by
General Schenck, the vote on its passage was 98 _ayes_ to 47 _noes_.
No Democrat voted in the affirmative. A few Republicans, under the
lead of General Butler, voted in the negative.

When the Act was reported to the Senate, Mr. Thurman offered an
amendment declaring that "nothing in this Act shall apply to the
obligations commonly called Five-twenty bonds." This would reserve
three-fourths of the bonded debt from the operation of the law, and
would effectively defeat its object. Every Democrat in the Senate who
voted on the question, voted in favor of Mr. Thurman's amendment.
Mr. Morton of Indiana and one or two other Republican senators voted
with the Democrats, but the amendment was defeated by a decisive
vote.

--Mr. Garrett Davis offered an amendment, "that the just and equitable
measure of the obligation of the United States upon their outstanding
bonds, is the value at the time in gold and silver coin of the paper
currency advanced and paid to the Government on those bonds." Mr.
Davis argued earnestly in favor of his amendment. He declared it to
be "robbery and iniquity for this Congress to make the people of the
United States pay nearly $900,000,000 more than by law and equity
they are bound to pay."

--Mr. Bayard seconded the arguments of Mr. Davis. "Suppose, instead
of issuing paper money," said Mr. Bayard, "it had pleased Congress
to order a debasement of our National coinage. Suppose twenty-five
per cent more of alloy or worthless metal had been injected into our
currency, and with that base coinage men had come forward to buy your
bonds, what would be thought of the man who, when the day of payment
of those bonds arrived, should say, 'I gave you lead, or lead in
certain proportions; but for all the worthless metal I handed you,
you must give me back gold'? Whether he was more maddened or more
dishonest would be the only question arising in men's minds." Mr.
Bayard used this analogy to illustrate the wrong of paying the bonds
of the Government in coin, and expressed the belief that the debasing
of the coinage would have been "far more Constitutional and right than
the power which Congress exercised when they issued paper money."

When President Grant sent his first annual message to Congress
(December, 1869), the National debt, less cash in the Treasury,
amounted to $2,453,559,735, the cash being $194,674.947. The
aggregate obligations bearing interest in coin had risen to
$2,107,938,000;