The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, February 28, 1896, Image 1
WILSON ON ,
CURRENCY.
A CLTCAtt AND CONVINCING AROU.
MKNT IN UtSIIAliP OK S1LVK14.
Thd UongrosKinnu From tho Fourth
l>J?t riot Comes Out Squarely
for Frvo CuliiuKO. '
O#igr0B?man Stauyarno WjIkou'b
?jjeeohin4ho llouro in favor of fret
eijyer follows: ' .
Mr. Speaker; I am ful'y aware thut
nothing oan bo said upon this floor
tfo affect tho result of tho vote which
/ will bo taken upon tlio report of tho
cojfnmittoo, and that no amount of dii>
j bussion will change tho settled purpose
of tiro largo imijority of gold mono
inetallists or Piokwi'.kian biinet'llists
toprevont the enactment of any legis
lation looking to the recognition of
silver. But this discussion extends
beyond these walls and reaches tho
great body -of tho peoplo of this oonn
try who are vitrtlly interested in the
result# and critically weighiug the s?n
timehts that ccntiol this body.* %v
*0io last oaiopai<?n was a renmrVablo
ono in tho politionl history of' tho Un
ion. It wrs au off year. No Presiden
tial' eleotion was pending. . Neverthe
less, tho Democratic? <party wns arraign
ed throughout tho length aud breadth
of this laud as hopelessly incompetent
to mannge tho finances of the country;
that although in full control of tho ex
ecutive and legislative slepartnients, it
bad entirely failed to ;givo auy relief
to tho suffering millions of our citizens
and our languishing induotries. Aud
the peoplo believed tho chuogo. Tho
j>arty iu power was held responsible
? tor the unfortunate and distressed con
dition of fho nation; how unjustly it is
now beginning to realizo. History
v declares tho iudisputab.o fuot, of which
this side of the H^uho4? justly proud,
that during all tho hulf century of tho
government of this country by the
Democratic party thcro was nevgr an
act passed contruoting the ourroncy of
tho people or in. posing upon them laws
calculated or designed, to enrich the
few at the expense ofvtho masses, mak
ing the ? rich ricbor and tho poor
poorer.
It has tho cnvitable distinction of
having always been true to the Con
stitution aud its bed-rock prinoiph s;
that the only jubtificution for taxatiou
is tho necessity ot it, and 4h?t its
only virtuo ie in tho equality of its
burden npon all olasncs of citizens and
hll kinds of projjerty. It had over
opposed _,robboi$y in all its form#,
whether directly by oxtravagaut ex
penditures, or indirectly by tariff us
sessments upon the consumer of tho
benefit of the manufacturer, or in
sidiously by tho contraction of the
tpfrreney, and theretjj depriving them
"of the opportunity^fowbrk, the melius i
to pay their .d^bts, and of /air values
for their products That is still the
position of our party, judged, as it
should be, by tho platform and tho
Tjotos of its representatives in Con
gress. It is essentially and by inherit
ance tho party of the people. Us past
J record bespeaks its future, and it will
yet, and at no distant day, readme
busineso at the old stand as yoiiDg and
lusty as when ton years ago it emerged
from its eclipse of rt quarter of a
century.**
As I was stating, in the campaign of
1804, the Republican party proclaimed
that it alone was capablej^f conducting
the finances of tho {.'overnraent and of
infusing life into tho arteries of com
merce, giving employment to labor,
and restoring a general era of pros
perity. The pooplo took them at their
word; The party is now in fnll pos
session of the Senate and House. Con
gress has been iu session two months.
The eyes of tho pcoplohave already be
gun to open to tho true situation. The
recollection is now dawning -upon them
that this very party is the oanse of all
tho financial ailments of the govern
ment and- of the ills which wjll be as
enduring as history. It hatf enacted
overy tariff law that has been passed
for the benefit of the mAnufaoturern
rather than for revevenue for the
government.
Til? flft ivlneh^dnatraged-idlrar
mint money was onacted by you iu
1879. * From tliat date to this we have
been trying to ichabitttate it. to restore
it to tho'bouse of its fathers, while yon
have wjth equal persistency striven to
prevont a resurrection. In November,
1877, Mr. Bland (Democrat) carried
through tho House a bill Tor the free
and unlimited coinage of silver which
shonld be legal tender at face value.
In January, 187 8, tho Senate amended
it by limiting tho coinage to a mini
mum 0^32, 000.000 per month on gov
ernment account and providing for tho
e?chapge of silver coins for certificate*
of not less than $10 eaoh. The bill
passed as ameuded. President Hayes
vetoed it "as an act of bad faith" to
? bondholders. It was passed over the
veto. It was repealed July .14, 1890.
In Jnne, 1800, st bijl authorizing the
jesne of Treasury notes upon deposit
of silver butties passed the Boose.
