Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1892-09-29

creased, but the Means to Pay them Havt
Diminished.
Tho Senate, as in Committee Of the Whole, re
sumed the consideration of the bill H. r. 5034) t
provide for the purchase Of United States bonds by
the Secretary of the Treasury
Mr.. PLUMB. move to add as a sepa.
rate section what send to the desk.
The SECRETARY. It is proposed tc
add as an additional section the following
SEC 2. That whenever the circulation of any ma
tional bank, or any portion thereof, shall be sur
rendered and the same is not taken up by Other
national banks within 80 days thereafter. the Sec
rotary Of the Treasury shall thereupon issue an
equivalent amount of Treasury notes Of the de-
nominations now provided by law for national-bank
notes. Said Treasury notes shall be deposited In
the Treasury and paid out as other moneys kept fol
the discharge of the obligations of the Government
They shall be receivable for salaries and for all dues
to the Government, including duties on imports
shall be legal tender for all debts, public and pri
yate shall be redeemable in coin as the legal-en-
der notes of the United States now are and when
received into the Treasury they shall be reissued
and when mutilated or worn they shall be replaced
in the same manner as now provided by law for said
egal-tender notes. The coin held in the Treasury
at the date of the passage of this act for the redemp
ton of the lega-tender notes Of the Government
shall also be applicable to the redemption Of the
Treasury notes herein provided for; and such coin
may, from time to time be increased by add
ing thereto other sums from payments made into
the Treasury in the discretion of the Secretary Of
the Treasury: Propided, That the total amount of
said coin reserve shall never be less than 25 per
cent. more than so per cent Of the total amount
Of legal-tender and Treasury notes outstanding.
The true intent and meaning of this section being
that the volume of paper money outstanding lex
elusive Of gold and silver certifcates) shall remain
rs now existing.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The
question is on the amendment proposed
by the Senator from Kansas Mr.. PLUME
Mr.. MORRILL,. The amendment of the
Senator from Kansas is entirely alien to
the topic that is considered by the House
bill. There is supposed to be an urgent
necessity for the passage of the House
bill with the amendments which have been
made by the Committee on Finance, and
agreed to by the Senate this morning.
trust that the Senator from Kansas will
not press his amendment, which, if it was
to be seriously discussed and considered,
is one that would be likely to require
week or 10 days of time for its considera-
ton. I am sure that there is no present
necessity for any action in the direction
proposed by the Senator from Kansas.
In order that we may get the bill through
without taking much time this morning
from the consideration of the Calendar,
I hope that all amendments which have
been proposed will be withdrawn and the
bill allowed to pass.
Mr.. PLUMB. Different people have
different ways of manifesting haste. The
bill under consideration has been upon
the Calendar Just 20 days to-day. If
there had been any great hurry about its
passage, any very great emergency, i'm
agine the Finance Committee would have
urged its passage long ago. 1t is not 60
ing to take 10 days to dispose of this
amendment, although it had better take
80 days than not have it or some such
proposition adopted. 1t is entirely ger
name to the subject of the bill-just as
germane as the punctuation that is in it.
This bill is for the purpose of relieving
the Treasury from its surplus funds and
adding 10 the circulation Of the country,
the last object being the main one, take
it. The country to day is in distress for
lack of noneh which the Treasury has
locked up; and this is an effort on the
part of Congress to induce the Secretary
of the Treasury to do what he has hereto
fore refused to do, and that is to pay out
the public money in discharge of the
public debt.
But, Mr.. President, this will only &C.
complish partial purpose No one can
tell how many bonds will be bought under
the authority of the bill if the Secretary
shall choose to act under it, as he has here
tofore refused TO act under similar author
ity now on the statute book. No one can
tell how much it will add to the volume of
money outstanding, because nobody can
tell how many of the bonds will come from
national banks now holding them as a
basis for circulation. According to the
Treasury view of it, there is only about
$100000,000 which can be paid out in dis
charge of the public debt under the terms
of the bill which is now pending. 1 think
there are $l60,000,000 there available for
such purpose beyond any reserve required
by law or by the practice of the depart
ment to be kept. But suppose there be
only $100,000,000 and suppose the Secre-
tary of the Treasury buys $100,000,O00 of
outstanding bonds of the United States
with that money, it must be $l0O,000,000 of
course minus the premium, or plus, as you
may use the term. That is to say, that if
he buys 4 per cent. bonds at the market
price to-day, he would be able to take up
the principal of only about $S0,000,000
of bonds. If those bonds should be of
lereu TOT hdle Dy Drinks nOlulnB tueH
already as a basis for their currency, there
would only be 10 per cent of that amount
added to the volume of the currency out
standi~g, Notwithstanding the disburse-
ment by the Treasury of $l00,000,000.
The gain, therefore, would be fractional
and imperceptible, and the purpose which
i suppose the Finance Committee has in
view would be lost. If one-half the bonds
should be rendered by national banks, and
one-half by outside parties, of course the
gain to the outstanding circulation would
be greater. While the bill itself is proper,
at the same time as it stands, and by it.
self, it is triAing with very great ques-
ton.
For pears the ndtiondl-bdnk circulation,
and so The volume Of money outstanding IN
the United States, has been declining. The
population has Increased, business has in
creased, but the currency Nth t0hich that
business Is 10 be transacted has diminished
each year during the last fire years; aud
yet the Finance Committee Of the Senate and
the similar committee in the other House,
and all those phose special privilege Il hd,
heretofore seemed 10 be 10 take care Of Ties,