The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-12
SILVER ISSUE ECHO
FINANCIAL DEBATE UNEXPECTED
LY PRECIPITATED IN THE
HOUSE
TERRITORIAL FUNDING BILL
PASSED AFTER "SOFT MONEY!
AMENDMENT HAD BEEN ADDED
ONTO 1T.
SILVER MEN AND GOLD CONTRACTS,
Mr.. Hartman, of Montana, Denied
HIS State Did Not Practice What
1t Preached.

WASHINGTON, Feb 1.-THE house
today passed the Notifications appro-
priation bill with but a single amend
ment and made some headway with the
| postoffice appropriation bill. But the
major portion of the day was consumed
in political debate on the financial
question which was precipitated by an
| innocent provision in bill providing
for funding the debt of the territories
The bill aroused the opposition of Mr..
McMillin Dem., Tenn) because it
provided for gold bonds and the pay
ment CT interest in gold or it's equiva-
lent.
Mr.. Knox Rep., Mass) said that the
stipulation regarding gold bonds ap-
piled only to Arizona, which had out
standing gold bonds tc be refunded. Mr..
Payne (Rep., N. Y) said he saw no
reason why the other territories should
not be permitted to issue gold bonds.
He said this bill bore no relation to
the question of whether we should put
gold in the bonds of the United States
He had voted to put gold in the bonds,
he added, when the administration put
the country in a position where not to
do so would cost the people $12 ,0O0 900.
Congress refused, and now the tax
payers would have to pay those $12, ,000,-
900.
And yet you maintain" interrupted
Mr.. Terry Oem., Ark, that we should
pay those bonds in gold, although we
paid $12, ,000,0 600 for the privilege of pay
ing them in silver"
Every one maintains-almost every
one maintains" replied Mr.. Payne,
that the bonds are payable in gold.
Even the late Democratic candidate
for vice president (SewaID who ran on
a silver platform, held gold bonds, and
the silver mine owners who were ram
pant for free silver sentiment wrote
gold in their notes"
Mr.. Hartman (Rep., Mont) indignant
ly denied this statement, but Mr.
Payne insisted that he was right. He
said the Western debtors, in order to
get money at a respectable rate Of in
terest, were obliged to agree to pay
principal and interest in gold. He said
he believed every United States bond
should be paid in gold.
Mr.. Mcguire Dem, CALI replied to
Mr.. Payne. He said the honesty of the
believers in free silver was not to be
questioned because some Of them, in
Ioaning their money, made gold con-
! tracts. Silver had by law been de-
pTived Of its legitimate function as
me ney. Gold had been given special
privilege. Silver was mere token
money. Why he argued, should busi-
ness man abandon the business advan-
| tage which the law gave him because
| of his conviction that as a matter Of
| policy silver should be remonetized.
Mr.. Walker Rep., Mass0, chairman
of the committee on banking and cur
rency, declared it was as notorious as
that the sun shines that there were
certain states Of the Union, whose
monetary system was beyond the reach
| of congressional legislation. There
were seven states where all transac-
tions were in gold, and yet it was
curious, he said, that the represen-
tatives from those states on this floor
sought to compel the rest Of the Union
to take
FIFTY-CENT DOLLARS.
He insisted that congress should not
urged the house to vote down an
amendment that had been submitted
| by Mr.. McMillin (Dem., Tenn.), which
was as follows:
Provided, that the principal and in
! terest Of the bonds funded under this
| act shall be payable in any lawful
money of the United States except
! the Arizona bonds, above described,
! heretofore issued.
Mr. Bartlett Dem., n. ", who de-
scribed himself as a gold Democrat,
warned the house that the adoption of
this amendment was equivalent TO a
declara ton in favor Of soft money"
Mr. Lacey Rep., Io.) deplored the
| fact that a financial debate had been
precipitated by the bill, and expressed
the hope that this bill would not be
run ashore and wrecked on the silver
| coast
Mr. Hartman again got the floor to
| deny the statements of Mr.. Walker,
who, he said, had furnished more
misinformation to the world on the
question than all the rest of the house. -
He insisted that gold contracts were
not made in his state, and read one
Of the fifteen letters from cashiers of
banks in his state, all denying gold
| contracts. His correspondent said he
had been in the banking business for
twenty years and had never seen a
| gold note.
In justification Of this statement Mr..
| Walker produced and read some gold
notes made in Utah and California.
He said he regretted it, if he had made
a mistake in enumerating the seven
| states, but he insisted there were seven
states where practically all time OBJ
legations were payable in gold.
| Mr.. McMillin'S amendment was agreed
to, 1897, after which the bill passed
The house then went into committee
Of the whole and took up the postoffice
appropriation BILL Mr.. Loud Rep.,
Cal) in charge, said there was some
question about the justice Of the
present method of determining the
compensation to be given tC
the various railroads for carry
ing mails. Congress could do nothing
but fix the maximum compensation. 1t
was within the power Of the postmaster
general to devise methods for obtain
| ing the transportation Of the mails al
just and equitable rates. The cost OF
| the transportation of the mails during
the past eighteen years had been $685.
0O,G00. OF this, $50, $40, 900 had gone to
the land grant roads which received &c
| per cent less than non-aided roads
| Yet the transportation of mail was sc
profitable to these land grant roads
at the reduced compensation, that they
had put on fast mail trains in order
to get the contracts. He thought al
the roads should be put on the same
basis. The non-aided roads could
afford to carry the mails at the rates
paid land grant roads.
/ Mr.. Bromwel1 (Esep, o. member OF
4 the postoffice committee, refused tc
4 give his assent to the subsidy giyer