The Senate sobatitpted^for it s bill for
ths free coinage of silver. The Honep
rejected the/substitute, The eommrt
teeof conftronco agreed to what is
ltftbwa as the Sherman law. It became
tax set July 17, 1890. It provided for
ths monthly purchase of the Secretary
of ths Treasnry of 4,300,000 ounces of
diver bullion, at not more thsn $1 for
? StTt**ir?tarof fmre dtver, arid for
lbs issnsnee of Tressnry notes in
asnt, redeemable on demand In
or direr, at thb discretion of ths
"*rrt*rjr IfclMrttftbettleial Under sx
v?>t when otherwise stipulated in the
of tho bullion into standard silver do.
lats till the following duly, after
be could ooin only so much as should
bo nooessary to provide for the rodcui p
tioo'ot tho Treasury notes, ,
. It way bo well to State alfo in pass
ing that it also declaim d jrto be ho
established policy of thoTJuUed Stab*
tojnaintikin tho two metals on a punl.N
with each other ?,)?? tho present legal
ratio as may bojprovided by law. >>
the mask eun cjuTy be taVon from^hu
miserable appearance of ?d v0Fr0tc -
nition when it is compared with the es
sentials. or qualities constituting m
stability as money fif ?> metal. ???
essentials are that the owner ?t shall
have free aooess to tho mi^ for ooiu
aue and io unlimited "quantity : that
there shall be no charge for mintage
beyond the aotnal cost to tho govern
ment; that the amount, by weight, oi
pure metal in the coin shall be ex
changeable for its weight in the bul
lion, and that tho coiu shall at all times
bo a full legal teuder. The hollowues*
of the pretense appears at ouoe. It w as
indeed a "miseratdo makeshift. its
author has sinoe justified, or rather
excuse^ it, by ol ?imitt? that that \\as
tho only?way to defeat tuft free coinngo
of silver. And, at last; the coup do
grace was given to aspiring silver by
the aot of Novomber, 3 8t>3? which re
pealed that portion of tho Sherman Act
which allowed tho purchase of tulver.
That is the story. All tho glory for
the demonetization of silver? whatever
that glory may be? is yours. All of
tho wrongs done your countrymen ?>
that act rest upon your head.
With Sir Christopher Wren you may
point to your owu work ns your monu
ment. You may claim as your own
particular production tho long and con
tinually lengthening list of tarift
barons, manufacturing princes, trust
monopoly inaguates. All the mulcts |
of a nation's toil and all tho stream*
of her industry have, under the system
of protection, paternalism, extrava
gance, and class favoritism, inaugur
ated and maintained by the hepnbli
cuu party during tho ' past thirty-live
years, bten poured into tho cavernous
vaults of the favored few of her citi
zens and of the alien. That party i
has been the moans of concentrating,
wealth to an c?xtent never betoro
known to any nation or peoplo. Europe
with her centuries of feudal despotism,
class distiuotions, and hereditary ac
cumulations stands awestricken iu tho
presence of the^colos-sal foi tunes which
have risen in this republic of freedom
and equality within tho past quarter
of a century. ,
I need not dwell.upou details. They
are known of all men. Extreme wealth
and extreme proverty havo become tho
features of our civilization. One-lm.t
of 1 per oent. of our population owns-3
one-half oi tho total wea1^ , ?J tho
country. The remaining 99 1-2 per
oent. of the people must divide among
them in all manner of pfOflfirtiouB this
unappropriated other half of the
wealth of the nation. It is they who
are vitally interested in this measure
and'wbo are keenly alive to the dis
poaition to be made of it. They real
ize that within tho past thirty -three
Years twenty ... thjuaand millions of
wealth of this country, croatedaud pro
duced' by ite honest toilers, have
passed into tho hands and under. the
control of oapital, and that that pro
cess is continuing at tho rate of about
one billion each ye^r. - The census or
1890 tells them^us?h%r that from 1861
to J 800 the people of these United
States were co&pelled to run into
debt, publi* and private, twenty-eight
thousand million dollars. Labor has
been most vigorous and' faithful, the
soil baa been most generous, the spirit
of enterprise has been active, cnejgy
and boldness have characterized these
closing years of this marvelous cen
tury in air departments of commerce,
manufacturing, and development of
all our resources. Yet, notwithstand
ing oil this, the great mass of the peo
ple have Steadily been growing pooror
and poorer, and the wealth created by
them has flowed into coffer? already
$)led to overflowing. '
'She last census demonstrates the
fearfully blighting effeot of our tinan->
oial system upon our agricultural and
produoing States and the correspond
ing benefits to the States where or
ganized capital has taken its abode.
One illustration will be sufficient. Tbo
16 agricultural Stiites of Illinois, In*
diana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ken ?
tucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ten
. nea&ee^North Carol inn, South Carolina,
Geoigia, Florida, Alabama, Missis
sippi and Louisiana have a coinbinod
area of about 800,000 equaro miles. 1
State of New York has about
60,000 square miles. Tho population
of the 16 States was about 21^000,000
in 1880, and that of New York about
5,000,000. The assessed valuation of
the property of the 10 States was a
little over $4, 000, 000, 000 in 1880, while
that of New York was $'2, 650, 000, 000.
