, 1892-03-24
THE SILVER BILL.
SOME OF THE FUNNY FEATURES
OF THE DEBATE.
Harter says He is not for Hill
Stone Tells of the Similarity of
a bland Bili in 1s4s and the
Present REII.


Stone Tells of the Similarity of
Bland Rill i'm 1s4s and the
Present BIII.
WASHINGTON, p. q, March "a There
were many funny features in the great de-
bate on the silver bill yesterday. Living
stone, Of Georgia, an alliance man, in adj
vocating the bill, said that if congress did
not now hear the voice of the people, the
time would soon come when that voice
would be heard. Speaking of the contest
in the democratic party in New York,
Livingstone said Hill and Cleveland meant
nothing more nor less than silver and
anti-silver. Harter interrupted with the
query: "Do you mean to say Hill is in
favor Of free colnage2"
Livingstone -"Well, now, will you vote
for Hill if he is2"
'fNo sir, Harter replied with emphasis,
amid applause and laughter.
Stone of Pennsylvania, followed Pierce,
in opposition to the bill. He said;
The pending bill was not bill for the
free coinage Of gold and silver, but bill
for the unlimited issue Of paper money.
He had suspicion that the bill is an heir
loom in the Bland family Laughter.
In reading the history of the country he
discovered that one Richard Bland was a
leading member of the house of burgesses
of Virginia in 1848 Like his distinguished
namesake of today, he seemed to labor un-
der the idea that the economic and fnan-
cial system of his day needed tinkering
with. Laughter. In those days the curren-
cy of Virginia was tobacco hogsheads of $50
pounds. Laughter The inconvenience
of carrying around the legal tender Of that
day naturally aroused desire to devise a
more convenient system Of currency. This
desire took shape in the Bland bill of 1848,
TLaughter.] This bill was almost a counter
part of the bill of today. 1t provided for
the establishment Of government ware
houses and the appointment of government
inspectors in charge. The Bland bill of to-
day provides for United States mints, al
ready erected. The bill of 1848 provided
for a deposit of any amount of tobacco by
any person, and the issue Of tobacco
notes" therefor, to be accepted as legal
tender, receivable for debts and dues of the
government. The bill of today provides
for a deposit of silver bullion, whether :
owned by an inhabitant of England, Africa
or America, and the issuance therefor of
notes as legal tender, receivable for the
debts and dues of the government. Laugh
ter This bill was not a bill for free and
the unlimited purchase of silver bullion.
The bills that came before the committee
that did provide for free coinage were all
laid aside and this bill was reported in
their stead. The effect of this bill, by re-
peaIing the act Of two years ago, would be
to restore the act of 1873
The galleries were again packed when
the silver debate began today and there
was a very full attendance on the part OF
the members. Bland announced that he
would postpone the motion for the preyi-
GUS question till O'Clock, to give oppor-
tunity for greater debate. Williams, an
Illinois democratic member of he coinage
committe, opened the debate in favor of
the bill.
Williams, of Illinois, opened the debate
in favor of the bill; he is a democrat and
member of the coinage committee. Will
Jams elected applause when he exclaimed
"The unit of value is creature of law
and power of declaring what shall con-
stitUte unit of value in the United States
is vested in congress also" He criticized
the administration for working against the
bill and predicted that II the. measure
passed the house, the administration would
exert all i4s mighty influence to force gold
to premium, creating trepldation to pre-
vent like action by the senate. In sharp
passage at arms which now ensued between
Wike, of Illinois, and Williams
the latter, maintained that the
silver coin of Europe was already
at par with gold and that the United
States is capable of taking care Of the bull
ion vet uncoined. Cochrane, ofNew X York,
the we'll known Tammany leader, opened
for the opposition to the bill, which he Wig
orously attacked.
After long discussion a motion to table
the silver bill was defeated by a vote of 148
to 148, Crisp voting in the negative.