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

i - lHDOFl0k people anu F8l8rlcu peO
pie who inevitably suffer most from
its use, producers for market, like
farmers, etc, that suffer next largely
and the money dealers and specula
tors least of all, for the margin of de.
probation is the very territory in
which the latter live. Secondly, the
original purchasers Of the bonds are
seldom now the holders Of them
Thirdly, John Sherman and the Other
Legislators who were responsible fOi
tho demonetization Of silver in 1873
did not do II snrreptitiously, but aft.
er years Of open investigation and in
pursuance of the dominant financial
policy of tho leading commercial ma
tions of the globe. We think that act
of decentralization q mistake, but lei
us consider it upon its merits not in
vest it with passionate arraignmenta
and acrimonious imputations of bad
motive
Now then, if there is any one man
upon the face of the earth who ought
to understand this question, it is the
Hon. William D. Kelley,-sometimes
called "Pig-Iron" Kelley, for short
of Philadelphia, the senior member,
by length of service, in the House OF
Representatives, and the Chairman OF
the very committee which reported
the act for the demonstration Of sill
yer.
He has just written the following
letter upon this subject, which we
submit below in full:
PHILADELPHIA, July 3, 1S77.--Mr.
Wallidm b. Earle, Needhdn,, Mass
DEAR SIR: Yours of the 18th inst,
has been received. l have read the
inclosure, being an extract from the
leading article in the Boston Herald
of the 10th inst, criticising a dispatch
sent by the agent of the Associated
Press, which professcd to give the
views of the President on the silver
question, and demanding a retraction
ut his hands. The article proceeds to
say: The President is made to say
that the legislation of 1873, when sill
YER was demonetized, was hasty and
uncalled for, the well known fact be-
ing that this legislation was well and
carefully considered that the silver
dollar of 4l2I grains was at that
time worth more than the gold dol
lar; and that its demonstration was
urged by such infiationists as Kelley,
of Pennsylvania,-thc very men who
are now vociferously calling for its re-
monetizatiOn because it has now be-
come considerably less than the paper
dollar
You ask me to inform you how
much of truth or falsehood is con-
tanned in the article, and especially in
the portion relating to myself. aud
also whether the legislation spoken of
is the same as is described by Thomas
Balch in the March number of the
Penn Monthly. That ever urged or
consciously favored the demonetiza-
ton of silver, as asserted by the
Herald, is utterly false. You will
remark that l say consciously favor
ed the demonetization of silver" l
do this because ] was on the floor Of
the House when the bill passed, and,
under the assurance of the late Mr..
Hooper, in response to a question
from Mr.. Holman, of Indiana, as to
whether the bill affected the coinage
system of the country, that it did not,
permitted it to pass without objection
from me, as il encountered none from
any other member Of the House.
The bill purportcd to provide for
the reorganization of the mints. and
for their better reorganization, and
for their better government. 1t was
not prepared, as it is claimed, by that
gentleman, and is therefore, general
ly believed, by Mr.. Knox, Comptrol-
Ter Of the Currency, but DIR. Linder-
man, who. until within few months,
had been Director of the Mint, and
who was then OH special service in
the Treasury Department, and in that
capacity had recently visited En-
gland. But, as he was not then in q
recognized official position, his bill
was presented as that of the Comp
troller of the Currency. 1t was a
vOluminous one, containing many
sections, and covering many pages,
and provided for a vast number Of
minute details. / speak Of the orig
al bill.
Through Chairman of the Commit
tee on Coinage, Weights and Meas
ures, | had, on the organization of
the Forty first Congress, been made
o member of the Committee on Ways
and Means, and had thenceforth CIV
en- my almost undivided attention to
the duties of that important commit
tee. In two questions involved in
DR.. Linderman's bill /, however, took
special interest, as the discussion had
on it (for none was had ON the substi-
tute, which was brought forward at
the next session, and which became a
law will show. These were the es-
tablishment of q uniform system of
minor token coins, l, 3, and 5 cent
pieces, which / proposed to substi-
tute for the many coins Of l, 2, 3, and
5 cents then and now in use, including
the many forms of the old copper
cent, the bronze l and 2 cent pieces,
the copper nickel cent, the silver and
nickel 3 cent pieces, and the silver
and nickel 5 cent pieces. For these /
would have substituted handsome
coins of nickel and copper in such
proportions as to give them bright
ness and polish superior to the exist
ing cent pieces, and by making the
UNCONVENTIONAL marks upon them in
well-defined raised Roman figures,
would have enabled blind person,
or one in utter darkness, to distin.
guish the denomination of each by
passing the finger over its surface.
To this end labored assiduously un-
til learned that had subjected my.
self in the minds Of suspicious men
or those who were themselves given
to iobbing, to the charge of being in.
terested in job for the sale of nickel
which unwelcome intelligence con.
strained me to abandon proposed
reform which would, believe, have
been highly appreciated IL carried
into effect. The other point was to
secure to the government, If possible
the profit that citizens were making
out of the great national workshop
called the United States Mint, to pul
into the Treasury rather than into tht
Golfers OF cunning men the tens OF
hundreds Of thousands of dollars
that were being appropriated through
q defect in the law. On these point,
the debate above alluded to on tn,
original bill shows that l had yer,
definite views. The fact that citizen
could thus speculate upon the Mint
and the plausible arguments of tn,
bullionists coupled herewith, delud
ed me for time into the belief tina
a single standard would be prefera
BILE. While admitting this withou
reserve, l assert that l never fayore,
the demonetization ofsilyer, and thai
having challenged my memory an,
compared notes with gentlemen VIII,
were on the Committee with me.
cannot remember or learn Of hayin,
ever heard the idea of its demoneti
zation broached in the committe
! room or in the discussion Of the pro
visions of the bill or substitute refer
red to.
.. The proposition to add q new dol
lar, called the trade dollar, to tn
coins already authorized by law, i
order TO enable US to compete in tn
markets Of the East with nation
winch used the Mexican dollar, wa