The morning news., 1899-12-13
DEBATE TO BE A WARM ONE.
NIGHT SESSIONS ORDERED FOR
CURRENCY TALK.

briggs of New York In the Only Dem-
ocrnt So Far Who Has spoken i'm
Favor of the Republican Measure.
GrOsvenOr Led the Debate for tha
RepubIicans-NewIan shafrotEs
and COchrane spoke Against tho
Bill.
Washington. Dec 12.-There Is suclt
great pressure for time on the part Of
members on both Sides who desire TO pae>
ticipate in the currency debate In the
House. that three night sessions were orr
dered to-day.
Interest in the debate is not keen judged
by the attendance in the galleries, all
though the members themselves are Mss
tenlng attentively to the speeches.
Only one Democrat thus far has spoken
In favor of the bin, Mr. briggs OF New
York who announced to-day that he had
pledged himself before election to support
the gold standard and proposed TO redeenn
that pledge. He will be Joined by several
Of his Brooklyn colleagues and probably
several others.
The features Of the debate to-day wera
the speeches of Mr.. Grosvenor of Ohio fon
the bill, and Of MIR. Cochrane of AIssorrs
and Mr. Newlands of Nevada against It.
The other speakers were Messrs. Parker
of New Jersey, William Alden Smith %
Michigan. Prince of Illinois. Lawrence oe
Massachusetts apd Powers of Vermont for
| the bill and Meksrs. Shafroth of Colorado
| and Sims OF Tennessee against It.
In opening, Mr.. Grosvenor said he had
| bonaH haf To
issue presented by the pending BILL but
| they were here with the same old, stale
| battle cry of 1G TO /. Yesterday the gen.
tleman from Mississippi (DeArmond) had
charged the Republican victory of 1S9d
with corruption. He thought II i'll be-
came the party which stood sponsor for
| Goebel In Kentucky to charge fraud For
| himself he did not believe the Democrati0
voters or any other considerable number
| OF voters in the country were purchasable.
| Mr.. Grosvenor declared that two-thrda
Of the Republican campaign fund In 1895
was used In the printing and disseminate
| Ing OF literature.
He concluded with peroration laud-
| ing the prosperity of the country and
| holding 1t up as an eloquent commentary
on the politics of the Republican party.
Some of the BiII's Opponents.
| Mr.. Newlands Of Nevada followed Mr.
| Grosvenor In opposition to the bill. He
| traced the history OF the country through
the period OF depression, commencing in
1898. contendlng that the panic was NOT
| caused by the coinage Of silver under the
| Sherman act He said the increase OF
| prosperity during the past two years DEM
onstrated the correctness of the theory
entertained by bimetalilsts viz, that all
other things being equal prices VIII de-
pend upon the quantity of money in cir
| culation.
Mr.. shaforth of Colorado, in opposing
| the bill, argued that at the foundation OF
| the prosperity In the Harrison administra-
/ tion, the depression during the Cleveland
| administration and the prosperity under
| the present administration, lay the supply
of basic money During the Harrison adj
ministration the Sherman purchasing act
added 81 000, 900 a month TO the supply, tho
| repeal OF that law at the beginning of tho
| Cleveland administration brought dlsas-
| ter and the great increase In gold produce
| ton and the consequent increase In basic
money accounted for the prosperity under
| the present administration.
Mr. Cochrane of Missouri opposed tho
| bill in q vigorous speech. In which he
| contended that the real question presented
| by the pending bill was whether there
/ was sufficient gold I'm the world upon
| which to pyramid phe vast and constantly
| increasing volume OF credit. He referred
| TO the recent dispatches from Londom
| showing the struggle for gold all over Eu-
/ rope. and declared that the gold impor-
| tations during the Mckinley administers
| ton had produced the gold field famine
abroad. There was not enough gold In tho
world 10 do the business of the world.
| He warned the Republicans that when the
stock OF gold declined the prosperity OF
to-day would crumbe like a house of
cards.
In the course of his speech, when Mr.
| Cochrane reiterated Mr.. Bryan's famous
| declaration concerning the crown OF thorng
and cross OF gold, the Republicans 1eered
| derisively.
First Democrat Against II.
Mr.. briggs Of New York was the first
| Democrat to speak In favor of the bill
When he arose many of the Republicans
/ left their seats and went over to the Dem-
ocratlc side to lisfon. Mr.. briggs said
/ that the convention which nominated him
| did not indorse the Chicago platform, nor
| did Il indorse either gold or silver. As
| the nominee he was left to follow his own
conviction.
Mr.. briggs argued that the doctrine of
| free silver at 16 to ! was not in harmony
| with the IDEAS of some of the greatest
men In the Democratic party. He In
stanced the cases of Madison, Calhoun ana
| Randall, who never swerved In their alle-
glance 10 democracy but were offered spe-
| cifc policies. He announced that he would
| remain consistent Democrat, save only
/ upon the question Of free coinage
Mr. Grosvenor announced the death of
| the late Representative Danford of Ohio.
| and az O'clock as a further mark oG
| raanecf ha House adjourned