Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-07-18

monetization of silver, was never for
one instant present to my mind.
Though not an infationist, / had
resisted the contraction Of our paper
currency until the South should have
obtained circulating medium, and
the progress of the development of
that stricken section should have as
sisted in producing and maintaining
a favorable balance of trade, whereby
metallic money might take the place
of paper as It should be retired, as
France is now doing, and had re-
sponded to Mr.. McCullOch's Fort
Wayne manifesto by denouncing his
scheme, and proclaiming my belief
that contraction was the road to bank
ruptcy and not to resumption. Thus
believing, could not have consented
to the sudden decentralization, so far
as this country might do It, Of half
the metallic money of the world by
bill which challenged no discussion
on this point, and which, it's managers
assured the House, involved no
change of our coinage system.
Yours very truly,
WIN. ID. KELLEY.
Commenting on this letter the Chi
cago Tribune, which the Gate Ctsy
has recently pronounced the greatest
and best newspaper printed, says:
I'VE print elsewh here q very remarka-
BILE letter from Judge-but better
known as tPig-Iron'-kelley, Of Phil
adelphia, in which he makes an extra
ordinary confession concerning the
Silver bill. He was chairman OF the
committee on coinage which prepared
tho bill demonetizing silver agreed
to the bill and voted for its yf0 age,
but was not aware until lon,. .a~.
wards that the bill in effect abol.
tho silver dollar as the standard { {
value. He had no thought, he says,
that there was any phraseology in the
voluminous bill which could work
the demonetization Of silver, and the
idea never for an instant was present
in his mind. Earnest Leyd, OF Lon.
don, in behalf Of the Amsterdam
bankers, got in his work we'll. He
did not spend oil Of the $5OO,OOO Of
pocket money that he brought over,
on himself. There were three men
who knew what the bill meant. One
of them was Sam Hooper, NJ. e., who
took charge of the bill; another was
DIR. Linderman, who had been lircc-
tor of the mint, but at the time was
on special service in the Treasury De- |
partment; and a third was the then |
Secretary of the Treasury, Boutwell,.
These three persons well knew that
the effect of the bill would be to
throw out silver as legal-tender mon-
ey by ceasing to coin 1t. There were
others in the conspiracy; and the
foreign agent Leyd, could give list
of them If he wished to. The facts
in regard to the stupendous villainy |
are coming to light one by one. A
half million of dollars placed where |
it will Go the most good works won-
ders sometimes in Congress-
The act Of Congress which demon
etized silver, reduced the capacity of
the people to pay their debts about
one-half, because it is agreed among
the scientists and potential economists
that the value of gold and silver in
in the world is about equal.
1t was done in q surreptitious man.
ner, as Kelley admits, and that it was
done through the political appliances
of foreign bondholdcrs, there can be
but little doubt.
We will venture the assertion that
even the editor of the Gate City did
not know that the scheme was bur-
led up in the verbiage Of law ON
coins and weights and measures, any
more than Kelley did, until the peo-
pie had discovered that the dollar of |
their fathers, had become discsta ablish-
ed--as Carl Schnrz would say-that
it was continued good enough TO pay
thepoor mans debts up to five dollars,
but demonetized, or made no money
at all, when it come to paying the
home and foreign kid gloved gentry
who bought our bonds at great dis
count and at time When gold and
siirer rere a legal tender as the Con-
stilution Of the United States pro-
cides.
And yet the Gate City wants us to
keep quiet in the face Of such villain
GUS legislation as this, and would
have us perhaps molify our feelings
by singing psalms to Carl Schurz's
idiotlc Civil Service tom foolervi
We believe the COURIER was the
first paper in Iowa to insist upon a
reconciliation plank in the Republi-
can State PLATFORM, and that is the
best plank in it.
Finally, Bro. Clark will live long
enough to see every man swamped
who does not stand square toed on
this doctrine.