The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-25
ALITTLE FUN In THE HOUSE
benson, Of Alabama, Gets Excited Over
the Silver Question,

He Ascribes the Alleged Depression
of the Debtor Glass to the Alleged
demonstration of SiIver-Bland At
firms That the Passage of the Will
son Bill Means the Redemption in
Gold of All the Silver in Ciroula-
ton.
Washington, Oct. 24-In the House
today, after some trivial routine business,
Mr.. Mallory, of Florida, called up and
had passed bill to amend the Revised
Statutes so as to include engineers and as
sistant engineers in the list of officers of
United States vessels required by exist
ing laws to be citizens of this country.
The amendment was made necessary by a
decision rendered when the Atlantic
liners, Paris and New York, were ad-
mitted to American register.
A bill was also passed for the removal
of the Morris Island life saving station,
near Charleston, S. c., to Sullivan's Is
land, after which the debate on the bank
ruptcy bill was resumed.
benson GROWS EXCITED.
Mr.. benson, of Alabama, took the floor
In opposition to the measure. He de-
scribed at length the depression of the
debtor class, which he ascribed largely to
the characterization of silver The debate
grew heated "Now that you have de-
monetized silver, :" he said, ''you propose
TO inaugurate the crucial performance of
the auctioneer's hammer to complete the
work that has been going on
Mr. Patterson, of Tennessee, broke in
to deny some statements of Mr.. benson.
and the alteration grew lively, drawing
in Messrs. Bland and Bryan. of Nebraska
Mr. Patterson objected to the state
ment that the administration ought to
eliminate silver from circulation.
SILVER TO BE REDEEMED WITH GOLD.
Mr. benson insisted that such was the
purpose of the repeal bill, and Mr.. Bland
affirmed that if the Wilson bill passed,
the silver in our circulation would have
to be redeemed in gold as greenbacks
were. 1t would leave standard money
absolutely demOnetized. z,
Mr. benson declared that the Wilson
bill was a rescript of the Sherman bill
introduced in the last congress. you"
he shouted, looking around at his col
leagues, "You call yourselves democrats,
and yet you are voting for rescript of a
republican measure, except that the Sher-
man repeal bill was infinitely better than
this"
Mr.. Bryan asked Mr.. Patterson if he
would vote for the complete repeal of the
Sherman act, as demanded by the Chi
cago platform, instead of the repeal of
only the purchasing clause.
POSITION OF THE DEMOCRATS.
All these questions caused Mr.. Patter-
son to explain at length the position of the
administration democrats. The issue
1S-ac hatvvaoy a cro1d ou6 ofI z-o,, 81
If the purchase law was continued the
treasury reserve would be broken down
and the country would be placed on a sill
yer standard.
Mr.. Patterson's explanation elected
from Mr.. Bland the declaration that
he (Mr. Patterson) had admitted
everything that he (Mr. Bland) had
charged.
After this diversion MIR. benson re-
sumed his argument against the bank
ruptcy bill
MIR Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, supported
the bill. The bill might be defective, but
it could be amended, 1t could be tried
and after few years perfected.
4 Mr.. Ray, of New York, opposed the bill
He said he was in favor of some system of
bankruptcy, but this bill had some
features which he had to disagree with.
BRYAN CLOSES THE DEBATE.
Mr.. Bryan closed the debate for the
day with a vigorous speech in opposition
to the measure. This bill was not drawn
in the interest of the debtor class. It
comes from the wholesaler, who desires
a better method of collecting his debts.
Under the state laws man who attacks
the credit of a debtor is liable for dam
ages. But this bill would place every
debtor at the mercy of creditor, whether
he was insolvent or not. The news that
has reached US to-day from the other end
of the capitol is that probably the passage
of the repeal bill and the establishment
of a gold standard in this country will
necessitate some law to relieve the debtor
Of debts. But it ought to protect volun-
tary bankrupts. There will be enough
Involuntary bankrupts when the Voor-
hees bill goes into operation.
Mr.. Oates, replying to a reflection upon
Mr.. Tousey, the author of the bill, spoke
in his defense.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Bryan's
speech, the House adjourned.