Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-23
THEY FAILED TO AGREE
Republican Conferences on the Financial
Bill.
The Refundins Proposition and the
Bimetallic Declaration Are
the Disputed Points.

The republican conferees on the financial
bill did not reach an agreement at the first
session today and took a recess until
o'clock.
The conferees, after being together for
seven hours yesterday, nearly completed
their work, full agreement having been
reached on the points at issue, save the
Senate amendment relating to the refund
ing of the bonded Indebtedness and the in
ternational bimetalic clause. and on these
the outlook was that a satisfactory ar
rangement would be reached today. The
concurrence was SO complete that the Sem
ate conferees prepared to call in the demo-
cratic members. but the House republicans,
Messrs. Brosius and Overstreet, were not
quite ready for this step. indicating pur-
pose to continue their insistence on the two
questions still open.
Already, however, most of the important
questions have been disposed of and COM
piete agreement reached. The language by
which the gold standard is established
proved less difficult than was at irst an
ticipated- While the provision in the House
and Senate bills were the same in principle,
they differed entirely in wording, and after
some consideration, the Senate provision
commended itself to the confereas of both
houses. This provision doubtless will be a
part of the final agreement, and is as
follows:
The Unit of Value.
THAT the dollar consisting of twenty-five
and eight-tenths grains of gold nine-tenths
fine. shall, established by section 3511 Of
the Revised Statutes of the United States,
continue to be the standard unit of value
and all forms of money issued or coined by
the United States shall be maintained at
parity Of value with this standard; and
United States notes, and treasury notes is
sued under the act of July IA, 1890 when
presented to the treasury for REDEMPTION.
shall be redeemed in gold coin of such
standard
The Gold Reserve.
The difference as to the maintenance OF
a gold reserve was also speedily and sat-
isfactorily adjusted. The Senate provision
calls for reserve of definite amount,
namely, s150,OO0,0OO while the House pro-
vision did not fix definite sum, but made
the reserve 25 per cent OF outstanding notes
On this question, also the Senate proyis-
ton met with most favor because Of its
defnlteness. The House conferees insisted
however, that the Senate section be SO
changed as to provide for a division of is
sue and redemption in the treasury as was
originally provided in the House section re-
latng to gold reserve. The purpose of
THIS issue and redemption division is to keen
the fiscal and the banking features of the
treasury entirely distinct. 1t is understood
N-'''N t4447 AVSiNOiS anu lllt senate provision
on the gold reserve will be incornorated ~,
the final settlement.
Small National Banks.
Agreement has been also reached on the
provision for national banks with small can
ltai. and also for the issue of bank note cir
culaion up TO the par value of bonds de-
posted
The agreement on the issue of limited
States notes of small denomination was a
compromise. The Senate provided that NO
I2 notes should be Issued below $40. but the
f1ouse conferees insisted that this would
cause stringency in small bills IF was
hnally arranged TO do away with the bnni.
tat1on of so. and to provide that the small
notes OF 81 and under should be kept nm m
Lhe volume now in circulation which is
about s391. 100000 IL
The RefundinG Proposition.
The important question of the refundinp
provision OF the Senate bill proved more
alIlcult to settle, and up to the close of
'He conference no actual agreement had
oeeh made although compromise was in
sn'' Inc House made no provision for
refunding the debt, and under the c,ro,,,,
stances the House conferees feIt that if
tHey We're to accept such an important nro-
y f.ii1 iHton N as the senate incorporated in the
Ir IN tIisy should nave part in framing it.
instead, therefore. of accepting the Senata
as a whole, a new form vras ~
pared. 1t retains the principle of refund
ing, but makes considerable alteration or
the original phaseology. A- Vi
The Timetable Statement.
Another difficult question has been tho
senate provision as to an international hi
inetalic conference. The House conferees
nave been loath to accept this, and thew
lecIlned to Yield. although the chances
seemed rather more favorable to its rafen1
ton than its rejection 'Si