pecie payment as the business interests of the country would permit.
Under a suspension of the rules, without debate, 144 voted for the
resolution, 6 against it, and 32 were not recorded. Two months later,
on the 21st of February, 1866, Mr. Morrill, from the Committee on Ways
and Means, reported a bill which, as he explained, would expand the
authority provided by the Act of March 3, 1865, for funding
interest-bearing obligations, so as to include non-interest-bearing
obligations. The measure authorized the Secretary to exchange the bonds
prescribed by the Act for notes or certificates, and power was given to
negotiate them and make them payable either in the United States or
elsewhere, but if beyond the sea at not over five per cent interest.

--Mr. Thaddeus Stevens declared that the bill put over _sixteen hundred
millions_ of Government paper under the absolute and uncontrolled
discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. "This is a tremendous
bill," said he. "It proposes to confer more power upon Mr. McCulloch
than was ever before conferred upon any one man in a government
claiming to have a constitution."

--Mr. Hooper of Massachusetts magnified the financial achievements of
the Government, urged the policy embodied in the bill, and insisted
on the importance of restoring the currency to a sound condition at
the earliest practicable moment. He controverted the suggestion which
had been made to increase United-States notes to $1,000,000,000, on the
ground that the value of that dollar would be constantly fluctuating.
A minority of the commissioners appointed by the preceding Congress to
inquire into the state of trade and commerce had presented a specious
argument in favor of debasing the coinage, but Mr. Hooper dismissed
the proposition summarily and argued strongly for a contraction of
legal-tender notes.

--Mr. Hulburd of New York maintained that taxation could not be
increased to meet the existing and maturing obligations of the
Government. He held that under the Acts of June, 1864, and March,
1865, the Secretary had power to sell at home or abroad six per cent
coin bonds in any amount to meet short obligations of the Government.
"Under the proposed measure," he said, "authority is specifically
asked to withdraw the fractional currency and legal-tender notes, in
whole or in part, and to substitute bonds for them. The like power
was never asked for Neckar or for Pitt. As a principle the proposition
is da