The sun., 1903-02-25
ALDRICH DEFINES HIS BILL.
TELLS HOW 1T WOULD IMPROVE
FINANCIAL CONDITIONS.
Several Amendments Agreed To, one os
Them Gi,ing the United states
Lien on the Current Assets of Banks
where Public Moneys Are Deposited.


ton providing for a vote on the Statehood
bill before March came up in the Senate
to-day. The resolution went over and
the Agricultural Appropriation bill was
taken up Tho amendments to the bill
were all agreed to, except the Statehooo
amendments. and the bill went over.
Mr.. Aldrich called up his bill FOR the
safekeepins Of public money and Tor other
pIp)ses.'
Mr Aldrich gave brief explanation OF
tho purpose Of the bill, which, however
was marred by constant interruption
c langes in existing law, he said, were few'
and their effect simply and easily under
stood There was no attempt to get out
Of the tried and beaten paths Of financial
legislation nor any experimental features
The bill aimed at the relief Of the monetary
situation and was approved by the financial
institutions and banks Of the country,
as well as by the Treasury Department.
The first change proposed. said Mr.
Aldrich. was the granting OF authority TO
the Secretary Of the Treasury to handle
and dispose Of the receipts from customs
in the same manner as receipts from other
sources. such as internal revenue, &c,
The time had long passed, he said, when
the Treasury should be bound by the act OF
is4e. the independent treasury being prac-
tically obsolete. He continued:
Now, the excess Of the receipts over the
sAnefa59hGsS shaH others hey ere rress IN the
of the year-in the months of September,
October and November lst At time
when the demand for money Is the greatest
for moving crops and when stringency IN
the money market is almost certain TO occur
Therefore. this withdrawal of money at
. ,hos yt has hea
for that reason we think that the same rule
ought to reply TO receipts from the customs
service that applies and has applied Tor forty
years to all the other receipts of the Govern
i viii state that this idea Of dcpositine the
but one int Eruption. from the foundation
Of the Cove rnmfnt IT has been evident al
ways that the TIRE asury could not AFFORD 20
up a large amount Of the money Of the coIn.
try, wh,re II could not be usrd tDut OF this
fact grew the hf Of 1891. which ioilowed IN
Gus acts from the iouncation OF the Govern
The second change in existing Law proposed
ties which may be deposited TO- insure the
safety OF the public money. Under eNst.nG
United states and Otherwise. just what
the words and other wise" mean has been
always more or less Z question of d dspntH
last fall decided that under that LANGUAGE
he could accept State and municipal bonds
and ne did so, to the extent. ] think. OF t25..
the exact amount This bin relieves any
Secretary from the respons sihility by provo;
that q any S2nas Sa. 0 and cennH
class Of municipal bonds and certain very
limited class Of first mortsase railroad bonds
may be sGGTPea ar, as scfs snxios rs far as pos.
sible, TO limit the discretion OF IN" SECRETARY
OF the Treasury. We are constantly VII
and the Administration of Mr.. Cleveland was,
by sersat many pe opl" thr9nr hou. ne nLtrh
must necessarily be devo'ved upon TIE na1
who has charge Of the G pvernment finances
aud the committee were extremely ANXIOUS
and limited so that there could be no question
whatever about its exercise.
tee is a provision that banks having deposits
Of public money must pay interest at the rate
Of les than P cent n m. s ra,
Thi' IL an entirely new provision IN tins bill
HERETOFORE on these deposits, raneinR
as J have & air. ady sta,Sd, IRON go S,pSid Doid ono no
cent Of interest TO the init d states Gov
crnment for the use Of this money and the
these privileges. il is nothing more than far
that they should pay something TO the Gov
ernmen. for the Use Of the money approx
r'a;sly such compensation as a private DE-.
positor would be entitled to receive under
tho same conditions
OF course. az the present moment when
United States TO the fun extent of deposits
for security. there is not very much profit
and most Of the banks. sspec tally banks In the
rural and serni-rural districts; are not own'rs
of Gov'rnment bonds. and therefore cannot
use them for this ,purpos"
The result has been that such bar kim
fact. banks all over the country-have had to
ratA of Ie 80
of the bonds. That certainly is not a hs althy
We believe that this provision for allowing
other securities TO bs used in plap OF the
United States bonds will distribute the de-
posits over various psrt- of the country
For instance, q bank in Georgia, which is
entitled. perhaps, In the opinion OF the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury. to have a deposit Of
slon, ,oo'. might not have $1,000 in Govern
to buy them NJ tho prestAt price and siill
have the Transaction remain profitable
bonds for this purpose. while II mi ght take
the bonds OF tie city Of savannah or the
State OF Georgia or the first mortgage bonds
vision ~
Therefore the purpose OF this bill and its
eject necessarily would be 10 liberalize the
law 90 far as the national banks throu ghout the
country are concerned enshl NJ them to
secure some part Of the Government de-
posts.
Tho committee believe this provision for
n ming interest very d.slraoie and a
Wise one. III II goes ntO fNect the
revenue from this souroe paid upon de posits
will be 81, 25o.0o1 y'Sr. understand that.
of course. il will continue so Ions as the de-
posts remain
Amen iments wer' agree 10 pro-
vid ng for accept ng as securiy for
providing for accepuag "a security for
Government deposits municipal bonds of
cities of not less than 5000 inha abitants,
instead Of cities Of 100. 100 or more; excluding
the bonds Of street railway companies and
providing that railroad companies whose
bonds are offered and accepted must have
paid dividend Of not less than 4 per cent.
a year regularly and continuously on the
entire capital stock for not less than ten
years. An amendment giving the United
States a lien on current assets of banks
in which public moneys are deposited was
also agreed to. Still another amendment
was agreed to, including counties Of over
50 600 population in the list Of corporations
whose bonds may be accepted as security
for deposits
An amendment was offered by Mr. Bacon,
and accepted by Mr.. Aldrich. requiring
the Secretary of the Treasury to report at
each session Of Congress the sums de-
posted in the various banks. the names Of
the banks and the kinds and amounts of
all bonds accepted as security for deposits.
Mr.. Quay asked unanimous consent for
vote on the Statehood bill Tomorrow.
Mr.. Nelson objected
Mr.. Tillman resumed his speech on the
race opiestion -I shall stand forever on