The daily gazette., 1877-12-19


pledged to the payment in coin or its
equivalent of all the obligations of the
United States not bearing interest, known
as United, States notes, and of all the In
terest-bearing obligations of the United
states, except in cases where the law au-
thorizing the issue of any such obligation
has expressly provided that the same may
he paid in lawful money or other currency
than gold and suuer
Can anything bejclearer? Does it any
where appear in this resolution, intended
to strengthen our credit, that the bonds
were to be paid in gold? No, indeed
but the word "silver" is expressly used.
going to show eonclusively to my mind
that Congress intended at the. time
to say to all the world that they reserved
to themselves the right to pay in either
coin. If Congress had intended to pay
the bonds in gold, why not say so? Why
use the now detested word "silver" at all?
Let us go one step further, The next
section. 1904, reads as follows:
The coin paid for duties on imported
goods shall be set apart as special fund
and shall be applied as follows:
First. To the payment in coin of the in
terest on the bonds and notes OF the United
States.
But it is urged that gold is the standard
of value throughout Europe and that we
must be governed accordingly. 1t is not
and the notes of the Bank of France are
all legal tenders and we are told In the
exhaustive and very able report of Sena-
tor Jones, of Nevada, of the monetary
commission, that
Germany, where the earliest and largest
purchasers ofthese bonds were made ,didnot
recognize gold as money until December,
1871, and has now quite as much silver as
gold in its circulation.
Tho countru xuti oh to-dau holds mora
of our bonds than any other foreign coun-
try at the time they were issued did not
recognize gold at all, but silver. All
other nations legislate for the benefit and
general good of their own citizens, but
wehare asked to shape legislation for the
benefit of foreign countries.
l was surprised the other day when my
friend from Connecticut Mr.. Eaton
asked the Senator of Ohio Mr.. Matthews]
how much land silver would buy in Eng
land. In the name of history what a
question! L thought that over hundred
years ago we had declared ourselv yes to be
free and independent of England and
| that we had commercial policy of our
own. That question would have been
very pertinent over hundred years ago,
hut it is not so now. Pretty soon after
the discovery of the gold fields OF Cali
| fornia, Germany believed it to be to her
monetize 1t In 1857, together with Aus
tria. Then silver was her only standard.
Afterward she remonetized 1t and in 1871
dernonetized silver. Are we to be gov
erned and controlled by any such a
changing. shifting policy, or shall aUe hare
| an american policy?
But it is urged that, if we remonetize
silver. it, being the cheaper. will drive
gold out of the country. Suppose it does;
| 10 or hxrf Of 10
| bill, silver will flood the country, and we
pay all our debts with silver, both public
and private, if this bill should become a
law, where is the injury to the nation or
the citizens thereof? But 1T is not true
that gold would be driven out. Why
does it not have that effect in France
Why did it not have that effect from the
foundation of the Government down to
the date of its demonetization?
Suppose this bill should become law
and great amount of silver coin should
be thrown into the country, who is injur-
ed? Can a natien have too much gold
and silverP Can q nation produce too
much wheat or corn? Will it impoves>
ish an individual to have large amount
| of gold and silver? Will it impoverish
| the farmers to produce a great amount
| of wheat and cornp
Are we not congratulating ourselves
upon the unprecedented amount Of the
various cereals produced the present
year? The United States is the great
silver-produclng nation OF the world Is
it patriotic, is it statesmanlike to strike
down at one fell blow one of its greatest
interestsp Suppose all the world would
do what the United States has done,
namely, demonetize silver, what would
the State of Nevada and the western Ter
ritories be worthP think it is states-
manlike to stimulate production and to
| increase the va ue of the productions of
ones own country. And how more GER
tainly can you increase the value OF any
thing than by increasing the uses to
which it may be adapted
The enemies of the bill all the time ar
que as though we were proposing to en-
| ter upon some new experiment. From
the foundation of this Government down
to February IL, 1873, when the silver was
demonetized, silver was circulating me~
dium and legal tender for all debts,
public and private, and the connJry wits
messed no such direful effects as are now
predicted.
Mr.. President, from the day that Abra-
ham counted out "four hundred shekels
of silver current money with the mer-
chant" for the purchase of the cave of
Machpelah down to the day that silver
was demonetized in this country it had
been used all over the world. am will
ing to judge the future by the past.