The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-02-21

| the point of no quorum. Mr.. Simpson
and Mr.. Catchings as tellers, took their
places and for over half an hour they
waited patiently for the belated arrivals
to make up the coveted quorum. With
| the members came Il stream of visitors
into the galleries and at 1855 o'clock,
when Mr.. Catchings reported a quorum
the house of representatives presented
an animated appearance.
The vote resulted 1o2 to Is in favor OF
| the special order.
| Mr.. Simpson remarked sarcasticaiiy
soto voce, that he was trying to protect
| the president against the vindictive as
saults of Republicans, recreant Demo.
Gratis and cuckoos. There was no at.
| tempt to get the yeas and nays and the
special order was declared adopted.
Before the debate began the speaker
announced that he would recognize two
members of the committee on ways and
means, Mr.. Wilson and Mr.. Reed in the
affirmative, and Messrs. Hopkins Rep.,
| I'D and Bryan Dem., Neb.) in the mega
| tive, to control four hours of the time
allowed for debate, the remaining hour
| to be given to debate under the tive-min-
| uie rule.
Mr. Wilson, chairman of the ways and
means committee. who opened the de-
l
outset that unless the debate could be
| restricted to the resolution from the
ways and means committee to the eX-
clusion of all partisanship it would be
| impossible to vote intelligently on the
question at it's conclusion. Mr.. Wilson
then proceeded to carefully state the
case, covering the ground traversed by
his report to the house yesterday. He
spent much time celebrating the events
leading up to and the conditions which
compelled the secretary of the treasury
to make the contract with the syndicate
for the purchase of gold. He said there
was no dearth of revenues in the treas
ury. Today, he declared, there was an
available cash balance in the treasury of
$165 100000, larger balance than on
June 80, 1892, by 36,000,000, when it
was $129, 100000, including the gold re-
serve. Today the gold reserve stood at
$40, 212,000. Mr.. Wilson reviewed the
| history of the gold reserve established to
insure the resumption of specie payments.
That reserve had not been threatened
until the panic of 1890, when, in q sin
gle month (Noypmberl $24, OOO,O0o OF
| gold had been withdrawn. oo
In the course of 1880 the 1914 ,OOo,oOo
of bank trust funds had been passed 10
| the available assets of the treasury.
/
times to replenish the gold in the treas
ury. twice within six months. The pre-
vious operations of the treasury had re-
suited, he said, in the United States OK.
changing its own bonds for its own gold
and now Secretary Carlisle had done
what Secretary Sherman did time and
time again, when he was refunding the
public debt-he had purchased gold IN
other markets than our own. Mr.. WIZ
son contrasted the situation of the treas,
in 1882 with its situation now, in regard
to the burden to be borne by the gold re-
serve. Then no greenbacks were being
presented for redemption and the re,
serve was only necessary for practical
purposes, to support the Outstandlnnng Sll-
yer, amounting to but S2OO,OOO,Oo 70
day it supported the entire currency ia,
brio, $5O000O,000 of outstanding Legal Leg
tenders and treasury notes; $ooo,oo0,-
600 of oyer-yalued silver and all the ma
| tional bank notes outstanding.
"You admit" interrupted MI; Dinghy
(Rep., Me-, "that S111,ooo,OOo of gold