Now, in the ten yearsthol6 producing
States, with an area sixteen times as
great as that of New Aork, increased
in wealth eleven hnndred and fifty
millions, while that State alone gained
eleven' Hundred and twenty-three mil
lions. These silent figures tell more
eloquently than I can ?tbe story of
the great body of th^ people being
made hewera of wood and drawers of
water tor the favored few. If /?ny
. farther evidenoe is desired, it* can
easily be found in comparison of
the vainea of oar two great export
?jcrope, cotton and wheat, in the years
1881 and 1803, whicflhss been oom
piled as follows: {_
"In 1681 the wheat crop of the
United States wae 888,000,000 bushels.
It imUtrd *466,000,000.
"The ootton crop of the United
x&mum tor the same period, estimated
at 6,000,000 bales, at 470 ponwh per
bale, at 10 ceats per v?oaad, would
amount to ?S62.000Jw0t the same
W*t*hT*T<^?T? I?^?U the ssUia*
price of 6 dents per pofend, realized
*nly 6160,3(10,000, vr e difereneein
the price of the crop, estimating tho
quantity tho same, of SI l?^W,0u0^v
"The difference iu the wrico o^yhvath
for tho HHtno period, 18$ andf
was $2 IS, 000, 000 loss th^u 1882, so
that wo have u shrinkage^-?! H^ilues
v.ith tho ^ther staple ovops ^Vf tim
county of $335,800,000, whiou to*
gotlior with the other staple orop4 will
make at least a hhriiikugo in faxrfi pro
ducts nlt>u*,ftf morti|lkau 8100,000,000
per year. S ??
" >Vo have for tho pa*t twelve years
lost in tlio material wealth, the prod*
not oi the soil from which the wealth
of tho country is derived, $12,000,000,*
O00. With this vast sum of money in
t ie country we should never havo boon
iu tho pitiable oooditioV we are today
? a sum Ro largo that it would pur
chase uir tho railroad stocks and bonds,
watered or uuwateted, besides leaving
a surplus." (
? That this robbery of the producing
and laboring olassos has boon chiefly
accomplished through the piustrumen*
tality of tho demonetizing aot of 18 7A
bug never been siiooessfully'deuiud end
hu9 been conceded by tho greatest of
Repuhlipau statesmen and politicians.
It would indeed bo a booties# tank to
enter upon tiio discussion of that sub
ject at tuis late date. Those that are
not now conviueeu o; tno-iact would
Roarce believe flhough one came from
the dead.
In 1880 Secretary of State Jamos Q.
Dlaino Raid:
"On the much-vexed and long-moot*
?d question as to bimetallic or mono*
Liietallio standard my own views aro
ipftloiently indicated in tho remarks I
aavo made. I believe the struggle
now going on in this coUutry and iu
Mhor countries for a single gold stau
Jard would, if successful, produce
wide-spread disaster' In and through
out tho commercial world. The de
struction of silver as money and es
tablishing gold on the sole unit of val
uo must havo a ruinous effect on all
forms of property except thoso invest
ments which yiold a tlxed return in
iuouoy. Those would be enormously
enhanced in valuo aud would gain a
disproportionate aud unfair advantage
over every other spocies of property.
If, as the most, reliable statistics atlirui,
tlicre ore nearly 87,000,000,000 of coin
or bullion in tho world, nearly equally
divided between gold and silver, it ia
impossible to strike silver out of exis- '
tence as money without Vesults which
will prove distressing to millions and
utterly disastrous^ tens of thousands.
"I believe gold and silver coin to bo
,he inouey of tho Constitution; indeed,
.bo money of the .American pooplo an
terior to tho Constitution, which tho
jroat orgauio law recognized as qui to
independent of its own existence. No
power was conferred on Congress to
leclaro either metal should not bo
Money. Congress has, therefore, in
cny judgment, no power to demonetize
either. If, therefore, silver has been
tlemonetized, I am in favor of remouo
tizing it. If its coinage has been nro
hibitod, I am in favor of ordering it to
"ho resumed; I am in favor of Inning
it enlarged." ;
? Prof. Francis A. Walker said in an
article in tho North American Review:
."The abandonment of Silver will ro
sult in tho enhancement of the burden
of all debts and tlxed charges, acting
nsa drag upon production: an^ suffo
cation, fetraugutafio.', are words hardly'
too strong to express the agony of tho
iudustriul body when embraced in the
coils of a contracting money. "
Dr. Giffen, of England, chief of tho
statistical department of tradoand au
thority with monometalista, has admit
ted: P
"If the test of prophecy be the
event, thero was nevor imrely ft hotter
forecast. Tho fall of^rices in buo! a
general way as to amount to what is
known as a ri?e in tbo purchasing pow
er of gold/fa gonerally, I might almoat
eay uuiveratilly, admitted. Measured
by any commodity or gronp of com
moditiert usually taken as the measure
for euoh a purpose, gold is undoubted
ly possessed of inoro purchasing power
than. was tfio coso fifteen or twenty
years ago, and this high purchasing
power has hcon "continued over a long
enough period to allow for all minor
oscillations."
