The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-14
Operations of the Treasury Oepaf n Dt Must Be Aired
 For the Senate
PULLMAN VERY ACTIVE
 IN DEBATING SUBJECT
All Controversy On This Matter Is Postponed Until the Secretary of Treasury Can Make
 His Report.

Washington. January 1S.-Tne re- cent issue of bonds by the Secretary of the treasury for the purpose of re- lieYing the financial stringeney was the subject of an animated debate in the senate today. The discussion was pfeelpitated by an inquiry by Senator culeerson and was participated in by Senators Aldrieh. Tillman and Bailey. IL resulted in an agreement to post pone further controversy until a state nen1 can be received from Secretary Cofteiyou. While the subject was un- der discussion. Mr. Tillman's resolu- tion directing the finance committee to inquire into the operations of the treasury department was referred with his consent to the committee.
 The Senate passed Senator Tillman's resolution calling on the interstate commerce commission for information concerning purchases by railroad com- panies of stock of competing roads.
 The unfinished business in the form of the bill to codify the criminal laws
 
 the Senate and the reading of the bill was begun.
 Senate Discussion. | After short discussion in the Sen ate concerning the recent bond issue of the treasury department it was agreed before taking up the question in detail to await report of the Sec retary of the Treasury which Mr. Aldrich assured the senators would be before them on next Wednesday,
 MT. Clay of Georgia asked whether I the secretary would be required to make report of these facts by law. MT. Aldrich replied that he believed he was so required but there was no provision of law stipulating how the report should be made
 MT. Culberson insisted that the duty of the secretary under the law was to make such a statement on or before January 1, for the preceding year, con cerning deposits of public money. He said he had not seen any such state ment
 MT. Tillman referred to two resolu-
 
 calendar since December g, calling for information concerning clearing house certificates and the bond issues and said he thought it would be best to | let them go to the committee on finance without reference to that com mittee. He said he wished to lay some correspondence on this subject before the committee and read from the Vice Presidents desk a letter from George H. kloebers of Wilmington Del, stat ing that he had bid an average of 104h for s10,0O0 of Panama bonds and had not been awarded any of them al- though they had sold for 102k.
 TiIlman's Query. Mr. Tillman wanted to know how 1t happened that the bonds had been sold to the banks at lower price and denied to citizens who bid higher for | them.
 He read letter from Assistant secre- tary J. H. Edwards of the treasury, de- pertinent to MT. Kloebers as follows
 Tn reply to your inquiry of the 17th | inst, you are informed that individual 1 bidders whose bids were gerater than sl0.00O were not allowed any bonds.''
 He also read another letter from a correspondent in Augusta, Ga, who want ed to know how 1t had happened that the secretary places vast amounts of | currency in New York" to relieve the | financial strngency while these banks ] charge 14 per cent premium on this 1 money to southern banks. 'The strin- gency seems to be a source of profit to some one" MT. Tillman's correspondent added.
 MT. Bailey of Texas wanted to know whether MT. Tillman's correspondent was the man who had instituted suit against the Secretary of the Treasury in the 1 matter of award of these bonds. Till | man did not know whether the suit had been brought by his correspondent.
 As rumors have been going around that some courts would have been glad to issue injunctions." said Mir. Bailey. "I think they would be ghd of an opinion in this case. think this course on the part of the secretary is remarkable in view of the fact that the secretary's pur- pose in issuing these bonds was to at tract the money that was in hiding. You might attract it from places where cit | izens had it, but not from the banks. A part of the understanding under which | these bonds were issued was that 90 per | cent of the money received from their sale would be left on deposit with the banks.
 High Rate of Interest.
 "if that be true" he declared, .'the banks received from the government in terest at the rate of 90 per cent per an rum
 Continuing, MT. Bailey added; "The government sold these bonds at 1021s and deposited in the banks 90 per cent of the purchase price, so that the $10 paid on each bond actually drew interest at the rate of 30 per cent per annum. It was not intended that this money should be used for the Panama canal but 1t was to relieve the financial pressure. Under that plan with that profession on his lips. the secretary seems to have de- clined the money which individual clti- zens were willing to take from their trunks or other places of hiding. and turned the bonds over to the banks at 30 per cent per annum."
 Mir. Tillman remc rl1ed that he would wait for the secretary's reply.
 MT. TIllman's resolutions were referred to the committee on finance and the dis cusson of the financial question was sus-
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