Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-09
WILL PESH THE RLLL.

The finance bill is to be pushed to
taken up for consideration next Mon
day and discussed until the following
Friday, when the debate will be under
the five minute rule, the vote Oh the bill
to be taken on the succeeding Monday
The action of the house republican
caucus on Wednesday, which unani-
mously approved the measure, makes
its passage by the house certain.
The bill will reach the senate before
the holiday recess and in the meantime
the currency measure reported by the
senate finance committee will probably
not receive any consideration. In re-
gard to this measure, which differs in
some important respects from the bill
introduced in the house, while perhaps
preferable to the latter in one or two
features, is on the whole less salts
factory and does not respond so fully to
the demands of the sound money senti-
ment of the country. AS the New York
Evening Post correctly observes, the
senate bill is not so manly and thorough
going as that of the house The latter
declares without apology its intentions
and purposes and then proceeds to put
them into law in terms which must
prove most valuable and instructive to
the people of the United States" Both
bills declare the gold dollar to be the
standard unit of value and authorize
and direct the secretary OF the treasury
to maintain the parity with gold of all
forms of money coined or issued by the
United States, but the house bill goes
beyond that of the senate in specifically
making all the obligations of the govern.
ment payable in gold. 1t is true that
the senate bill provides for the refund
ing of nearly all outstanding bonds
those which the government has the
right to pay Off within four, seven and
eight years-into per cent gold bonds
to run for thirty years or longer, at the
pleasure CT the goyernment-but this
implies that the existing bonds are not
payable. In gold. There does not seem
to be any necessity for this indirect
method of providing for the payment
in gold of the interest bearing obliga-
tions of the United States and indeed
the chief object of the refunding
proposition appears to be to furnish
national banks with basis of clrcula-
ton 1t Is said that Senator Aldrich,
chairman of the senate finance COM
mittee, calculates that several hundred
million of the proposed new bonds
might be taken by the banks as the
basis Of new circulation within the next
few years, thus tiding over the pressure
for currency for some time TO come.
Possibly this would be the case, but il
is a question whether it is sound policy
for the government to extend It's in
tcrest-bearing obligations If it have the
resources TO pay them when they fall
due.
The senate bin provides that the legal
tender notes shall not be in denomina-
tions of less than $40 the object being
to increase the circulation of silver
coin, which is perhaps desirable,
though 1t does not appear that the gen
eral public is eager for larger use of
silver. The bill establishes n gold re
serve fund of $150OOOO0O, which is per-
haps preferable to the provision of the
house bill for reserve of % per cent of
the outstanding notes redeemnble in
gold Doubtless the outcome of the dis
cusslon of these measures In conference
will be a compromise, but sound money
men generally will hope that nj least the
explicit aud straightforward gold stand