The daily gazette., 1878-02-09

nevet been able 10 fnd It in any one
thing. Neither gold or silver, nor any
annna. product.of the earth or of human
INDUSTRY, nor the wages of labor, (once
insisted upon AZ the best standard,) have
been found to solve the problem. And
hence 1t has been argued, with no little
zeal, that the average price, or the aver
age cost Of production, of number of
commodities, some say as many as TWEEN
ty,. must be taken to find a standard of
value even approximately correct.
merely glance at these speculations of
ingenious men and rely upon the judg-
ment and experience of mankind, who,
for thousands of years have considered
and found gold and silver to furnish the
nearest possible approach TO an unvary-
ing standard, and the safest, though not
the most convenient instrument of ex-
change. / am content to rest upon this
experience, which has been full ample
endurable, until something better shall
be discovered, should that event ever
take place. But now, in answer to the
gloomy forebodings we have heard, the
predictions of ruin should this bill be-
come law, wish to appeal for a mo-
ment to the teachings of history.
Mr.. President, has there ever been, so
far AZ we know, a more prosperous coun-
try than were the United States from
l769 TO 1861? Did any nation ever ex-
ceed ia progress we made IN population
wehfh, education, refinement, and the
general well-being of the people, in those
seventy-two years ? And yet during all
that period we had bimetallism; for we
gave no preference to gold or silver, or
to silver over gold. Those metals fiuctu-
ated then as they have done since, and
probably ever will do, but no American
statesman of that period thought of de-
monetizing either. Great Britain had
SET the example of demonetizing silver as
early as 1916, and adopted the single gold
standard, but neither the American peo-
pie nor the American Congress thought
of following that example.
And now, Mr. President let us turn to
Europe for moment, and What do
we hear? The wailings of thou
sands of laboring men, women
and children thrown out of employ
ment; the cries of anguish of thousands
of other men who but year ago were
rich but now are bankrupts. In word,
the same notes of sorrow that so affect
our ears in our own distressed land. But
from what countries do they mainly
come? From two-from gold, mono-
metallic England and gold ,mono-metalli
Germany, while bi-metalhc France, the
land of silver as well as gold, enjoys a
prosperity hardly exceeded by that of
any other people on the earth.
Among the gloomy predictions that
have been uttered in this debate Is the
assertion that if this bill pass our foreign
commerce win be disiointed and the ma
tional credit be destroyed.
Our foreign commerce disjointed!
Why, sir, have we not carried on the
business of this country for the last six
teen years upon an inconvertible paper
currency, and has our foreign commerce
been destroyed or disjointed? Do we
not import all we need? Do we not ex-
port more than we ever before exported?
Is not the balance of trade in our favor
And If all this be true with home cur
rency of inconvertible paper money,
how can any man who has the faculty
of thought seriously believe that our
condition would be worse with an ample
basis of metallic money to support our
paper issues?
The national credit destroyed How
destroyed? By complying to the letter
with our national obligations by paying
precisely as we promised to pay? Sir,
when silver was demonetized it was
worth more than gold. We seemed to
have elected to pay our obligations in
the cheaper metal. Did that destroy the
national credit?
England, in 1916, adopted the single
gold standard when gold was cheaper
than silver. Did that destroy her credit
did that humiliate and degrade her in the
eyes of the civilized world /?
No, Mr.. President, the United States
need no such prop as the single gold
standard to support their credit. The re-
sources of this country are too great and
too well known, her fidelity to her obli-
cations has been too well proved, for
her credit to suffer by her return TO her
ancient, constitutional, and wellapprov-
cd policy. And, for one, Il longfor,t ,theday,
which am too old ever'to see, but which
will come, when our obligations, nation
al, State, municipal, and corporate, will
be held at home and not abroad; when
there will be no annual drain of the re-
sources of America to impoverish our
people and enrich foreign nations.
"Our bonds will be returned from Eu-
rope If we pass this bill," cries an alarm
ist, No, sir, they will not be returned
or If they be to some small extent, or
even in great amounts, they will soon be
recalled.
The telegraph says this morning that
100000 are on their way from England.
They will be getting back there very
soon, whether this bill pass or not for
were every one of them payable in silver
coin, and We're the depreciation Of silver
to continue the interest upon them would
be greater than any equally safe Euro
pean public stock affords. But, again,
they will not be returned unless they can
find purchasers in the United States.
Suppose they do. find such purchasers,
will not every one of you, Senators, con-
gratulate yourself that our public debt is
held at home? Will not every one of
you remember that principal reason
why England can endure her immense
Indebtedness, why France can live under
hers, is that English debts are held by
Englishmen and French debts by French |
men? And will you not hail the day
when American debts shall be held by |
Americans and Americans alone =?
REASONS IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL.
have thus, Mr.. President, endeavored |
to answer the principal objections that !
have been made of this bill. In doing |
so, have necessarily indicated some of |
the reasons that induce me to give it my |
support. 1 wish to enlarge little upon \
some of those reasons and to briefly state |
one or two more. Then my task will be |
done.
l. Mr.. President the people of the |
United States have been so long accus-
toned to paper currency, and it has
been found so convenient, that 1t is not |
to suppose they will ever dis
card it. Indeed it is not probable that,
for many years to come, they will even