Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-20
Mr.. HILL SQU|RMED,
But Baited His Hook for West
ern Votes Without Com
mitting Himself
IN FAVOR OF FREE SILVER.
Evidently Move to Head Off Grover
in the Race for Delegates.
NO MORE UNSP0KEN SPEECHES
To Be Printed by the Column In the Con-
gressional Record.
A PENNSYLVANIAN'S MAIDEN EFFORT
IN FAVOR OF FREE SILVER.
NO MORE UNSPOKEN SPEECHES
To Be Printed by the Column In the Con-
gressional Record.
A PENNSYLvANIAN'S MAIDEN EFFORT
ESPECIAL TELEGRAPHIC LETTER.
BUREAU OF THE DISPATCH,
.S..xI.-<.--.- n q Ax,r.il


United States were to-day called upon to
put themselves on record on bill which
nearly involved an expression on the silver
question. If not decisive vote on free
coinage, it was at least significant, and pc
culiarly shown to be so by the votes of the
Senators The bill was one amending the
act of June 25, 1890, approving the funding
act of the Territory of Arizona That act
was one which gave the Territory the
privilege of refunding its debt. The bill,
as it came from the House, provided for the
payment of interest in gold.
No good explanation for this provision
was offered. The bill had been drafted by
Hon. Marcus Aurelius Smith, delegate from
Arizona, and it is not to be supposed that
Mr.. Smith would risk his own future by
going counter to the wishes of the people
who elect him. Possibly the holders of the
bonds are the people to whom Mr.. Smith is
responsible, and possibly these bondholders
live in Wall street and not in Arizona, and
are consequently not affected by the desire
of the people of Arizona for liberal treat
ment of silver.
Silver Men Always Watchful.
However that may be, the provision for
the payment of the interest in gold brought
the ultra-silver men of the Senate to their
feet in remonstrances. Senator Platt as
serted that the bill followed the language of
the funding act and provided for payment
Sin gold or lawful money of the United
States,'' but was put to confusion at once
by reference to the bill which contained
nothing but provision for absolute pay
ment in gold.
With this brief discussion the Senators
and the occupants of the galleries all awoke
to the fact that veritable dispute between
the gold and the silver men was on. Much
curiosity was manifested to know why it
was that while the funding act provided for
payment in either gold, silver or paper, the
bill should limit the kind of money to gold;
but apparently no one was at hand with an
explanation. Senator Kyle. the South
Dakota Independent, moved to amend the
bill by striking out the provision for gold
payment and inserting ''lawful money of
the United States" There was little dis
cussion of the matter.
Hin Only Wants a Stand-In.
Senators seemed to be afraid of it, as
though it was loaded. Hill moved uneasily
his little, deep-set eyes, as if he can in the
amendment see an opportunity to bid for
the favor of the silver men without COM
mitting himself on the question of free
coinage
German disappeared at the first hint of
dispute and was seen on call of the Sen
ate, only to disappear again. Several other
Democrats found sudden business In the
cloak rooms or down at the restaurant. On
a call of the roll only 81 Senators responded,
q yeas and 16 nays, which fell short OF
quorum.
A call of the Senate was ordered. Electric
bells sounded the triple warning in restau-
rant, committee and other rooms, but only
81 Senators could be drummed up. This
was enough, however, and when the roll
was called Mr. Kyle's amendment was
adopted by % yeas to "a nays, Senators
having lodged out, German among them,
after the call of the Senate. Hill stood his
ground and voted for the amendment and
was heartily congratulated for it by the
silver men.
The Significance of One Vote.
It was probably a more significant vote
than he intended it to be. The fact that the
division discovered every Senator voting in
accordance with his convictions, so far as
known, on the monetary question, lent an
1mpOrCance TO bue TtCoru budG cOulQ QOG
have been anticipated. The silver Repub-
hcans, Allen, Dubois, Hansbrough, Jones'
of Nevada; Mitchell, Stewart, Teller and
Wolcott, and the silver Independents,
Peffer and Kyle, all voted for the amend
ment, with the silver Democrats, including
Hill.
All of the negative voters were Repub-
Gcans, excepting Gray, of Delaware, and
every Senator voting no is known foe to
any increase of the value or Importance of
silver as monetary medium.
Thus Senator Hill may be said to have
placed himself squarely on the side of the
the first time on this question, which prom
ises, before it is done with, a rearrangement
of the political boundaries of parties in
States and sections. 1t will be interesting
to hear what his party in New York will
say about it. No one need think that Hill
was caught mapping in this matter. He is
very wide awake.
New Bid for Favor.
Hill knows his case is desperate. Cleve-
land is gaining and he is retrograding.
The prospect was that without some heroic
step he would go to Chicago with no follow
ing but his New York delegation, and with
an enormous protest against even SO much
Is that He must make some new bid for
IL,
silver question, as he had nothing to gain
on that score in the East. Without going
so far but that he can crawl out OF it he has
made that bid.
To the South and West he will saw: "Be-
hold my vote for silver on the Kyle amend
ment." To the people of the East he will
cry out, ''Oh, no, you mistake my meaning;
1 merely voted that the interest on the
Arizona bonds should be paid according to
the provisions of the funding act of the ter
ritory, in lawful money of the United
States" Whatever his convictions he will
not fool his friends in the East as to his in
tentions His vote of to-day will, tenn
porarily at least, put new complexion on
the race for the Democratic nomination.
Long Speeches Never Spoken.
As I predicted, the recent abuse of the
privilege of printing remarks in the Con-
o,essional Record which were not delivered on
the floor, has resulted in rule placing a
rigid restriction on that privilege. This
morning the Record contained about 25 COL
umns of quoted matter, all on the side of
the protective tariff and in connection with
ssspeeches" on the free wool bill, when gen.
eral 'leave to print" without delivery was
given.
Pickler, of South Dakota, with half a
dozen lines of introduction. printed the |
stariff catechism" prepared by Mr.. John H.
Stevenson, the Pittsburg lawyer, in 1888,
and which had at that time an immense and |
infIuential circulation. Belknap. of Michi-
can. after q few words of his own, printed
15 broad columns of nonpareil, embodying
a book written bv Mr. Giles B. Stebbins,
entitled, progress and Poverty" an
antithesis to Henry Georges Progress and