President Andrews, of lirown Uni-?
ver6ity, a member of the International
Monetary Commission, qpnceifes nil
that I have disserted: That the under*
lying cause for the financial and indus
trial depression is the fact of overfall*
jpg values produoed by the contraption
of the cur reucy and tho displacement
of silver from its position in the world's
money circulation; thut it was "the
hardest, saddest blow to hnman welfare
ever doiiverod by the aotion of the
States; that no long as gold is the sole
standard of money these w/ongs and
uufforinRS must oentinrij^to abate
them, silver must&^monAucd."
Hear what Senator JUllH Snerman, at
present the h:ghest priest of gold motie
inctalism, nays in a letter written by
him iu 1878:
During the monetary conferenoo in
Parij, when silver->in our country wa ?
excluded from cironlation by being
undervalued, I was strongly in favor of
the single standard of gold, and wrote
a letter, which yon will find in the
proceedings of that conference, stating
briefly my view. At that time the
Wisest of tie did not anticipate the sud
den fall of silver or the rise of gold
that has oconrred. The uncertainty of
the relation between the two metals is
oue of tho chief arguments in favor of
a monometallic system, bnt . other ar
guments, showing the dangerous effect
ttpon industry by dropping one of the
predons metals from the standard of
fifae, oatweiph in my mind all theo
retical objections to the bimetallio sys
tem." ^
There shonld W yoked to thisopin*
ion of one so high in Republican coun
cils ttd-irf ntih nnrtftnM'"1
IjiJbsMi the maiden snd^nbiaeud
judgment of bm twin brother i^acono
tj^e present Secretary of Um
Treasury. Mr. Carllslo who a few
months previously nouuded thisolarion
^ote tohi? countrymen, who men tint
<u?iv appreciated his remarkable ubil
| "I shall not enter into ad examlna
jUptu of the onuses which have combinod
Uo doprooiate t lio relative value of ail
ver ami appreoiato tho value of gold
kWuj1878, but I aiu^mo of>hoso who
beluive^iat thiiy>f(re tfKhsTont ahd tem
porary iutHoTr nature, and that when
they have passed away or boou remov
oil by the separate or united actious of j
tho nations most deeply interested i J
tho subject, the old ratio of actual <yfl
relative vnluo will bo ro-ostablikh?yron
a tfrmer foundation than eTer?J^now
rmt tho world's stock of jmxstoia mot
els in nt>ne too large, arnKl see no yea
son to apprehend thaftfjt will ever be
come so. Maukind^till bo fortunate
indeed if the aufiual production of
gold and nil ver v\ /n shall keep pace
with tho annuin /norease of population,
oomtucrcc, aiul/ndustry, According
to my view of /tho subjedk, tho cou
6plraoy which Acem* to have been form
ed hero and u\ Europe to destroy by
legislation a/d otherwise from three
sevenths to/no-half the metallic money
of tho world is tho moat giyautio oriino
of this or any other age.
"The consummation of such asehenio
would ultimately entail more misery
upon the human race than all the wars,'
poUilenoo, uud famiuo that ever oc
curred in ^lie history of the \vorhl.
The absolnto and instautanoous ? do ?
struction of half. the movable property
of tho world, inoludftig horses, ship*,
railroads^ and all other appliances for
carrying on oommoree, while it.would
be felt more sensibly for the 'moment,
would not produce anything like tho
prolonged distress and disorganization
of society that must inevitably result
from tho permanent annihilation of
one-half of the motallio money of tho
world."
Ouc more object lesson from statis
tics, and I shall leave this subject. In
1873 wheat was $1.30 per bushel, cot-:
ton 19 cents a pound, and silver SI. 30
an ounce. Tho farmer could thou pay
a debt of $100 with 77 buHhols of whoatl
' or with a bale of cottou weighing 52Gj
pounds. Today, with silver at 57
cunts, for him to pay a debt of $100 it
would require 2?p bushels of wheat, or
tin baK's of cotton woighing 450
pounds eaiftj. And it is the unavoida
ble result of tho demonetization act of
1873. It eanuot bo explained upon
tho tho theory of overproduction. The
statistics already produoed in this de
bato demonstrate that thero baa been
no fixed ratio upon the basia of pro
duction. The prdinary law of supply
and demand has beep overridden
by the higher law, that an insufficient
currency reduces all commodities to
beggars upon the market, bo the pro
duction great, or small.
It is equally fntilo to attempt to as
cribe this disastrous condition to im
provements in machinery appliances.
The tabulated statements appearing in
tho London Economist show that tho
decline in values is greatest in tho
raw materials and in which there is
tho lowest minimum of the application
or employment of anoh improvements.
There is no escapo from it. The oon
ofusion is irrestible.
