Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-02-10
THE FEDERAL HOUSE.
BIapd's siIver-seigniorage Coinage Bill
what L. seignioraec?

uncovered 10y the StatthhNhN VI %hi' i'e""-
cock Gfepublicam. Wisconsin, that he
was recorded as voting on the last roll
call bv which the House decided to 80
into Committee OF the Whole to consider
the Bland segniorage bill, while he was
really absent AS this would destroy the
quorum. and thus nullify the action OF
the committee. II promised to cause some
,ro,ble Owing TO the confusion in the
House at the time It was almost impos-
siblc 10 avoid error. and in addition,
the regular tally-clcrk was not on duty
al the time the vote was taken.
when this error was discovered Messrs.
Reed and Tracy showed symptoms OF an
intention 20 take advantage Of The mis-
take and 10 hIlibuster. on the other
hand. however. Il was found that MessTs.
AfcCleary Hepublican. Minnesota; Mar
shall 0emocraD, Virginia; German Dem
ocraO Michigan. and Shell DemocraO.
South Carolina. were present and voted
but were not recorded, so that they more
,ban counterbalanced the loss. and the
presence OF quorum was manifest
A,ter the call Of committees for re-
norris had been concluded. Mr.. Bland, at
1921 o'clock moved 20 take up the con-
sideration ~ his silver seigniorage Dill
in Committee Of the Whole, and the mo-
,ion was agreed 20 without serious OBJ
jcction.
Nr Bland was recognized TO conclude
his remarks in support of his measure
and said. by way N preface. that ne was
reported in the papers as being wlllins
,o etril,o ont the last section Of his BILL
providing for the coinage OF the buIhoh
ir tho Treasury purchased under the
nd remaining uncOlne1.
That statement was untrue, for ne con-
eiderod that the most important feature
~ tho measure. The Secretary OF the
Treasury was Of the opinion that IL
vould take about five years TO carry out
this provision Of the bill
A1r BLAND was surrounded by a crowd
Of members. and was rapidly plied WIN
questions. Tho principal object OF his Dlil
ba said. was not 10 redeem the notes
iesued uuder the Sherman law, but to
coin the silver now remaining IN the
Treasury Tho proposed bill did not 20
as far as the Sherman law, nor give
the Secretary Of the Treasury such Wlde
discretion. Under the latter the Secre-
tary was authorized to coin The bulilon
AT his discretion. but under the FORMER
he would be compelled to coin IT only IN
such quantities as might be necessary 10
redeem the certificates issued on II. re
could not coin the bullion at his dis
crction Under the Sherman law me
notcs could be redeemed by either silver
or gold. and when 50 redeemed might
bc reissued. If he OBlanD had been Sec
rotarv Of the Treasury he would use that
discretion in the interest of tn" people.
and not in the interest Of the gold-bugs.
The Sherman notes should not have been
redeemed in gold and rcissued over ana
over again. but the certificates should
have been redeemed in silver. and when
so redeemed should not have been re-
issued.
lie said in answer to question from
Mr.. Tracey, that If he Tracey asserted
that the Sherman notes were being re-
deemed i'm silver nc was laboring under
a misapprchensiOn.
Mr. Bland was FREQUENTLY interrupted by
constant stream of questions from the
members who surrounded him, and the
close Of his speech was marked by ap-
plause from his sympathizers.
WHAT IS sEIGNIORAGE?
lie was followed by c. W. Stone. Of
Pennsylvania, one of the Republican men,
bers Of the Committee on Coinage.
Weights. ana Measures. who antagoniZed
the bill He went into a le%al descrp-
ton OF what constituted seiGnlorage,
holding that there could be no seigniorage
until dli the silver was consumed.
You could not he said. take out a por-
tiOn of the silver i'm the Treasury and say
that II was seigniorage because it was
not seignioraee until IT ceased to be bull
lion This view was diametrically opposed
10 that held by Mr.. Bland You could not
scgregate from the 100000 ounces Of
oil, 4t h.. = "A
call II seigniorage and the balance bullion.
This bullion constituted a collateral trust
fund for the redemption Of notes issued
upon it. If any portion of this fund should
be taken aud used for the necessary ex-
penscs of the government. or for any other
purpose than that to which IT was dedl-
Gated. ii was not only a perversion OF the
trust but was cmbczzlcmcnt of trust
funds.
Mr. benson DemocraO. Of Alabama.
asked whether the trust constituted 10y the
sherman law was not being executed, and
If not. why not?
Mr.. Stone replied that the trust was not
being fully executed. because the trust
provided that the silver should be coined
only 10 redeem the bulliOn-nOtes issued
but whereas many millions in notes had
been issued. only 2OD.O00 had been re-
deemed. and the balance Of the dollars
coined to redeem them had been lying idle
in the Treasury for three years.
Mr.. McKcighan independently. Of Ne
brtska, followed in support Of the iii. He
the financial policy Of President
Cleveland. and predicted that 1t would
lead the Democratic party into disaster.
He pleaded for the equality OF gold and
silver
Mr.. Uarter OcmocraO. of ONO, one or
the members Of the committee who signed
the minority report, spoke in opposition
to the pending bill. In lieu of the hill
reported by the Chairman OF the COM
mittee for tiding the government over its
present financial distress he suggested
several methods OF raising revenue. III
members would only eliminate their con-
eressional districts. and forget that there
was going 10 be an election and vote
for a revenue tariff, the difficulty would
be largely obviated. To begin with' ne
advocated the practice of more rigid
and also suggested tha1 the
salaries Of govern ment officers lhciuuihg
members Of Congress, receiving over $Z'oD
per annum be lowered by 70 per cen',
NIr Walker Republican,, OF Michigan.
aid thar a congressman did not get half
enough now. They did three times az
much work in comparison with their
salaries as any other class ol i"eh'
daughter and applause)
Mr. Harter. continuing. said that II the
Democratic party had had the courage
10 impose tax OF / cent per pound on
sugar there would have been iaIse
annual revenue from that source. lie
also favored higher tax on whiSkey'
and instead Of increasing the tax on
spirits 10 cents per gallon, he thought IL
should have been raised 80 cents.
He also advocated heavy TAX on
beer.
A BIT OF FUN CD.
An amusing. personal coiloquy took
place between Messrs. Harter ana Den
son. and when the time OF the FORMER hao
expired MIR. benson asked that Mr.. Har-
ter be allowed TO speak indefinitely, which
request was readily granted.
lie then pictured. in very amusing
way. the misfortunes which would come
upon the Democratic party If II passed
The Bland act He likened the Democratic
party, In their attitude upon silver 7"
a tackass party; But II the people m
sist upon regarding the party as jack
ass. that IL no reason why the Demo-
cratic congressman should nap their ears
lust TO show that they are asses. u'oua
laughter and applause)
Mr.. Harter continued his witty re-
marks for few moments, when ne was
Inv.