MR. PRESIDENT,--Interested as I am in this bill, desirous of its passage hardly less than the Senator from Ohio, I am bound to say, that, in my judgment, the passage of this single section would be worth more than the whole bill. It would do more for the credit of the country; it would do more for its business. It would help us all to the completion of Financial Reconstruction. How often have I insisted that all our efforts to fund and refund are to a certain extent vain and impotent, unless we begin by specie payments! That, Sir, is the Alpha of this whole subject; and until Congress is ready to begin with that, I fear that all the rest will be of little avail. It is in the light of expedient rather than of remedy. There is the remedy. The proposition was negatived,--Congress not being yet ready for this step. MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE, OF THE REVOLUTION. SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE PRESENTATION OF HIS STATUE, JANUARY 20, 1870. In the Senate, January 20, 1870, Senator Anthony announced the presentation by Rhode Island of a statue of Major-General Nathanael Greene, of the Revolution, executed by the sculptor Brown, to be placed in the old Hall of the House of Representatives. Mr. Sumner moved its acceptance by the following Concurrent Resolution:-- A Resolution accepting the Statue of Major-General Greene. _Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring_, That the thanks of this Congress be presented to the Governor, and through him to the people, of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, for the statue of Major-General Greene, whose name is so honorably identified with our Revolutionary history; that this work of art is accepted in the name of the nation, and assigned a place in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, already set aside by Act of Congress for the statues of eminent citizens; and that a copy of this Resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. On this he spoke as follows:-- MR. PRESIDENT,--How brief is life! how long is art! Nathanael Greene died at the age of forty-four, and now Congress receives his marble statue, destined to endure until this Capitol crumbles to dust. But art lends its longevity only to lives extended by deeds. Therefore is the present an attestation of the fame that has been won.