s
annual message. This was intended as an expression of dissent on
the part of Congress from the views of the President. Mr. Edmunds
moved an amendment declaring that "the bonds are payable in gold coin
or its equivalent, and that any other payment without the consent of
the creditor would be in violation of the public faith." It was
defeated--_ayes_ 18, _noes_ 44. On an amendment offered by Mr. Justin
S. Morrill, declaring that "the bonds will be payable in silver if the
Silver Bill becomes the law of the land," the division was _ayes_ 14,
_noes_ 41. On the passage of the resolution in the Senate, the _ayes_
were 43, the _noes_ 22. In the House of Representatives, the
resolution was passed under a suspension of the rules,--_ayes_ 189,
_noes_ 79. This proclamation of the financial creed of Congress was
made complete on the 28th of January, 1878.

On the 5th of the previous November, during the extra session, the
House passed, under a suspension of the rules, a bill for the free
coinage of silver dollars of 412-1/2 grains, full legal tender for
all debts public and private. Mr. Richard P. Bland of Missouri was
the author of the measure. The vote upon it stood 163 _ayes_ to 34
_noes_, 93 members not voting. It was reported in the Senate with
amendments, in December, and its discussion was superseded for the
time by the resolution of Mr. Matthews. As reported from the Finance
Committee, it provided for a coinage of dollars of 412-1/2 grains to
the extent of not less than $2,000,000 or more than $4,000,000 per
month; all seigniorage to accrue to the Treasury. A second section,
proposed by Mr. Allison of Iowa, authorized the President to invite
other nations to take part in a conference, and to appoint three
Commissioners to represent the United States, with a view to the
adoption of a common ratio for gold and silver.

The bill gave rise to a longer and broader discussion than that which
had occurred on Mr. Matthews' resolution. It was opened by Mr. Morrill
of Vermont. He pronounced the measure a "fearful assault upon the
public credit. It resuscitates the obsolete dollar which Congress
entombed in 1834, worth less than the greenback in gold, and yet to be
a full legal-tender." He thought that the causes of the depreciation
of silver were permanent. "The future price may waver one way or the
other, but it must finally settle at a much lower point. Nothing less
than National will and power can mitigate it