The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-13
MITCHELL HAD THE FLOOR.
And Enlightened the Senate for
Three Hours Yesterday.
Speaking Against the Repeal of the sher-
man Act-Stewart Kindly Allows the
Silver Man From Oregon to Speak in
His PIace-The House Meets, Docs
Little, and AdJourns Early.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12. Senator
Mitchell, OF Oregon, occupied the atten.
tion OF the Senate to-day for three hours
in an elaborate argument against the
bill Co repeal the purchasing clause Of
the Sherman act. After he got through
there sprung up between Senators Tel.
Ter, OF Colorado, and Hawley,o of Connect
icut, quite spirited discussion, into
which finally Stewart entered. Then,
as the hour was late and Senators were
weary OF the days debate, a motion to
proceed to executive business was well
coined on all sides, and after short
executive sc ssion the Senate, at Sis, ad-
journed.
ct the opening Of the session a letter
from the Treasury Department. in re-.
Spouse to resolution inquiring as to
the redemption of Treasury notes in
silver, ETC., was presented and read. 1t
states that S1,473,s74 of Treasury
notes issued under the Sherman act
have been redeemed in August and Sep.
TENDER, that $40, 0s7,ls5 silver coinage
had been minted, with gain or senior
age OF Sj,091, 100, and thas the remain.
der of the bullion purchased under the
Sherman act had not been coined
because no further coinage had been
necessary to provide for the redemption
OF the notes in silver.
The resolution offered yesterday by
Stewart as to Senators being stockho Id
ers in national banks having laid befo re
the Senate, Stewart offered to yield to
Mitchell, Of Oregon, who desired to ad-
dress the Senate on the repeal bill, and
his resolution, by unanimous consent
went over until tomorrow.
White, California, gave notice that
he would address the Senate on the re-
peal bill next Tuesday, The repeal bill
was then at 1890 taken up and Mitchell
began his address.
He said that the Fundamental problem
to be solved was Are we to become a
nation OF monometallists, and if so
whether gold or silver monome Ia lists?"
1t could not be deemed that the abso-
Lutte decentralization of silver as pro-
posed by the unconditional repeal of the
purchasing clause of the Sherman act
of 1890, the perpetuation OF the gold
standard and the establishment of a
policy that'gold and gold alone shall be
the sole medium OF ultimate redemp.
ton, would be to completely and abso-
lutely over turn and destroy the policy
of the founders OF the government upon
that question, and consign silver as
money metal to indefinite overthrow.
The fear of tariff revision and of the
inauguration of a free trade policy, he
said, had had much to do with the
panic There did not spring up lack
Of confidence in the banks and not a
lack of confidence in any part of any
kind of money so deposited. The trou-
BILE was in very large measure started
by the banks.
The repeal of the purchasing clause
OF the sherman act meant the contrac-
ton of currency by the destruction of
monthly supply Of from three to four
and half million, or from 40, zoo, 900 to
5o,OOo,ooO year, and who, he asked,
has ever heard of the congestion of a
money finance being dispelled by re-
duction of the money in circulation
while the country was demanding more
circulating medium?
Mitchell devoted some time to show
ing that it would be impossible to SO.
cure international bimetallism and
quoted from the speeches made by tho
delegates from Great Britain to the
Brussels conference, to prove that Eng
land was welded to the gold stand ard
and was not willing to even discuss the
question of bimetalJism.
After Mitchell had spoken for an hour
and half to very small audience of
Senators, the absence of quorum was
suggested by Stewart. A call of the
roll allowed Mitchell needed breath.
ing space, and resulted in gathering in
Senators from committee rooms and
cloak rooms until fifty-three OF Thorn
answered to their names, and then
Mitchell went on with his speech. He
closed his argument at 800, having held
the floor for exactly three hours.
Hawley, rep. Comm, declared him
self for the pending bill first, last and
always, and during his speech got into
several arguments with different mem.
bers of the Senate.
IN THE HOUSE.
II the attendance in the House yester-
day was small one, it was a smaller
one to day. Yesterday there was about
100 members present, to-day not more
than fifty stood up when the Speakers
gaVel fell and the chaplain offered
prayer.
The Speaker laid before the House a
communication from the Postm as tel
General, in response to law relative to
to the disposition OF useless paper in
the executive departments, setting
forth that in his Department there was
an accumulation OF old papers that had
no permanent value nor historic inter.
est. In accordance with the law re-
ferred to, the Speaker appointed Hen.
derson IN. CD and Caldwell (Rep
Ohio,) as q committee to inquire into
the matter.
Richardson (Tenn.). from the com
miltee on printing, reported bill to
provide for the public printing and
binding and for the distribution OF
public documents. He asked that the