The one groat cause of the depros
ifion which is resting like a nightmaro
upon tho pooplo of this bs4ad laud?
the producers, the laboror, tho mer
chant, tho manufacturer; upon all save
?ho money lender and the security
owner, benumbing their energies asd
paralyzing thaii^ industries, a? they
moasuro the future; which can only
promise^ further decline in values ? is
the statute law iof this government,
which, with rutltiess pttr/ oSe, has de
Erived the veins aud .arWrjea of tho
usiness of the country of the suffi
ciency of the money whiob is its life-,
blood. Let no gentlemen delude them
selves. The issue cou fronts you. Tho
people are intensely in earnest. 'J ho
limit of tho tether hss been reached.
You inado the law. You must unmuke
it. The country expects Congresa to
act. Almost every agiioiiltnial jour
nal and every labor organization in
the country is demanding the repeal
of that iniquitous law. Manufaotnr*
ing industries, seeing the impending
ruinous oonseqnences of an Aziatio
competition which it is fostering,* aro
joining in the demand. Commerce
has long felt its ohilling baud and is
eager to rid itsself of its grusp. Tho
ono cheerful voice, bidding yon stay
fronr hand from interference with that
ovely aet, ia that of your old friends,
the bonholder and tue capitalist. Thejr
will never get enough, even though it
comes from the hearts of tho poor,
struggling masses, who have made
yon and made this country.
Yon liavo met this demand of the
peoplo by introducing and passing
through thin house a bill which is a
xminquor Ailing farce, a meaningless
nothingless, a vapid, airy, unsubstan
tinl appearance of rt-liof.
It simply proposes these changed in
existiug Ittwau. It provides for the is
sue of liou.dsr the reduction of the in
tercet to 3 per cent, and of the length
of them to fifteen years, and for the
issue of three-year debenture certifl
?eatrs in the sum $50,000,000, should
it become necessary,- in order to de
fray tho expenses of the Government.
That is all. Should it be passed, no
possible relief could proceed from it
other than now provided by the exist
ing law authorizing the issue of bonds.
A 8 per cent, shert-term bond will
realized ess than - four per oent.
long-term bond, and larger issue
would be required to raise the ssme
amount of money. Nothing would be
saved to the Government. By this
bill not one dollar of gold will be kept
in this country, ndt a dollar wo?ld be
added to the cironlatiga, not one single
enterprise encouraged, not a day'e
employment grvtra to mbor.
. . Thenelgbt of ita aspiration <a to im
prove npou and reader matte the pres
eat indefeasible system of iwaiag
bonds? -moro bonds! It dimply ochoeu
t ho policy of tho Prosideut aud ths
(Secretary of tho Treasury, adding by
way of adorn meat a buy wiudow and a
fow turrets, Tbo "grand old party"
lias pinned it?elf/to the policy of tho
President, and it is content to tolvo
tho ilnauoial problem by tlio easy aud
primitive process of borrowing money.
It has Committed itself to tlie system,
odious to American sentiment, and in
jurious to the interests of tho people
and of generations yottinborn, of levy
' ing tribute upon them in timoof peace
by tho issue of bonds witlv which to
borrow money to keep up a gold re*
servo whoso only good purpose is to
subserve tho interests of boud inves
tors by continually exhausting itself,
only to bo replenished* fcy the sale of
more bonds. Within two years wo
jssuod one hundred and aixty-two
millions, and yet tho last oondition of
the treasury'is worse than tho first.
Another ibsno of oue hundred million
will follow within a fow days, and the
end is not yet. The policy inaugurat
ed by Secretary Carlisle, and uow ap*
proved aud indorsed by this bill, has
proved utterly unavailing, a delusion
aud a unarei'A
Tho origivft)i Aot of 1875 may have
enbt?i;i%wd tho- purpose of placing the
greenback luUes upon a ptir with our
, itfetal currency. Tho oftort to muiu
tnin tho reserve so authorized is pro^
du^ivuof evils oxccodiug iu their mag
nitude ail tie* depreciation that those
jiotes could have tiufVercd had thoy not
roocivad the suppo/t a (lorded by that
Act. The remedy has proven worse
than the disease, under tho application
(if tho ruinous construction given to
t ho ^Vord "ooiu" in their rodompti-:n.
One note rodeemod in silver coin
would have Btoppod tho draiu. of gold
froiu tho Treasury and tho reserve
would today bo intact. But thefaoo of
tho Administration is sot straight to
ward gold, aud there is no hope for an
early departure from that polioy. It
is very seriously questioned whether
tho reserve is any longer of servioo iu
sustaining tho par value of the notes.
When it lias falleu as it is today to
forty-six millions, thero is accompany
ing decline in thoir market value. Had
it descended 50 por cent, lower, tho
greonbaQka would bnvo scarcely de
preciated one cent. The ono hundred
millions is at beRt but 10 per oent. of
tho Government's indebtedness. It is
asking too m(tch of tbo public to be
lieve that this Hinnll deposit in our nu
tional vaults is essential to the mainte
nance of tho three hundred and forty- ?
fnillious of our greenbacks at par
oar other ourreuoy. Tha majori
i tins House tniuKs (iiti'eruuily t?nd
commit your party to the position
it has donf.aH that is necessary to
fuunwvo the country when it has pro
vided for tbo issue of more bonds to
create or sustain a reserve which at
most is not admittedly essential or for
the publio good.
