Mr. Van Dyck was to give the orders, for Mr. Myers had no authority to sell without the order of Mr. Van Dyck, according to the statement of Mr. Van Dyck himself. Myers was simply the avent to execute orders. He was the simple bro er. Van Dyck was the custodian of the gold, an officer under bonds, a man of high character. I believe I never saw him in mylife, and would‘ not know him if I met him; but his re utation in the city of NewYork is certainly oft e high est character. He authorized the sale after this news came in. Everybody must have known that the effect of the news would be to put up gold, because under the operation of the news in Europe our bonds had one down some 10%. in gold vulucin ondon. Everybody must have known that the effect of that news here would be to advance the price of gold; and the question arose with Van Dyck whether he should sell gold at once or withdraw from the market and let the price of gold suddenly go up, creating alarm and distress, compelling importers of goods to go into the market in or or to meet their contracts and pay a largely increased price for gold. crushing perhaps large interests in the city of NewYork, deranging business, because no one can doubt that if it had not been for the 25 millions of gold thrown into the market that night, gold would. have gone approbably to 150, and we might have had a anic in this country. These are mitigating circumstances, to say the least, that are mentioned by the officer having charge of this subject, Mr. Van Dyck, and the whole decision was arrived at without the knowledge or consent of the SecyTreasury. Now, I ask Senators whether when you take that question with the surroundin circumstances and the explanations that Iiave been made by these officers acting under general instructions given without a knowledge of the new facts that had been flashed over the wires, there was, to say the most, anything more than simply an error of judgment. I think, in self, it is yet very problematical whether the U.S. will not gain more by the loss of what she might have made by holding and boarding this gold a little while, by the increased confidence it will be found to have iven to our securities abroad; because from tevery moment of that 1st panic they have gradually risen, and I have no doubt that under the advices of the shipment of gold from this country to England they will rise more. I ask, then. whether it is right to arraign the SecyTreasury on this error of judgment, an especially for this reason to deny him a power that we freely gave one year ago to another SecyTreasury. Mr. President, I have said more than I intended to say. I have said this much merely because I was willing, myself, to take my share of the responsibility of the appropriation of $250,000 made a year ago, WlllCll I think was made in the Senate without objection. My friendfrom Wisconsin objected in committee; I do not know whether he objected in the Senate or not; at any rate it was agreed to with very little discussion here, and only after full consideration and by the general and hearty consent of both Houses. By appropriating $250,000 in the way I havementioned. we prevented the Treasury from being saddled with a permanent increase of salaries to the various officers of the Treasury Dept which would absorb probably 2 or 3 times the amount that we did appropriate.