Issued on silver
bullion purchased by the government al
the market price. Why. he asked. had sill
yer bullion been selected as the basis fOr
that new paper money! 1t was because the
public mind rested in the belief that.
sooner or later, the silver bullion would be
coined and would become part of the me-
he % Would vote for the bill. It was son on that that
basis that he was. willing that
coinage of silver dollars as now
provided for, should cease. There were two
or three varying opinions as to the COM
pulsory feature of tho present law for the
coinage of silver dollars. There were pe0-
pie who believed that the coined dollars in
the treasury were useless, and that ii
would be wise public policy to cease that
coinage. He. for one, did not share that
belief. He believed that it was just as
we'll TO continue them TO the utmost limit
of 1900, 900 month. But there was a large
public opinion against that view, and
therefore he consented that the bullion
should be left IN the treasury uncoined.
He did that the more readily for the reason
that he believed that, sooner or later, and
he believed very soon, the Uritsd States
would have to change the numoer 0f grains
of silver in the dollar, and therefore the
dollars now coined would be recoired. He
was therefore willing that the bullion
should he in the treasury until it was
known whether there would be an interna-
true that the pending bill provided that
the bullion In the treasury should be coined
for the redemption of the treasury notes
Whatever might be the opinion of other
Senators in that respect, he did not labor
under the delusion that in the near future
under the provisions of the House bill OF
of the Senate bill, any additional silver
dollars would be used. There are now
more than 30C, 100000 of coined dollars in
the Treasury against which silver certifi.
Gates had been issued, so that although
these dollars belonged TO the holders o1
the certificates, the certificates were pay.
able for public dues. and when they were
received into the Treasury they belonged
TO the government of the United States. sc
that the government would always have q
working balance sufficient TO redeem those
Treasury notes. He believed that the only
safe way to rebabilitate silver vas to Sc
cure concurrent agreement among the