The Semite in its substitute to this
bill propotiou relief which is praotioul,
substantial, clear-out, and certain. It
restores tho statutes that existed prior
to tho demonetization in 1878 by open
iog tho mint# to the -free coinage of
silver at tho old ratio of 10 to 1; pro
vides for the coinage of the seignior
atfn accumulated under the Act of
18'JO; requires bank notos under $10
to be redeemed'und largor denomina
tions substituted; and directs that the
greenbacks and Treasury notes shall
when presented for redemption be
pnid at the option of tho Government
and not of the holder in gold or silver,
tho groenbacks when so redeemed
to bo roibsuod as provided by the Act
of 1878. ^
That substitute, if adopted, willgive
relief. It presents squarely the issue
that the only source of permanent re
liof to the conntojj; is in the free and
.unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio
of 10 to 1.
It is useless for tho United States to
attempt to hold gold. History proves
it; tho conations now surrounding us
demonstrate it bnyond a question.
Our mines h*?vo fu mined about one
half of all the. gold of the 4world.
?Seventeen hundrod millions have
passed through our mints. Of that
vast sum we have. today onlyabont six
hundred millions. The rest has goue
over the waters. Other causes must l>e
found than that tho greenbacks aud the
Treasury 'notes have drained it from
our vaftlts, for, as an evideuce, from
J813 to 1879 there were no Treasury
notes, and no gold was paid for green
backs, Yet during those thirty years,
tho era of our ^rent metal production,
of the fourteen hjindred million of gold
and silver produced, one thousand
xnillioiA wern exported. Forced resi
dence <* gold in our Treasury eat) only
be temiftnrary and fleetiug. The three
last purchases of it with our bonds re- j
move tbe fact from tho domain of
controversy. So long uh wo are bur
dened with our proas -lit heavy foreign
indebtedness and omitinue our foreign
expenditures, by which thn>ba1anco of
tbe trade is Agaiust ns, just so long
, will it be impossible for us to retain
gold which is necessary or required to
liquidate that balance. .
V, ..Our indebtedness to Enropo and for
eign holders, of onr securities is
variously estimated at from five to six
billion. Upon this we must pay au
annual interest of at leant $200,000,
000. As not over 8 per cent, of our
exports and imports are parried upon
onr own ships, we must pay an esti
mated expenae for carrisge of $100, ?
000,000. ' In addition to this, it t? es
timated that tho annual expenditures
abroad of onr tourists is about $100,
600,000. These three items make a
total annual ontgo from the United
States, ronndly estimated, of $400,600, ?
000. Against this we have upon oar
aide of the acconnt not more than one
hundred and fifty millions, consisting
ot excess of ovef imports of
product#, mannbntirea, gold,?*?d sil
ver, leaving an anannl belan? egnlnef
ns of about two hundred aud .fifty
millions. Vi(hf ymni ttniHtirtt
there is no reason to expect a red no
tion of this balance. Our gold mmd
continue to Mdtle, upon demand, thoso
brtliinooh againbt ns, so long ?a they
continue to exist. Wo cannot pay
them by borrowing mouey. \\eoan
pay them by increasing tho valuo ot
our products, which can only bo doiit
l?v iuoreasing tho value <<f our our
rouoy, u nil iil-o by jneivasing tho vol
ume of our foreign Hade, \vhich cau ,
best bo done by lenumetbing t Uv? r. |
It in a law of eeonomioH reeognlfcQdl
by all that the prices of ooinmodiliea
rise or fall with tho Qnlurg.-mont or
tho oontraotiou of the ouuvuay. It '?
noodle** to hope loi any appreciable
iuoreaso in oirculatiou from gold
Alone. All tho gold in the world to
day would not pay ouo year a interest
upon the bonded indebtedness
world. Dr. Giffeiv tho monometallic
whom I montion, Kiv<R jtl nB "ia
opinion that praotlcaUy the whole an- I
niiul production of gold is coneuuied
in the arts at>d aiienoea, none of it
adding to th6 supply of money. Our
population is iuoreasi ng at tho rate ol
5 per cent, a year. The pur capita
supply of our metal ooin must each
succeeding year booomo less ^
PricoH must oontinue to f**l and debts
boooino harder to pay. Tho result is
aa certain as the laws of Nowtou ami
! Keplor, na buio and relentless as fate.
Tho value of all money is dependent
upon the elomonts-'of value vo^tetViu
it by the law, which are itft legal tefrner
qualities and its debt paying powifc ia
measured by tho quantity of the ? legal
tenders. Under the Act of I8<d the
quantity of allvor dollars was then and
there tlxed, and under tho Aot of lo.M
i it is prevented from being further on
larecd. Silver has been reduced from
a mouoy to n commodity. This coun
try is now upun a single gold basis ; as
much po as England and Gormauy.
