The daily gazette., 1877-12-17
THE SILVER BILE.
Speech Of Mr.. Bees, IN he U. S. Senate
Dec. II, 1877

Speech of Mr.. Bees. IN he U. S. Senate
DEC. II, 1877
Mr, Beck. l do not propose to de-
prlye the Senator from New York of
the senefit of his staten for what
ever II is worth, and therefore do no,
propose to reply to it. He knows
what he said, and let it stand. But |
say that all the legislation of this
country for the last twelve years has
been absolutely In favor of the rich
against the poor, in favor of dead capi
tai against active industry, and that
the effort, now made to prevent us
from restoring what was the legal coiu
OF the country at the time the great
bulk of the debt was contracted ia
anti-democratic. To go back: a lit
tie, Isay that when the $40 bonds
were issued in 1852 they were mad
payable upon their face in the legal
tender aotes of the country. Every
legal tender note had written across
Its back the statement that "this note
is receivable at Its face value for all
debts,public and private, except inter-
est upon public debt and custom dues.
and when the republican party, 1869,
which the gentleman says the faith
of the United States is pledged to
maintain-l think l quote his exact
language there-undertook to say that
the principal of these bonds was in
gS&d, they undertook to do what no
legislative body had rIghs to do.
1t was the duty of the courts and in
the power of the courts alone to con-
strue what the meaning of the exist
ing laws on this subject was. Chan.
cellor Kent, Judge Cooley, every
writer on constitutional. law, so
holds. When that act was passed it
converted domestic debt into for
eign debt, added over $500, 100000 TO
the burden. of the taxpayers of this
country; ana when silver is now 5 per
cent. as 1t is said to be, below gold,
the act of demonetizlng it not only ad
ded s per cent, to the bonded debt of
the country, but it added 8 per cent.
to all the debts of the country: Feder>
al, State, corporate, municipal, and
private. The Government of the
United States to-day owes oyer ST.
100000, 900. Poore's Railroad Manual,
issued not long ago, shows that the
railroad bonds outstanding are over
81 ,000,000,000. The debts OF States
aud of the cities within the States are
over 81 900, 100000. The debts of the
other corporations and individual
debts amount to over $4,000, 900 10000
more, to say nothing of the debts of
national banks, making over $1,000
100000, half of which is held in for
eign countries.
Eight per cent. on our Indebtedness
is $3.50, ,000, 900; and when the bonds of
the United States (to 60 back little
further) were bought las they were
with the legal tender notes of the
country at par and bonds bearing 6
per cent, interest ia gold were given
to the men VINO bought them, and
they ,were authorized as national
bankers to issue 90 per cent. of what
passed as money in their own names,
which deprecated the legal tender
notes of the country as much as that
many more legal tender notes would,
il entailed burden of at least $22,-
100000 year more on the taxpayers
OF the country, making in the last ten
years S22O,OOO, 900. repeat $550,000,-
600 were wrongfully imposed upon
the country by the act of 1866. Five
hundred and sixty millions, being 8
per cent. difference between silver
gold by the demonetizing act, and
1920, ,000, ,00O in the last ten years, by
the amount of taxation added by al
lowing the national bankers to use the
credit of the Government in issuing
their notes instead of the Government
doing it itself, make 81 ,280, 900, 900, a
sum many millions larger than was
required to pay all the expenditures of
the Government from the day Wash
ingtOn was inagurated up to and in
cluding the year 1855, embracing the
expenditures for the wars with Great
Britain and Mexico and all the pen
sions that were paid in consequence
of both of them.
And now we are told that the faith
of the country is pledged to stand by
every one of these and similar things.
l deny it. The meager minority ON
this side of the Chamber has sweIled
to its present proportions and the
power in the other House has passed
to the democratic side because they
have pledged themselves in their
platforms and everywhere else, when
ever they shall have power, to legis-
late no longer in the interest of
bondholders and capitalists, but to
arrange the taxation of the country so
that its wealth shall bear its proper
proportion of burdens, instead of the
poverty and labor being as now, taxed
almost exclusively.