The daily gazette., 1878-01-25
THE SILVER QUESTION.
AUTHORITY OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
From this speech Of sfr. Cockrelly yon
wednesday. fha+s -

FROM tue spoocn Vi NE. Oochrohson
Wednesday. n.i4s -t-S
He then referred to the assurances of
the governments officials that the bonds
these oilcials had no right to modify the
slim words Of the law. They could not
change the terms Of the contract, The
oficeu OF the government were the ad-
ministratorr Of the Law and not the law
makers, and no one knew this better
than the present Secretary Of the Treas
ury. He then quoted from the recent
report Of that o1icer, urgently reoom-
cSsg tho e bod. :anSsa %sn s
paid in gold. The Secretary had dared
| to give unauthorized assurances 10 the
bondholdes, but he had not dared to is
sue single bond contrary 30 Law. To
claim now that the United States must
pay Ia bonds In gold on account Of the
assurance ofthe' Secretary Of the Treasury
wal. .scarely Iless than crime. The cry OF
reputation, violating the national hon
or, impugning the faith Of the govern.
mont, and so on. had been heard Tar and
wide from tbs Eastern press and from
the bondholders, their allies and friends.
Western men m favor OF the remonetiza
ton Of silver had boon stigmatissd ~
lunafica. Eos
| VI THE NATIONAL HONOR.
He INT. CookrelD was ~ firmly de-
voted 20 the r1aintancs Of this national
honor ~ any Of these Phansees, and the
hured back with scorn and contempt
their imputatlons. Hs stood upon the
floor Of this Senate ~ ons Of the Sena-
tors Of tho great State OF Missouri and
demanded for the people the enforce
ment OF the contract. He boldly ASSERT
cd that to pay the bonds In gold and sil-
yer, OF In silver alone, ives In perfect
compliance with the plain words Of the
law, and with all recognized principals
of honesty and national honor. He
charged those crimes Of rspudiation upon
those who upheld the oondbolders. The
people whom he represented, with the
jbayonets of truth Id their hands, would
drive them Int q decent observance Of
the plain terms OF the Law. The bond
Il holders, by their false cries, were at
tempting 70 fasten their high crimes and
misdemsanors upon those who desired
10 comply In good faith with the letter
and spirit OF the law. The taxpayers OF
the country ahad their rights, one of
winch was 70 pay the bonds In silver,
and they would never surrender that
right. The people could not and would
not pay gold alone. He heartily appro "
ed of the resolution Of the Senator from
Ohio, aud IL was the imperative duty OF
: Congress to-day not snly 20 pass this
resolution, but also TO restore the froc
coinage of the silver dollar by passing
the Silver bill
SENATOR JONES, or FLORIDA SHOWS THAT
TifE SILVER DOLLAR IS STILL LEGAL
TENDER BY THE LAW OF 1916.
Ncio I make the assertion that from The
: time Of The first coinage act In 1892 dotcn TO
4. 1873 there has been no legislation respecting
1se coinage phich stosns that there tcas any
ATM l..
, that every change which took place be-
tween these two periods was based upon
the variations Of gold coin, and II any
coin ought TO have been abolished be-
cause It was unstable and liable to change
In value IL should have been the other
coin.
The act Of July IA, 1870, is unlike any
loan bill ever before passed by Congress
IL specifies that the bonds issued under II
shall not only be paid in coin, but in coin
of certain weight and fineness, the
standard existing at the time of the pas
sage of the above act. The declaratory
act Of 1863 declares that all the interest
and Notwithstanding debts of the
United States, including legal-tendeI
notes, are payable in coin. No one will
say that the whole debt of the United
States under these laws Is not on the
same footing. Whatever Is held to be
the meaning of the word "coin" In the
act of 1869 must also be the meaning OF
the same word in the act Of 1870. In 1865
the Supreme Court of the United States
decided that the greenback dollar IL an
engagement to pay coined dollar. And
the Court went on and defined what
coined dollar meant under the laws OF the
United States, which il q certain Quantity
In weight and fineness of either gold oI
silver, authenticated as such by the stamp
of the Government. (Bank Us. Super
visors, Wallace, 30)
i 1 refer to this decision not for the pur'
pose that 1t was the other day. but tc
show that this legislation violated every
rule applicable to the case when 1t de-
clared, as some say 1t did, that this debt
Is payable exclusively in gold, and when
the highest court in the land had inter.
preted the law it went beyond its power
because the decision of 1868 was standing
in its face at the time that the law of 1866
land the funding bill of 1870 were passed
But that is not the only decision, The
court before that held in case where 9
Judgment had been rendered exclusively
flor gold for duties and 1t was afterwaro
. modified so as to read gold and silver
that that was proper, and that ajudg
ment against q citizen for duties on i'm
ports under the laws of the United State,
| was payable in gold and silver. Here
then, are two adjudications the one
holding that the paper uoilars OF tnt
United States were payable in gold ant
, silver, and that construction Of the law
stood In the face of Congress when the
declaratory act was passed which 1t \
now insisted means gold alone. But I
! may be said that while the notes of the
: Government is paid in gold and silyel
/ the bonds of the Government are payable
, in gold alone. 1 say that we have thu
authority of the highest judicial tribuna
In the United States that the money o
the people, the greenback money, Is re
: deemable in either gold or silver. Herr
, was judicial construction of the contrac
existing between the holders Of green
backs and the Government by the highes
court in the land before the eyes of Con
gress when the act of 1869 was passed.
Is there lawyer in the United State
who will say that any rule of construction
viii warrant the conclusion deduced b.
some from the act Of 1869, that 1t mean
|, gold, and not gold or silver, by the wort
"coin," in the face of the Judgment of tn,
! Supreme Court, which defined coinet
dollar to be a quantity of either gold o
silver? Mark you the word "coin" is II
the statute and they passed upon that. i
the obligations of the Government to tn
people who hold its paper dollars can b