Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-22


N. e. Roberts. who was summarily dis
missed from the pension Office.
Mr.. Cannon Otah) introduced bill pro-
viding for the publication OF the pension
roll.
Mr. Gallinger N. H. offered an amend
ment to the pension appropriation bill,
providing that hereafter no pension shall
be paid on power Of attorney from PEN
siorsers residing in foreign countries.
The resolution of Mr.. Teller (CoL) provid-
ing that the bonds of the United States
may be paid in silver dollars was then laid
before the Senate, and, in accordance with
rotice given yesterday, Mr.. Stewart CNev)
addressed the Senate. He said that the
ready a law of the United States. had
brought many calamtties upon the land
and that the results of such disregard had
been disastrous and lamentable. He at
trfbuted the panic of 1898 directly to the
disregard Of the law.
Mr.. Stewart said he expected to show
that the Secretary of the Treasury had no
more authority to sell bonds and demand
gold for them when there was coin In the
treasury with which to redeem bonds than
he (Stewart) had. Bonds had been sold,
said Mr.. Stewart, because the coin in the
treasury was not the kind with which it
was desired to pay the bonds. He MAIN
tanned that the law was mandatory upon
the Secretary Of the Treasury to redeem
bonds in silver. Mr. Stewart declared that
apologists of the administration advanced
as their only argument in favor Of the gov
ernment's position that it was the estab-
lished policy of the United States to MAIN
tain gold and silver at parity with each
other, as the law provides.
Such an argument, said Mr.. Stewart,
us an insult to the common sense Of the
American people"
Violation of Law.
'"The plain fact is" declared the Nevada
senator, that the executive department of
this government has not In twenty years
been guilty of more evident violation of
the law than is it's refusal to pay the gov
ernment's obligations in silver. Even the
Indianapolis commission which knows as
little of finance as it is possible for men to
know, admits that these obligations are
payable In geld or silver, at the option OF
the government"
Referring further along to the sale of the
$500 100000 of bonds by the administration
of Mr.. Cleveland. Mr.. Stewart declared that
in the sale of those bonds there had been
steal Of $13O, 1908. 600 with the connivance
of the executive. Yet he maintained, no
proper investigation of this unlawful trans
action had ever been made. The finance
committee of the Senate had gone to New
York and asked some pertinent questions of
]. Pierpont Morgan and August Belmont,
but the committee had been treated prac-
tically with contempt The senator de-
d
investigation of the steal had ever been
made by Congress.
Mr.. Stewart said that when Carlisle
came in as Secretary of the Treasury he
at first proposed to pay the obligations OF
the government in silver.
Mr.. Plat Comm asked Mr.. Stewart
what evidence he had that Secretary Car
Isle proposed to pay the government OBJ
legations in silver.
II am not a prosecuting attorney" re-
piled the Nevada senator, land have no
authority to summon witnesses in sup
port of my statement, hence 1 do not sup
pose that I'm able to present absolute
proof of the statement. but it was general
ly understood at the time to be true. Nc
Kinley could not have gotten enough votes
to make decent showing If he had not
been announced as a bimetallist. Indeed.
it was claimed throughout the west that
Mckinley was a better bimetallist than
Bryan, because, it was further claimed,
he had the only method by which bimetal-
lism could be accomplished
Mr.. Stewart said that he had great re-
spect for Mr.. Gage, the Secretary Of the
Treasury, as he had the distinction at
least of being honest in the expression Of
his opinions. He thought that If Mr.. Gage
were put out of the cabinet 1t would be
for telling the truth, as he had evidently
committed no other offense.
Mr.. Nelson's Amendment.
Mr.. Nelson (Minn.). at the conclusion Of
Mr.. Stewards speech, at o'clock, offered
the following amendment to the Teller res
olution:
"And that it is the duty of the govern
ment Of the United States, under existing
law, to maintain the parity in value Of its
gold and silver money, SO that the dollar
OF the one metal shall for all monetary
purposes alw avs be equal in value 10 the
dollar of the other metal
The consideration of bills on the pension
calendar was then begun. The following
bills, general in their provisions, were pass
ed: Defining and regulating proof in certain
pension cases; to supplement the act of
June q, 1880, as to pensions by making
widows whose husbands died in the service
persionable under the act.
To amend the Mexican war pensions act
Of 1887, extending its provisions to clerks Of
army paymaStera