The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-10-27

products vi her own mines to secure .
sufficient amount of coin to pay of the
principal aud interest of her vast public
debt in few years. This discovery put
the bondholder again to thinking Of the
effect that this development OF silver
might have upon the value of his bonds.
He said, BY bill of my own seeking,
my bond is payable in coin, silver is OF
course included in the word coin. This
great development of silver will cause it
to depreciste IN the markets of the world.
NV government has already declared
that my bond is security OF q higher
dignity than any other OF It's
obligations. If l am required to receive
silver coin for the interest or the
principal of my bond, it will be worth
less than gold. and l will therefore not
be getting the most valuable money in
the country. Something must be done.
He goes to Congress again, and says you
must pass another bill in my interest.
This large development of silver will
cause silver to depreciste. Your last
bill said my bond should be paid in coin,
now want you to say that my bond
shall be paid in gold coin. You must re.
member that large portion of
OUR DEBT Is HELD IN ENGLAND.
7 have been over to London, and find
our bondholders there are also uneasy
about this silver business. They also are
anxious for this change. They say that
in few years silver will go down. To
show you the deep interest which they
fee! in this matter, they have sent over
to this country their great financier, MIR.
Seyd. He will give you all the light
necessary on the subject So Mr.. Seyd,
in behalf of the English bondholders and
the American bondholders, went before
the committee in Congress having this
matter in charge, and demanded that
another act should be passed still further
strengthening the public credit by de-
clarlng that all the national bonded debt
should be paid in gold.
But, said the committee, how are we
to do that? Silver, IS well as gold, Is
the money of the constitution. The Su.
preme Court has said so. Daniel Web.
ster, the "great expounder OF the constl-
tution." has said so. In his speech IN
the Senate. December 81, 1886, he says:
81 am certainly of the opinion that gold
and siLcer, at rates fixed by Congress,
constitute the legal standard of values in
this country, and that neither Congress
nor any state has any authority to estab
lish any other standard or displace this"
But say the English and American
bondholders, we understand all that.
But YOU can do this, which will answer
our purpose as well. We know that
cold and silver are the standards of
value prescribed by the Constitution,
bit YOU can do this. You are not bound
to coin any more silver than you choose.
You can, therefore, interdict the coinage
O, the silver dollar. Then to satisfy the
people and make them believe you are
looking to their interest, you can coin
large amount of subsidiary silver
coin, in lieu of the fractional paper cur
rency. That will satisfy the people.
Well, what did the committee do? They
reported bill, or rather tackled pro-
vision on to bill already pending on
another subject, and in 1873 Congress
passed the desired bill,
ISTERDICTING THE COINAGE OF THE OLD
FASHIONED SILVER DOLLAR,
the dollar of your fathers, the dollar of
all past generations, and the dollar OF
the constitution Of your country. Again
the bonholder triumphed, and again the
people were furnished with greatly de-
preciated silver crrrency, which Is only
legal tender to the amount of five dollars,
and the bondholder's bond was made
PAYABLE in gold alone. BY
reference to the journals of Congress
It has been ascertained that this bill was
never read in Congress before its passage.
The provisions on silver were grouped
in with p bill on another subject SO
adroitly and SO secretly, that it was passed
without attracting attention, and IL Is
believed that the country was not gencr-
ally aware of its passage for nearly three
wears after it became law. Its passage
became generally known only when the
commenced to redeem the
fractional treasury notes by the sub
sidiary silver coin. Now what is this
subsidiary coin? 1t is half dollars,
quarter dollars and dimes, two half dol
lars weighing but 336 grains troy, while
the old silver dollar weighs 4l24 grams
troy. This fractional silver coin that the
people are permitted to have as a clrcu-
lating medium is purposely reduced IN
value BY your Congress so that 1t may
not be sought after by other countries,
and thus be taken out of the country, but
so that it may abide with our own people
forever, as the money of the people, while
the bondholder must have his gold dol
lar or his pound of flesh because the gold
dollar is nominated in his bond
Now, my countrymen, what has already
been the effect Of this remarkable legisla.
ton? WHY 1t has been disastrous IN the
extreme. Silver has already gone down
in the markets OF The world 20 per cent.
below par. Our government only pro
poses to coin fifty millions OF fractional
Silver all told out of the forty millions
year that our mines are producing; the
market in this country where we need so
much coin, is closed against the silver OF
our own mines. so that to find market
for his silver the miner must SEND II
abroad to lind apu'cbsser at such price
as the foreign market may afford, while
our own country failing to Utilize the
products of her own precious metal IS
forced to 60 into foreign markets to sell
her interest bearing bonds to secure gold
with which to pay the interest on her
public debt, and to keep up the balance
of trade between ours aud foreign M.
tons 1t is tsvorlte saying OF our Re
publican orators that our bonds stand IS
high, or higher under Republican rule
in the European markets than those OF
sny other nation. 1t would be strang'
if that were not so, when the
bond holder is able on short notice to pro-
cure ali the legislation in mis- interest
that he may desire. Can AS much b
said with reference to any other Sc
curitles? 1t may be that our government
bonds stand higher under Republican
rule. while no one will question the
fact that almost all other classes of Sc
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