The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-12

Jay trOu4 MS Imputed alliance with the
extreme wing OF the silver Senators.
Stewart OF Nevada, offered resolution
for an irQniry into the fact of Senators
being stockholders in national banks.
Hill OF ,osed the resolution in strong
speech IS being unnecessary and un-
the Senate. The resolution went over
until ton orrow when it will come up
in the regular morning business.
The bill for the repeal OF the purchas-
ing clauses of the Sherman law was
taken up and Pugh, minority member
OF the finance committee, made two
and. a. half-hours' speech agains. it,
declaring at the close that it was the
detern ned and unaiterable purpose of
the op ;onents OF repeal to oppose it
until cir physical strength was ex-
hauste .,nnd their power Of speech gone.
The remainder of the session was occu-
pied in continuance of Teller's speech
against the bill. He did not conclude,
but said he would take up another
phase Of the question on some other
day-noGto. morrow.
When the Senate proceedings opened
there were just ten Democratic Senators
Qncluding Voorhees) in their chair
seats while on the Republican side of
the chamber there were sixteen in their
seats. In presenting some petitions in
favor OF the free coinage of silver
PETER said he noticed that there was q
general impression in the newspaper
preslo, the country that when a Sena-
tor or r preventative introduced a bill
by requ st he was held personally re-
sponsib r, for it's contents. His attention
had been called to that fact recently
by criticisms Of himself which he found
in the ,wspapers because he intro
duced l'-v week at the request Of the
author bill proposing the establish
ment OF university in the District Of
Columns He did not think such
citicism .air.
When Stewart introduced his resolu-
ton for the appointment of a committee
of Eve rators to inquire whether any
Senator ,as been stakeholder or
directly indirectly interested in any
national bank, he said he was led TO
offer 1t Suse the Lombard Street and
other '@lsQ.s I'D been claiming that
Senators from the silver States should
not vote on matters in which they were
personally interested. at the same
time he disdained having any personal
interest in silver mining, nor has he had
for the last fifteen years. His wife had
some years ago invested some money in
an al andoned silver mine in Mexico,
but that mine, after having had the
water pumped out, was again closed on
account Of the low price OF silver and
would never be opened again if the
repeal bill became law.
Hill opposed the resolution as some.
thing unprecedented and unheard of
and which would not serve any good
purpose. He admitted that it had it's
excuse in the suggestions made that
Senators from the silver States were
actuated in their course by reason of
their own financial or industrial in
terest What precedent, he asked +,
would be established by the adoption
of the resolution? When tho Senate
came to consider the silver question
was it to have an investigating com
mittee to inquire what Senators were
interested in manufactures or importing?
When the Senate came to legislate
on commercial matters, was it to inquire
what Senators were pecuniarliy int
ested in the question of commerce?
Senators had right to be Interested
both directly and indire Stly-in matters
of finance, and their votes could not be
affected thereby. lie could not resist
the conclusion that the offering of tho
resolution was, to some extent, refec-
ii n on the Senate.
He had sustained, the other day, the
Senator from Nevada, in Offering a reso-
luton calling for information as TO the
finances Of the country. He had thought
that that resolution ought not to be re-
ferred to the finance committees; but
this resolution was different. 1t should
be either voted down or referred to the
finance committee.
10
m. the floor belonged to Teller, but he
offered to yield it to Pugh. The latter
embraced the opportunity and addressed
the Senate in opposition to the bill He
had read and reread, he said, the mes.
age OF the President converting Congress,
and found 1t to be an explicit declara.
ton in favor of the maintenance of the
gold standard in the currency of the
United States until changed to bimetal.
lism by international agreement and
that would afford the only remedy that
could mitigate the present danger
threatening the future"
Referring to the national banks Pugh
accused them Of arrsigning themselves
in open hostility to silver and silver GER
tihcates, and Of doing everything in
their power to discredit both in utter
disregard of thelaw of the declared pub.
lie policy OF the United States.
II friend OF the free coinage OF
silver. he said, had been in the Presi-
Dental Office at the time OF the passage
of the Sherman law bill for the free
coinage of silver at the existing ratio
would be the law at this hour and with
no danger OF it's being repealed and If
Cleveland were known to be willing to
approve bill for the free coinage OF
silver on some reasonable ratio such a
bill would become law at the present
session. An unconditional repeal Of the