| OCR Text |
Show The comptroller of currency b;ie called for the report of the condition of tho national banks at tho cluso ol January 1st, 1879. Tho report i3 called for at that date for the purpose of obtaining aa nearly as possible thn condition of the banks ou the day of the resumption of specie payments. Tho house ot representative, to day, resumed consideration of Luttrell's bill 10 correct tho boundaries of Pul-ga's Pul-ga's ranch, which came over from last Friday as unfinished business of the morning hour 0 the private bill day, tho pendins queetion being upon Page's motion to Jay the bill on tho table. Thia motion having nerved its purpose of forciug the bill over from last week, and having no chance of success, unless tho favorable report of tho private land claima committee could be corobilted by discussion, Page withdrew it, aud Horace Davin asked Chairman Gunther if ho would allow amendments to be oilered. Uuntber refused and demanded the previoua question, which, if seconded, would shut out all amendments and give only ouo hour for debate, by such members aa Uuntber might designate to occupy Iho portions por-tions of the hour. . Davis thereupon appealed to the bouse to vote Gunther's motion down, aad give him an opportunity to oiler an umeud-meut umeud-meut arjd fairly discuss a bill which he declared wns ot vast interest to hia constituents and to tho people of California in general. The vote being taken, the uoiuo sided with Davis by twenty majority, and ho obtained control of tbe bill for an hour by immediately ollenng an amendment, providing that no question ques-tion heretofore adjudicated shall bo reopened for consideration under this bill's provisions. He proceeded pro-ceeded to inform the house that the bill directly involved property worth over $2,000,000 and declared that the efj'ect of its paBsage would bo to unsettle unset-tle the title of every foot of land held under the Spanish grants in California; Califor-nia; that in tact, it would shako to tho foundation, tho titles to very large proportion of all real estate on the Pacific coast, Hu also said that there had been no lesa than nine litigations in regard to thia land, in every ono of which the judgment bad beon in favor of the patentee, and that thia bill waa simply an efJort to destroy a patent issued twenty-two years ago, Tho clerk read to the house, nominally aa a part of Davia' remarks, tho adverse report made by the private land claim3 committee of the laBt congress, upon a duplicate of this bill, and also a portion of the decision de-cision of the California Suprome court upon tho Bame general controvery. Davis, in aonclusion, declared that this bill waa an oulrago upon the people peo-ple who bad purchased and cettlecl tho land upon the faith of the United States patent, and in the interest ol conservatism and repose, he begged tbe house to sustain the tides thus sanctioned. Ho then yielded Ihe floor to Candler of Georgia, who mado the adverse report above referred to, and Canlder proceeded to deliver de-liver a forcibla argument upon the legal queations involved in this caBe, which was frequently interrupted inter-rupted by questions and argumentative argumen-tative remarks interjected by Luttrell, Wiggington and Uuntber, who took issue with him both as regards law and facta, but without gaining any palpable advantage. They had no opportunity to make any connected argumeut, however, as the morning hour expired with some minutes right of time etill remaining at thn. disposal of Davis. When the bi 1 comes up again next Friday, and this time ia exhausted, Gunther will resume re-sume control and move the previous questiou on the bill aud Davis' pending pend-ing amendment, and one hour subsequently subse-quently the final votes will be taken. Davis is confident that the bill wll be defeated, either by the adoption of the amendment or rejection outright. |