The daily gazette., 1878-02-05
The Silver Question.
Senator Bayard's speech I'm
the U. y. senate, Monday,
Feb a

He said careful, prolonged, and con-
scientious examination Of the matter
now before the Senate had confirmed his
belief that the passage OF such mea-
sure would lead the American people to
still greater disaster that they had yet
experienced In their financial policy. He
fRlly appreciated the present distress Of
the people Of this country, and he was
anxious TO strain every nerve to secure
relief for them, but he must oppose all
measures like this, which would only re-
vive and expand the very evils from
which The people now sought relief.
lie spoke At some length In favor of q
stable currency, and said we should have
q currency which would circulate every
where and maintain fixed valne every
where. He next referred to competition
In trade, and said the United States was
the garden and granary of the world.
How should we distribute the great sur
plus and how should we compete for the
control of the markets OF the world
without fixed, stable currency? He
next referred 10 the legal-tender act Of
1862, aAd said he hoped that the great
mistake of issuing money Of no intrinsic
value aud insisting that 1t should be a
legal-tender for all debts would not be
repeated. Our government had been
called one Of limited powers, but he
knew of no act Of more unlimited power
than that of 1852.
He held that the sufferings in this land
to>day were caused by that terrible de-
parture from wisdom In finance. How
could money of no intrinsic value
compete with money having intrinsic
value? Acts of Congress making things
Of no value legal tender were but shifts
and contrivances which in the end were
doomed TO disappointment, as history
told they always had been. He believed
that but for the present agitation caused
by this silver discussion the minimum
gold coins Of our country would have
begun to make their appearance, and SO
all doubts as to fiuctuation would have
ended. This present bill proposes to coin
silver dollars Of standard nine>tenths
fine, weighing 4l2t grains each, and To
call them units of value, or dollars In
the American currency, and to make
them unlimited legal tenders for all
+ debts. t.
This was called In debate q restoration
of the silver dollar, the dollar of our
fathers, and yet Il seemed 10 him that
, the grave consequences Of such an act
could not be comprehended or It would
not be so unhesltatingly urged. He then
referred TO the action Of England, Ger
, many and other European coun ries In
regard 70 the adoption OF the single gold
standard, and read recently published
dispatch In regard to France suspending
the coinage OF silver. ii--'
Mr.. Matthews The vote In the French
Assembly was 10 restrain the coinage of
silver on private account and not on
, government account. ..s4
Mr.. Bayard. resumipg, said he did not
90 understand It. Continuing his argu-
ment, he referred to the act of February
IL, 1873, demonetizing the silver dollar,
and said H. had been denounced In the
Senate, without intending any disrespect
he thought ignorantly and uncharitably,
as the cause of the decline In the price Of
silver. He denied that the act had any
thing TO do with the decline in the price.
de quoted from table a. TO the number
OF silver dollars coined az various times
and said he wanted the people TO see that
from 1904 to 1886 their fathers did not
|, coin any Of them. l1.f
He said the number of silver dollars
coined from 1S4l 10 1851 was utterly In
sufficient to be considered In the circula-
tion Of the country. He claimed that the
act OF 1873 was deliberately and wisely
, passed by Congress. No wrong was done
10 the American people by the passage of
that act, as but eight million silver dol
I lars had been coined prior 70 iss passage.
He next referred 70 the act authorizing
the coinage Of the trade dollar, and CONS
menting on the fact that one and a-half
millions Of such dollars had been sent
!, East, where profit had been made upon
them, said by their introduction into our
, currency these dollars, which cost the
owner OF the bullion about 81 cents, cost
/ the people who took them 100 cents.
Certain 1t was that the people of this
country, so far from being deprived of
that which was Of value to them by Con-
. gress ceasing to coin the silver dollar of
4l2l grains, had only been wronged by
: the coinage Of the trade dollar.
|. The pending bill might be called .
measure for the RECOMMENDATION of silver,
but 1t was more certain to be . decree
for the characterization Of gold, a. no
I man would use the more expensive
metal. Ii the dollar of ninety cents
: should compose our currency, the dollar
Of one hundred cents would 70 where 1t
would be properly valued. Then what
would follow? Silver would come In .
flood from Europe TO this country.--The
practical workings Of this so called Bland
bill would be to put the American peO-
. pie upon a silver valuation for all their
operations, aud the United States would
take its rank among the Asiatics. Were
: we ready for this is?--Should this bill pass
here would be the market for silver. -
Other nations would release silver, and
IL would cause fall In the value of that
! metal which we could not resist. Where
one bondholder would loose ten per
cent. by this measure thousands OF homes
OF American laboring men would suffer
J from 1t.
In accordance with the law OF the land
the whole banking capital of the United
States was driven In the form of subscrip-
tions to stand as guarantees of the credit
of the government, and now 1t was pro-
pssed TO sheart his capital Another ef-
feet of the passage of this bill would be
to diminish our revenue upon imports to
the extent of 10 per cent, and one of his
} greatest apprehe nsi 0ns Of the result of its