American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1878-02-16
SENATOR THURMAN on SILVER.
Abstract of His Speech in the setate ON
the Bland Bill.

I InGTIIIlC mOneN
/ of years. They werealso. the money of the
Constitution. They were the metallic money
OF the COLONIES, ana afterWifu or the OhlOeu
! States, from the Declaration OF Independence
/ until silver was demonetized by mistake ana
! without the knowledge OF the people or Con
/ gress, or by tile enactment OF the Revised
Statutes in 1874. Both metals are suited to
/ perform the functions of MONEY, and silver
does perform that function among tile large
majority of the human race. Silver is especi-
ally suited for small transactions, and may
therefore be properly called the money of
people in humble circumstances. 1t follows
that the burden of proof rests on those who
insist that silver should be demOnetized.
1t is argued that to rehabiitate the dollar
of 41219 grains would Qefraud the public cred
itors This can not be true for the contract
is TO pay in either gold silver of the standard
value OF the United States on July II, 1870,
when the silver dollar of fl31z grains was full
legal tender, with the right of unlimited coin
asseV and it is simply impossible that person
performing his contract, entered into by both
parties, but with full knowledge of its terms
and effect, can thereby be guilty OF fraud or
dishOnOr. Both houses of Congress have by
overwhelming majorities decided that no
the public creditors in silver dollars OF 4l21S
grains. If remonetizing silver would bring it
10 par with gold, the publc credltor can NOT
lose 1t is said that to coin silver dollar of
4l21s grains and make it full legal tender,
would defraud individual creditors who have
loaned money or sold property tO other indi-
viduals since silver was demonetized, that is,
since June 22, 1874. This is a great mistake.
Every creditor of the foregoing description
Is compelled by law to receive greenbacks IN
payment unless his contract expressly pro-
Vides for payment in metallic money, and
these exceptional cases are not affected by
the bill under consideratiOn Now no one.
think, doubts that if the coinage of a dollar
of 4l23s grains be restored and it is made full
legal tender, its value will be at least equal to
that OF the greenback; hence no possible
injury to the individual creditor, such
as that above supposed, can occur If,
as has been asserted, the aver
age duration of individual debts in
the United states is about two years. think
sage of this bill can not iniurc any considera,
bic number of creditors, if, indeed, it should
iinjure any, for it is certain that in the next
TWO years not over htty million silver dollars
could be coined, and nearly all such dollars
would be absorbed by the payment of Gus
toms duties, and would be used tor nothing
else. 1t is argued that If this bill pass silver
will be less valuable currency than gold,
and will eXpel gold from the country, in ac-
cordance with what is called Greshain's law,
namely, that the least valuable currency
drives out the more valuable: and hence sew
eral amendments have been offered to in
crease the number of grains in the silver dol
lar, so as to make it an equivalent, as it Is
the bill rests upon the assumption that the
silver dollar of 4I21< grains, if made full legal
dollar.
Mr.. Thurman argued that this assumption
was incorrect, and said: II the greenback,
which has no intrinsic value, no circulation
outside of the United States, and is {, limited
iegal tenuet mere Is YET wltillh lesS thi9 i tMo
per cent. of par with gold, why should not
silver money, which has an intrinsic value,
and which circulates over the greater part of
the globe, II 1ndorSed with the tull legal
tender faculty, rise to par with gold: Espe-
cially if we rate the metals at 10 $500 to /,
while most other nations usin. both give but
l5J5 for |. One reason why greenDackS have
been and are depreciated is the fact that they
have not been receivable in payment of Gus
toms duties, or of interest on tile public debt;
but make the silver dollar of 4121S grains full
legal tender and it Will be receivable forboth
these purposes, and it must closely approM-
mate, if it does not reach, par with gold. L
believe that it will reach it, But suppose it
its effect; to what extent would gold be eX
PEELED from the country by silver? Manifestly
only so far as silver supplied it. Three hun
dred millions of dollars in gold could not be
driven out by an issue of $4,000, 900 in silver.