So, then, tho fact, confronts ua in all
of its fearful reality that under tho
lawa upon our statute boohs thomouoy
of tho people will ye.^by year beco.no
scarcer aud eearoer: ifom modifies will
grow leea and lt'sain value; all industiy
will l?? handicapped with tho almost
certain loss of a failing market. In a
word, this fair country, with ita bound
Iors possibilities, which should bo tho
homo of millions of happy, contented,
and prosperous people, will fall alwlp
leas victim to blighting, merciless leg
islation. Our silver mines are ro.uty
and anxious to open their stores of
wealth; but no I And why not ? bo_
oauso gold normits rival, is jealous of
its monopoly, and wishes not for its
daily growing greatness to beonrtailect.
Tho less money there is the bettor for
those who have it ia a faut-.t#? strong
to bo resisted by thoso who aro in po
bition to profit by it.
Now the question arises : C-an tno
United States, without the oo-opera-,
tiou of Europe, safely venture upon tho
free coiuago of silver ? i\b tbtt SouHt6?
substitute proposes?
The great need of thin government
Is the infusion of some of tho Monroe
dootriue oourago into its financial,
policy. We boldly announoo our fiat
that no foreign hand shall lay hold/of
American soil or ettend dominion a -
ready acquired, and wo stand prep/ircd
to maintain it. The great heart tff tho
nation beats responsive to the declara
tion. But when tho proposition ih
,?k*ebted tint w? exuroinu mir mcle
ptmdonco by establishing our own cur
rency, w* aro seized with timidity and
halted with dire forebodings and given
visions of all tho horrors of a debased
and dishonored ourroncy. W o aro told
i hal wo dare not run counter to tlio
liuanoial systems of tho great 1>owor?
of Europe. Prophccy is the l^t re
fugo of a dofeated cause, I ho future
i? invoked, armed with all manner of
dangorn and calamities, and employed
to induce us t<9 tako counsel of our
fuarf. It is very effective. It ia to
il* y restraining thousands of our citi
vvti* from declaring for the remoneti
nation of silver. Their timidity ia not
i untitled by tho cond.tions. If ey*r a
deople were in a position to work out
iheir own financial salvation it is this
,;CO|)lo. * Wo havo 70,000,000 popula
te only a little loos than the com
i,iijolrm^>*lrttionN\pf Great Britain aJid
Fra/fco . We haVe 8,000,000 Uquara
mills of territory. Our per capita in
dobtednosa is less than that of any of
the great powers.
Iu each of thoso bounties, its por
capita iudebtcdnoas largely exceeds its
per oapitia of coiu, whereas our p<*r
capita of coin oxc?eds our por capita
of indebtedueBH by nearly 84. We fur
nish Ivnropo nearly one-half of iU
bredstuflfa and three-fourths of its
cotton. Our supply of silver is only
one third of tfoie. It seems bold in
deed to ufiftbrt that thia great country,'
bj rnarvelously favored, no Titanic in
ita enterprise, the foremost nation Of
ail tho world, should not bo able to
keop at par its silver metal bi aring
tho stunp of its mint. For more than
a century it h*sdono ft", and at 10 to
1. ThojjeoffTo fho UnitodStatesaro
not afrhid of it in their domestio af
fairs. The grept l/ii^aboo hold up to
on is the cffuet^of/frtfo coinage up<nr
foreign exchango. At best, foreign ex
change amount* to scarcely more than
5 per cent, of the business transactions
of tho world; and almost the only
thing that would be accomplished by
tho impossible ignis fatuns of inter
ont is inter*
sprcts each country is free and inde?
pendent to act for itself, as the almost
infinitely varied coins and eurreuoy of
Europe, Asia, and Africa to-day at*
test.. ' '?* ?
If there i? any power on esrtb that
can restore the old ratio Igetwcctirgold
and silver as money it is the United
,HUtea. The condftion^Jo which I
have tlrmiy referred and the urgent
iif cer sity for the relief of <ka -?people^
certainly j notify the. efltyrk Bo auon
as onr uiinte are opened to the free
tod unlimited coinage of silver the ?!?? .
mand for it will neeeersoly inorowne.
The strength of on* yovernHHt mm!
other re -
nitiojinl resources would nullify the
, lVort ofpnMto depreoiato the ooin
and to VUc o iisclf at a premium. Gold
xscnia no lougor bo tho jnnstor of the
eUmUii.n. but tho Government. TM
demand lor it would decroMo as the
d* maud ior silver increased, ?*ud they
v\?>"ld k o\t move along side by sxoe, in
i.wn.llv pMrhv, at tho old step of lo
to 1, as tin y 'should do, for thnt ** ***
ratio of tho stocks of tho two meUlein
tUBnt tot UH snpposo that# as
by tho opponents of thui sul'btUttW,
eohl would go to n premium and
main th?r?. Then Jho. ???>>
dimply 1)0 tho ditlertwo in
botie'n us aiul tho .?g ? goW ?0?i"
tries to tho extent of the
There is nothing in that to
Tho ultimate results would, t?
vastly in our favor. That J?r? ?td ?\
exchanged today a miyhty bsrrier iO^
tho way of the trade bctweon Asia and
South America on the one
Ku rope and ourselves on the other.
