vote of 164 to 34, 92 not voting, the rules were suspended to allow Bland to introduce and the House to pass a free coinage bill. The bill was taken up in the Senate January 28 and debated until February 15. The Senate added sections 2 and 3 of the act, the provisos of section 1, and, on motion of William B. Allison of Iowa, the limitation on the amount of coinage, the vote on the latter amendment being 49 to 22. The final vote in the Senate was 48 to 21, 7 not voting. February 21 the House concurred in the Senate amendOn the 28th the bill was vetoed by President Hayes, but was passed over the veto, in the House by a vote of 196 to 73, 23 not voting; in the Senate by a vote of 46 to 19, 1I not voting. The coinage provision of the act was repealed by section 5 of the act of July 14, 1890 [No. 121, post].

ments.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XX, 25, 26. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 45th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. See House Misc. Doc. 27; Senate Exec. Doc. 3, 50th Cong., 2d Sess.; Dewey, Financial History, chap. 17, and references there given; Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, II, chap. 26; Sherman, Recollections, II, chaps. 31 and 32, and annual report as Secretary of the Treasury, December, 1877.

An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to restore its legal-tender character.

Be it enacted . . That there shall be coined, at the several mints of the United States, silver dollars of the weight of four hundred and twelve and a half grains Troy of standard silver, as provided in the act of January eighteenth, eighteen hundred thirtyseven, on which shall be the devices and superscriptions provided by said act; which coins together with all silver dollars heretofore coined by the United States, of like weight and fineness, shall be a legal tender, at their nominal value, for all debts and dues public and private, except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. And the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to purchase, from time to time, silver bullion, at the market price thereof, not less than two million dollars worth per month, nor more than four million dollars worth per month, and cause the same to be coined monthly, as fast as so purchased,

1 "The previous question being ordered and the rules suspended, a single vote would introduce the bill without a reference to a committee, and would pass it without any power of amendment, without the usual reading at three separate times." (Sherman, Recollections, II, 603.)

into such dollars; and a sum sufficient to carry out the foregoing provision of this act is hereby appropriated out of any money. in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. And any gain or seigniorage arising from this coinage shall be accounted for and paid into the Treasury, as provided under existing laws relative to the subsidiary coinage: Provided, That the amount of money at any one time invested in such silver bullion, exclusive of such resulting coin, shall not exceed five million dollars: And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize the payment in silver of certificates of deposit issued under the provisions of section two hundred and fifty-four of the Revised Statutes.

SEC. 2. That immediately after the passage of this act, the President shall invite the governments of the countries composing the Latin Union, so-called, and of such other European nations as he may deem advisable, to join the United States in a conference to adopt a common ratio between gold and silver, for the purpose of establishing, internationally, the use of bi-metallic money, and securing fixity of relative value between those metals; such conference to be held at such place, in Europe or in the United States, at such time within six months, as may be mutually agreed upon by the executives of the governments joining in the same, whenever the governments so invited, or any three of them, shall have signified their willingness to unite in the same.

The President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint three commissioners, who shall attend such conference on behalf of the United States, and shall report the doings thereof to the President, who shall transmit the same to Congress.

SEC. 3. That any holder of the coin authorized by this act may deposit the same with the Treasurer or any assistant treasurer of the United States, in sums not less than ten dollars, and receive therefor certificates of not less than ten dollars each, corresponding with the denominations of the United States notes. The coin deposited for or representing the certificates shall be retained in the Treasury for the payment of the same on demand. Said certifi

cates shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and, when so received, may be reissued.

SEC. 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

No. 103.

Act forbidding the Further Retirement of Legal Tender Notes

May 31, 1878

APRIL 29, 1878, in the House, Greenbury L. Fort of Illinois moved a suspension of the rules to allow the introduction and passage of a bill to forbid the further retirement of United States legal tender notes. By a vote of 117 to 35, 79 not voting, the motion prevailed. The second reading was voted in the Senate May 7, 34 to 23. On the 21st the Committee on Finance reported the bill without amendment. The bill was taken up on the 27th by a vote of 28 to 26, and passed the next day, the final vote being 41 to 18. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XX, 87. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 45th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Record. On the constitutionality of the act see Juilliard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. Reports, 421, and Thayer, Cases on Constitutional Law, II, 2267– 2273.

An act to forbid the further retirement of United States legal-tender notes. Be it enacted. That from and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury or other officer under him to cancel or retire any more of the United States legal-tender notes. And when any of said notes may be redeemed or be received into the Treasury under any law from any source whatever and shall belong to the United States, they shall not be retired cancelled or destroyed but they shall be re-issued and paid out again and kept in circulation: Provided, That nothing herein shall prohibit the cancellation and destruction of mutilated notes and the issue of other notes of like denomination in their stead, as now provided by law.

All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. APPROVED, May 31, 1878.

No. 104.

Use of the Army at the Polls

May 4, 1880

THE army appropriation act of June 18, 1878, forbade the use of the army as a posse comitatus save as authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress. The army appropriation bill of the next year, containing a provision prohibiting the use of the army at the polls, was vetoed by President Hayes. The army bill of 1880 was reported in the House March 30, and April 13 the amendment contained in section 2 of the act was agreed to, the vote being 117 to 96, 79 not voting. April 22, in the Senate, amendments offered by Edmunds, Blaine, and others to nullify this section were rejected and the bill passed, the final vote being 28 to 18.

REFERENCES.

Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XXI, 113, 114. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 46th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Record. Hayes's veto message of April 29, 1879, reviews the previous legislation.

An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, and for other purposes.

SEC. 2. That no money appropriated in this act is appropriated or shall be paid for the subsistence, equipment, transportation, or compensation of any portion of the Army of the United States to be used as a police force to keep the peace at the polls at any election held within any State: Provided, That nothing in this provision shall be construed to prevent the use of troops to protect against domestic violence in each of the States on application of the legislature thereof or of the executive when the legislature cannot be convened.

APPROVED, May 4, 1880.

SECTION 2 of the sundry civil appropriation act of March 3, 1881, authorizing the application of the surplus to the purchase of bonds, was offered as an amendment to the bill, March 2, by Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, from the Senate Committee on Finance, and was agreed to without debate. In his annual message of December 6, 1887, President Cleveland pointed out that "the only pretense of any existing executive power" to prevent the accumulation of surplus revenue "consists in the supposition that the Secretary of the Treasury may enter the market and purchase the bonds of the Government not yet due, at a rate of premium to be agreed upon"; and he expressed a doubt as to whether the provision of the act of 1881 was properly to be regarded as still in effect. A bill to give the Secretary of the Treasury the necessary authority was introduced in the House January 16, 1888, and passed that body February 29. The Senate passed the bill with amendments April 5, and the bill went to a conference committee, where it remained. By a resolution of April 16, agreed to under suspension of the rules, the House declared that the provision of the act of 1881 "was intended to be a permanent provision of law; and the same is hereby declared to have been since its enactment and to be now, in the opinion of the House, in full force and effect." The vote on the motion to suspend the rules was 138 to 64, 123 not

voting.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XXI, 457.

For the later proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 50th Cong., 1st Sess., and the Cong. Record; see also Senate Report 453.

An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and for other purposes.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury may at any time apply the surplus money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, or so much thereof as he may consider proper, to the purchase or redemption of United States bonds: Provided, That the bonds so purchased or redeemed shall constitute no part of the sinking fund but shall be cancelled.