complish the great purpose. I will consider
my duty done, so far as this bill is concerned, by simply stating
its provisions and calling attention to the character of those
provisions, without entering into a single topic that gave rise to
the long discussion at the last session.

"The bill is intended to provide for the resumption of specie
payments. The first section of the bill provides for the resumption
of specie payments on the fractional currency. It is confined to
that subject alone. It so happens that at this particular period
of time the state of the money market, the state of the demand for
silver bullion, and more especially the recent action of the German
Empire, which has demonetized silver and thus cheapened that product,
enables us now, without any loss of revenue, without any sacrifice,
to enter the market for the purchase of bullion and resume specie
payments on our fractional currency. The market price of bullion
to-day will justify the government of the United States, without
any sacrifice, at a price about equivalent to, or perhaps a trifle
above, our fractional currency--scarcely a shadow above our fractional
currency--to purchase silver bullion in the money markets of the
world, mostly of our own production, perhaps entirely of our own
production. This bill simply directs that the Secretary of the
Treasury shall purchase this bullion and shall coin silver coin
and substitute that in the place of fractional currency. This
section is recommended not only by the Secretary of the Treasury
and the President of the United States, but I believe will meet
the general concurrence of every Member of the Senate, and we
fortunately are enabled to embrace the present time to commence
this operations without any loss to the government, except perhaps
the cost of the coinage of this silver may have to be paid out of
the treasury of the United States. That coinage may be done in
the ordinary course of business without any increase of expenditures.
The mints of the United States are now prepared, immediately upon
the passage of this bill, to resume the coinage of silver coins
of all the legal denominations. Therefore the committee has provided
that the Secretary of the Treasury shall proceed to coin the silver
coins, and in one of several ways to issue them in place of fractional
currency.

"I need not dwell further upon this section, because I believe it
will meet with the general assent of the Senate