Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-13
WAYS AND MEANS
The House Committees Resolution
Authorizing Bonds.
A BREAK ON BOTH SIDES IN THE Vote
What is Said by the Opponents to
the Proposition.
AN OLD SILV LA w

l
| The House committee on ways and
| means voted today to report to the House
| a resolution practically as agreed upon by
| the subcommittee. The vote was: Yeas, =;
nays, 5. The resolution is as follows:
Resolved by the Senate and House of
Representatives of tho United States In
Congress assembled, That the Secretary
| Of the Treasury be and Is hereby author
| lied to issue and dispose of, at not less
| than par. in gold coin. bonds of the United
States. with the qualities. privileges and
exemptions of bonds issued under the act
approved July II, 1870, entitled an "Act
| authorizing the refunding of the national
| debt to an amount not exceeding $65, 49,
| 275, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding
| 3 per cent per annum, principal and in
terest payable in gold coin of the present
standard of weight and fineness. said bonds
| to be made payable not more than thirty
years after date. Provided. however, that
| no part of the proceeds Of the sale of such
| bonds. nor of the notes redeemed with such
proceeds, shall be available for the pay
ment of the current expenses of the gov
ernment.''
A Break In the Vote.
The vote of to 5 on reporting the bill
the republicans Messrs. Reed of Maine and
Payne Of New York We're for the bill, Mr..
Hopkins of Illinois against it, and Mr..
Grosvenor of Ohio refrained from voting.
Among the democrats the division was
even greater, Messrs. Wilson of West Vir-
ginia, Turner of Georgia, Tarsney of Mis-
souri,. Montgomery of Kentucky, Stevens
of Massachusetts and Cochran of New
York voting in the affirmative. and McMil-
lin of Tennessee. Whiting of Michigin,
n oh n
bama in the negative.
Mr.. Bynum Qnd) was on the floor of the
House while the vote was being taken. but
did not appear to register either way.
Dalzell Pa) and Gear Qowa) were not
| present. The vote in full is as follows:
For the bill-Wilson. Tarsney. Turner,
Montgomery, Stevens and Cochran, demo-
Gratis, and Reed and Payne, republicans-S.
Against the bill-McMillin, Whiting
Bryan and Wheeler, democrats, and Hop
kins, republican,.
minority report will he made by those
| who voted against the bill. 1t will prob
ably be written by Mr.. Bryan.
There was no talk about the amount OF
| time which the rules committee would be
asked to give for debate in the House. A
provision against the redemption of ma
tional bank notes by the treasury which
Secretary Carlisle had requested yesterday
and which the committee had recommend
ed. was passed over by general consent and
no action taken upon it, as it was thought
best not to cumber the resolution with too
many propositions. 1t may be subject of
future action by the committee.
Proposition Voted Down.
The resolution prepared by Mr. Wheeler
declaring the enactment of the Presidents
recommendation to be an abandonment of
bimetallsm, and therefore ineXpedient; and
Mr.. Bryan's resolution for the payment of
all government obligations in the coin most
convenient, were voted down, as was Mr..
Cockrans proposition for more comprehen-
sive authority to the Secretary, but the
votes were not recorded. There was no
formal debate.
Mr. Cochran said that he would vote to
report the resolution, but would reserve
the right to offer an amendment in the
House. Mr.>Reed said that the plan was
| none of his making, nor choosing. but that
under the circumstances he would vote for
it as a scheme which might furnish some
relief for the treasury, although he was
not hopeful that it would.
Mr.. Hopkins Of Illinois, the republican
member of the committee who voted
against the resolution, says he will Lot
make a minority report, but Will oppose
the measure on the floor Of the House. II
object to 1t for many reasons" he said
1T discredits all other obligations OF the
government by it's stipulation for the pay
ment of the bonds in gold, and if enacted
would make 1t impossible for the govern
ment to float any bonds in future without
the gold proviso. Moreover, to make bonds
payable in gold. gives to the holders OF
| them an incentive to drive gold to pre-
mium before the bonds mature. Neither
do I believe the form of the contract for
this issue nor the policy Of negotiating
with private parties for the sale of bonds
can be justified or warranted in any way.
An Old Silver Law Unearthed.
An old law has been discovered upon the
statute books by free silver men In Con-
gress which, they declare, gives them
ground to hope that they can bring about
the coinage of silver In an indirect way
through the use of Mexican dollars. Sew
eral members of the House have been dis
cussing the possibilities of making a test
Of the efficacy of the statute. The law was
passed in 1857 and is section 1861 OF the
Revised Statutes. 1t is as follows: ne
pieces commonly known as the quarter,
eighth and sixteenth of the Spanish pillar
dollar, and of the Mexican dollar, shall be
receivable at the treasury of the United
States and its several offices and at the sew
eral post offices and land offices at the rates
of valuation following: The fourth Of dol
| lar, or piece Of two reals. at 20 cents; the
eighth of a dollar, or piece of one real, at
10 cents, and the sixteenth OF dollar, or
half real, at cents.
The section following provides that these
coins shall not be reissued from the treas
ury but shall be recoined into United states
coins. The law has never been repeated,
and silver men assert that 1t is possible to
send the metal to Mexico for coinage, re-
import it into the United States and pre-
sent it at the treasury. They assert that
the validity of the law is beyond question,
and point to the statute resurrected by
Secretary Carlisle. which practically COM
pels the treasury to redeem national bank
notes in gold evidence that there are
mere intricacies in the monetary system
tran have been realized. The first step,
the silver men say, is to secure con-
struction of the law from competent au-
thority. They fear that Attorney General
Olney would rule against them. and are
trying to devise plan to secure an opin-
ion from the judiciary committee of the
House.
For n ShOrt-Tlme Loan.
Senator Cockrell, chairman of the COM
mittee on appropriations, had been hopeful
that he would be able to report the sundry
civil appropriation bill by today. but 1t has
not yet been put in, and there Is possi-
bility that it will not he ready for the Sen
ate during the present week. The cause of
the delay is found in the fact that the
committee is yet uncertain what course it
may be desirable to pursue toward meeting
the treasury deficit. The committee is said
to Re unanimously favorable to providing
no of atoat to r,ooo