Mr. ALLISON. Mr. Speaker, [do not propose to occupy the time of the House long in the discussion of this measure. It seems to me that thus far the arguments against this bill have been, in the main, arguments in favor of or against the particular policy that should be pursued by the SecyTreasury in its administration. Now, unfortunately for us, we cannot all be Secretaries of the Treasury. It is for us to make the law and to give the SecyTreasury the power to administer it in accordance with the discretion placed in his hands; and the only question, it seems to me, that is proper for discussion is what discretion should be conferred upon the SecyTreasury. Now, sir, we all agree that it would be well to reduce the price of gold. We all agree that sooner or later this great nation of ours must come back to specie payment: that sooner or later, as a nation and )” individuals, we must pay our debts in coin that is current all over the world. Therefore the only question that seems to have attracted the attention of Gentlemen here is, when shall that time come? Shall it be w day, tomorrow, or 2 or 5 years hence? Now, I assert that it is a question that must devolve upon the SecyTreasury, controlled and directed by the inevitable laws of trade and finance that cannot be controlled one way or the other by legislation. Now, what does this bill propose? Is ita proposition to come back to specie payments at a particular period of time, or to postpone specie payment until a particular period of time? It is neither. I maintain that there are but 2 things authorized in this bill which the Secretary cannot do now under the authority of the several acts of Congress. The one is that he is enabled directly to sell the bonds of the U.S. upon such terms as is within his own discretion for U.S. notes or legal tender currency; and the other is that he may sell those bonds for a sum less than par. That gives him a discretion which he has not now directly, but which he has indirectly under the existing law. Gentlemen seem to be very much exercisedest the SecyTreasury should With raw the “greenback” circulation of the country. I assert here that under the existing law the SecyTreasury has the power to withdraw from circulation every dollar of the greenback circulation in existence. He has that power already by existing law. By the act of uric 30, 1864, the Secreta is authorized to convert Treasury notes and U.S. notes into the kind of bonds authorized by that law, to wit, bonds ayable not less than 5 years nor more than orty years 5 twenties or ten forties. He has the power to convert that class of securities into long bonds, by 1st converting them into either 730 Treasuryjwtfl or compound nterest notes 5 he can do eitherr and then, by the act of March 3, 1865, whiph is supplementary to that act, he can convert those 730 notes and those compound interest notes into bonds, either 5 twenties or ten forties, at his discretion; so that every dollar of the greenback circulation of the country can be converted. sooner or later, into long bonds without any additional legislation. Now, sir, the proposition of the committee is that the SecyTreasury shall be authorized to do directly that which he can now do indirectl under the act of June 30, 1864, and under the act of March 8, 1865; because, under the latter act, he can convert, with the consent of the holders, any species of indebt edness existing under any act of Congress into old interest bearing bonds. Under the act of une 30, 1864, he can convert U.S. notes into Treasury notes bearing interest, and can convert an interest bearing notes into long bonds, at his iseretion. Now, a majority of the committee think that it is desirable to give the SecyTreasury directly that authority which he has indi. bonds. My friend and colleague [Mr. PRICE says that if we have a debt maturing we should ay it with our current receipts. That would e all very well if we had the power to do it; but we must remember that within the next 3 years there will be due nearly 1200 million dollars of this indebtedness. Now, that indebtedness must be provided for within 2 years and 8 months, I believe. A prudent man would not wait until his debts matured before providing for their payment, if possible. He will by some means endeavor to secure the necessary means to meet those obligations before they mature.