The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-05-19
RULED OFF THE COURSE.
Free Silver Cannot Ride an Appro.
priation Bill in Congress.
SENATOR'S VOTE In FAVOR OF
MORE FIGHTING SHIPS.

Speaker Crisp Sustains the Point of Order
Against the Free Coinage Amendment
to the Sundry Civil Bill-Nayal APP
preparation Bill Passes the Senate-NIr.
Frye Tells About Compulsory Pilot
age Washington News.
WASHINGTON, May 1S.-In the House,
today, Speaker Crisp passed upon the
point of order raised by Mr.. Tracey, New
York, against the clause of the sundry
civil appropriation bill, providing for the
cleaning and reissue of minor coins. The
chair ruled that there was existing law
for the paragraph, and overruled the
point of order. The second part of the
same paragraph, providing for the re-
coinage of uncurrent minor coins, he
ruled out of order, being unable to find
any law authorizing such recoinage.
MI. Bartine, of Nevada, appealed from
the latter part of the decision. The
Chair was sustained.
AS to the point of order raised against
the clause for the Iecoinage of abraded
minor coins. the act of 1875, the Chair
found. prescribed that fractional cur
rency should be redeemed in coin and
provided for silver coins for the purpose
of that exchange. The Chair thought a
proper construction of that law would
imply that the silver in the treasury not
pledged for something else and the silver
therein in the shape of abraded coin was
really silver bullion. Under the author
lty to coin money to redeem the frac-
tional currency, the Secretary of the
Treasury had the right to apply that
silver for that purpose. The Chair over
ruled the point of order.
Mr.. Bland insisted that there was a
difference between the position of his
amendment in the last Congress and Mr..
Bartine's amendment, owing to the diff
ference in the rules of the last House and
the present House.
Mr.. Bartine's appeal was lost.
The Chair then ruled on the Bartine
free coinage amendment. 1t was plain
to him that it was change of existing
law, and therefore not in order. He sus-
tanned the point of order against Mr..
Bartine's amendment. Mr.. Bartine ap-
pealed from the decision of the Chair.
In appealing from the decision, he said
that nothing but the power of Wall
street brought to bear directly or indi-
rectly upon one or the other branch of
the government, had prevented the res
toration of silver. Mr.. Bartine said he
could not conceive of the Democratic
party being inconsistent. AS it had vot-
ed for similar amendment in the last
Congress, he could not conceive, as
the party had three-quarters majority, it
would do anything save vote as it did in
the last Congress.
Mr.. Bland then offered an amendment
providing for the coinage of all silver
bullion purchased and now in the treas
ury into standard silver dollars, the cost
to be paid out of the seignorage arising
from the coinage of the bullion, and the
remainder of the seignorage to be COW
cred into the treasury as available mon
ey.
Messrs. Dingley of Maine and Tracey
of New York raised points of order
against the amendment
Mr.. Bland insisted that the point of Or
der did not lie against the amendment.
1t would tend to relieve the people of
taxation, he added, by putting $27, ,000, 900
into stable treasury balance.
Mr.. Dingley, in support of the point of
order, said that the new legislation pro-
posed to impose on the silver profit fund
in the treasury a new and distinct charge
viz: The cost of the coinage of stand
ard silver dollars. So, instead of reduc-
ing the amounts the bill now covered. it
increased them to that amount. The
Chair reserved his decision until tomor-
row.