Tho rste i? continually changiug. *??
Japafleso merchant can only 8ue<J? ?
i Wh?t hi- goods will >0 WOLtb In Bog
lish os American, gold at tb? *,u <}
arrival at their destination, lhe prof
its of the transactions nro ^rgely de
pendent upon the exchange fluetia
lions. Our trading relations with
thorn cannot nrosp^r whou thus
i >?red. tM#5*d\*ntago iu the difter
onee iu exchange is ail with them. , \
I China. Japau and Mexico hav?
lllonoy they h*e always known and
none other. Silver is to-day wh?t it
was. They are satlsiled to *???J?*|
at its old valuation. If a*?
compel with theii' maun aoturers *e
must bo content with silver on the
r lame basis, and not at 100 Por cent
ox hango. At tho present b"?|00
value of our sivlor and its e*olu?ion
from tho mints it is on a gold ba?ia? ?
worth only one-half of it. <"c?
??a tho only thing l.it ?? M.WJJJ
numt of tho difforeuoe of that ox change
before being placed in equal competi
tion with our new .1, astern rivals.
Even the most ardent friend of pro
toot ion cannot hope for his old Iriend
to cope with 100 per cout. exchange.
The exti aordinary progress *nd ?e
volopment now luting made in thoa#
eountries, upon a silvor basis, ef& 0-.
lively chaso away the dogmas, tbeon#*,
and hobgoblins of the gold mono*
int'lallists. The consular
which lmvo already be?n B0 *??JJ
quoted iu this debate, tell the story Of
ttio vast impetus givon to Jh? ?om
miseratod silver countries by this liiU
matter of exchange. Chined J
1,009,000 si indies are alono sufficient
t<> make any one but a gold walot
bton aud think a momeut. *
If there is impossibility of restoring
the metals to a parity, if the line now
drawn between gold-standard oonntHJi
iB to be permauont, then it M t?J .
tjolioy of this oouutry to cast its lot
with tho silver- using people. .*
The biitamce of trade in silver-usinf
countries js now strongly against ?J.
ih.?t of China and Japan alone being
for t he 'last year 834.000.000 in Mr
favor. It will continue tojrow ?a_*J
1* doing to-iiy,
thd increasing ' injury of our projnM#
aud manufacturing industries and W#
labor which they employ. ......
[t will bo a glad day for the W
majority of tho peoplo of this indo*
trious land when the
money contraction are jrp^edjtom
tho cncrgi cwist on? people, an^^wHT _
uro uiveu tUg opportunity io oarveettl
the ilestiny of their Hepnblio
Uanpinose 6f its dtizens wiw W#
mon?y of their constitution, and thai
day is not fur"' distant. Thia ??*?
tute will bo rejected by this Bonaj,
NevcrUivlcsa it voices, as I believe, the
Hentimoxits of a large majority 01 ??
v. iters of this nation.
N^VNirAL NKQRO COlfFlEHHtp,
It Meet* In Toik*gM, ALu^OmMh
the kWn* tk0 RM?fallfkM?|;
ProL BooierZ^Waefcfastoa, pvMMaa*
tho induMrujltwtltute, Tus)ta?ea, AU., Im
buued a oalllR th* aanaal negro Omtwwwi
to meet In itet plaee o? If art* St* ??4 itfe*
Tho object of the first dey'e ooefmwMTO#
be to qi et>tb? e*ll "to beer frees ?? %? ?#
BIO FIKK l> BiilBURG.
... i >
Mont Disastrous Jn ,Her Hiitor{?>LOM
Sixty Thousand Doll*rs.
,~<?amherg experienced ^khe uoti die
'nstrous ftro ever Jcnown in her bfetoiy. -
1 ho total loss ik 860,000; insureno*
930,800. -
Tho Bamberg Alliance warehouse
nas discovered on fire about half peel
9 o'clock at night. Th6Tdwerib<F
tween 900 and 1,000 balea of, ootton
Moredjn thu warehouse, belonging t6
the cotton mill, and about 200 bale*
belonging to farmers who were hold*
ing foi high prices. The State liquor
dispensary hail its stock in this bnild
mgr Arhich i*nlso a total loss, together
with the Alliance wart-house stock of
groceries, eto. ' ^
The most heroic efforts were made
by tho citizens and the loOhl volunteer
lire department to save the wftrebona*
and adjoining buildings, hut to DO :
purpose.
Mrs. Daffney Hit 1? 0 es 91,000 oa
dwelling; insured lor . J
The origin ot tbp, flre is tanytidfy
and is supposed to hare beea owoeed
by rate.
Mrs. Shoplelgh? Is It any trouble w
you to show Roods? Mr. C&shoell? -Jf<Nr
ma'am. Hut it's a good deal of troublo
to sell them, sometimes.? Ne*r York
Horn Id.