The utmost effect could only be to eNpel 950,
O00,O00 of gold, the place of which would be
taken by silver, and the volume of the me-
tallie money would be the same. But would
the 500 O,OOO in gold be expelled! Not un-
less $500 100000 was all the metallic money
that the country needed. Ifit needs $3.50, ,000,
O00-and it needs more to safely and certainly
maintain specie payments-the gradual ad-
ditiOn of $500000 $50 of silver to the $500 900
of gold would not drive gold out. But, in
truth, we haYe not half of $500 600, 900 of gold;
and when consider how slow will be the
process of coming silver dollars, we will find
that we are in no immediate danger of losing
our gold. If gold be expelled, it will not be
so much by silver currency as by our small
notes. .-...
Whether the people of the United States
would give up the use of small notes he would
they must agree that with metallic money
shall not be shOrn of its function, that of
circulating medium.
Another set of reasoners argued that
silver would go out of the country should the
dollar of 4l2% grains be coined; that, as sill
yer was undervalued in the dollar of 412K
grains as compared with its valuation in the
states of the Latin Union, it will leave here,
and flow into those States to open their mints
to unlimited coinage of five franc pieces,
but he thought they would not do so.
Another objection to the bill was that if it
should become law,we wonld be flooded with
silver; that Germany would pour her surplus
silver on us, and our mines would produce
so much that we would have more than we
knew what to do With. He had no fear OF
Germany. 1t was said that she had $S0000,-
COO to spare. Suppose it was all poured into
the United States we could absorb it all with
out injury. But it would not he poured into
silver But if She could, the greater part of
it would be much more likely to go to Asia
and to Russia, Austria and Spain, to say moth
ing of the Latin States than to come to the
United States, which UNDERWRITERS silver, as
compared with the rest of the world. He did
not think we had any thing to fear from an ex-
considered an infiationist. but he knew of no
valid reason against enlarging our specie ba-
sis, and, if we are to have and maintain specie
payments, it must be enlarged.
Another objection to the bill was the well
known argument against bimetalism; and
| most gloomy pictures had been drawn of the
| ruin that would befalI our country if we
! adopt bimetalism. He argued that it was by
no means certain that the standard value
| was less variable in monometallic than it
| was in a bimetallic country. An absolute un-
| varying standard of value was an impossi-
| bility. Had there ever been more prosper
Gus country than the United States from 1879
to 1861? Did any nation ever exceed the
/ progress made in population, wealth,
| education, refinement and general we'll be-
| ing of the people in these p years? And yet,
| during all that period, we had bimetal1sm
| for gave no preference to gold over silver,
or silver over gold Those metals fiuctuated
then as they have since, and probably ever
| will do. But no American statesman of that
period thought of demonetiZing either.
And now let us turn to Europe for mo-
ment. What do we hear? The wailings OF
thousands of laboring men, women and chill
dren thrown out of employment. The cries
| of anguish of thousands of other men, who
but year ago were rich, but now bankrupt
| In a word, the same notes OF sorrow that so
| affect our ears in our distressed land. But
| from what countries do they mainly come:
| Two-from gold -mOnometallic England and
| gold -monometallic Germany-whilc bimetal-
| lie France, the land of silver well gold
! enjoys a prosperity hardly exceeded by any
| people on earth.
1t had been argued that our foreign com
merce would be destroyed, would be dis
jointed, by the passage of the pending bill.
| Had we not carried on business during the
| past sixteen years with an interconvertibIe
! paper currency, and was not the balance Ol
| trade in our favor now? Again. it had been
| argued that national credit would be destroy
| ed. How destroyed? By the United States
/ paving bonds promised to pay
| them. The United States needed no sucl
| prop as a single gold standard to support its
| credit. The resources of this country were
too well known for her credit to be injured
He longed to see our Indebtedness held al
| home and not abroad. There would then bC
no annual drain from America to enrich Eu
rope A telegram this morning informed IL:
that 100000 worth of our bonds were on th'
| way home from England. They would be get
ting back there soon, whether this bill passed
or not, as the interest upon our bonds wa
greater than that upon any safe Eur OpeaI
stocks II our bonds should be sent home
they must find purchasers in the UniteC
States; and suppose they should lind sucf
| purchasers, would not every one in the lanC
be glad that our bonds were held at home
The English debt held by EngliShmen
that the day would come when the American
debt wOuld be held by Americans.