The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-02-08
FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. s.


grams the dollar which am now advocating will
not cause loss or embarrassment IN onv ono Tbe
miner Oh the ore the owner of the bullion the holder
OF the coin and the Government that issues it. will all
In turd be benefited. 1t will yield profit on re-
coinage and will be advantageously employed in our
commercial relations With foreign countries.
Msanunue 1t will insure to our laborers at home .
fuii dollars pay for dollars worth Of work.
And think we ore this to the American laborer
Ever since we demonetized the old dollar We have
been running our mints at full speed coming a new
silver Dollar for the use OF the Chinese cody and the
Indian sepoy-a dollar containing 400 grains Of STAN
GARD silver, and with Its superiority over our ancient
ooisr ostentauously engraved on Its reverse side
40 tne,e outside barbarfans'' send this superior
dollar, bearing all our national embems. our patr
otic devices, pious INSCRIPTIONS our goddess Of
liberty, our defiant eagle, our federal unity. our
trust in God. This dollar contains IA grains more
silver than the famous "dollar Of the fathers pro-
posea TO be recoined by the pending BILL and more
tnan four times as many OF these new dollars have
already been coined than ever were coined of al,
other silver dollars in the United States In the ex
cephonal and abnormal condition OF the silver mar
ket now existing throughout the world we have felt
compelled to increase the weight of the dollar with
which we carry on trade with the heather nations Of
Asia And shall we do less for the American aborer
81 nome? Nay, shall we not do little better and
little more for those Of our own blood and our own
nresideY Ii you remonetze the dollar Of the fathers
your minis will be at put to work on two differ
ent collars; different in weight different In value
inherent In prestige, different in their reputation and
currency throughout the commercial world. If will
read strangely in history that tie weightier and
more valuable Of these dollars is made for an igno-
rant class OF heather laborers in China and India
ana that the lighter and less valuable is made for the
inteligent and educated laboring man who is citi-
zen Of the United States Charity, the adage saws,
begins at home. Charity, the independent American
borer scorns to ask but he has the right to demand
that justice should begin at home. And in his name
and In the nance OF common sense and common hon
esy ask that the American Congress will not force
upon the American laborer an inferior dollar which
tne naked and furnishing and degraded laborers Of
India and China refuse to accept
The bill which now offer as substitute for the
House bill contains three very simple provisions:
1. That the dollar shall contain four hundred and
twenty-five grains OF standard silver shall have uu-
limited coinage and be an Unlimited legal tender.
z. mat all the profits of coinage shall 20 to
the Government, and not to the operator in silver
bullion.
5. What silver dollars or silver bullion, assayed
aud mint stamped, may be deposited with the As
sstant Treasurer at New York. for which coin certi-
denomination
United States notes not below ten dollars and that
these shall be redeemable demand in coin or bull
lion, thus furnishing paper circulation based on an
actual deposit of precious metal, giving us notes as
valuable as those of the Bank Of England and doing
away at once with the dreaded Inconvenience of sill
yer on account Of bulk and weight.
10 not TAIL, Mr. President, to recognize that the
committals and avowals of Senators on this cues
ton preclude the hope Of my substitute being
adopted Indeed, do not fail to recognize that on
this question am not in line with either extreme;
with those who believe in the single gold standard
OF with those who by premature and unwise action
AZ must regard it, would rush to the single sill
yer STANDARD. Either will be found, in nv judg-
ment, great misfortune ito this country. We need
both gold and silver, AMI can only have both by
making each the equal of the other 1t would not
be difficult to show that in the nations where both
nave been fully recognized the most widely dfused
the .steadlest and most continuous prosperity has
peen enjoyed; that true form Of prosperity which
reaches all classes, but which begins with the day.
laborer whose toll lays the foundation OF the whole
superstructurei Of wealth. The exclusively gold
nation like England, may show the most massive for
tunes In the ruling classes, but it shows also the
most helpless and hopeless poverty in the humber
walks of ife The gold and silver nation like France
can exhibit no such individual fortunes as abound
silver savings can pay war indemnity that would
have beggared the gold bankers Of London, and to
which the peasantry of England could not ha We con-
tributed pound sterling in gold nor single shilling
In silver.
The effect Of paying the labor of this country In
silver coin OF full value, compared with irredeem-
able paper, or as compared even with silver of in
ieror value will make itself felt in single genera
ton to the extent of tens of millions, perhaps hun
dreds OF millions. in the aggregate savings which
represent consolidated capital 1t is the instinct OF
man from the savage to the scholar, developed in
cnildhoo1 and remaining with age. to value the
metals which in all tongues called precious Ex-
cessve paper money leads to extravaganza, to waste
and to want as we painfully witness all sides to-
day. And in the midst of the proof of its demon
slizng and destructive sffec, wa hear If nraclamed
In the Hans Of consrsss that tho people demand
cheap money" / deny 1t. declare such phrase
to be total Misrepresentation, total misinterpre-
tation OF the popular wish. The people do not de-
mand cheap money. They demand an abundance
Of good money, which is an entirely different thing
They do not want single gold standard that will ex-
cude silver and benefit those already rich. They do
not want an inferior silver standard that will drive
out gold and not help those already poor. They
want both metals In full value, in equal honor, in
whatever abundance the bountiful earth will yield
hand Of labor.
The two metals have existed side by side Ia har-
monious, honorable companionship as money ever
aince intelligent trade was known among men. 1t is
well-nigh forty centuries since "Abraham weighed to
Ephron the silver which hehad named in the audience
OF the sons Of Heth-four hundred shekels of silver
current money with the merchant" Since that time
nations have risen and fallen races have disappeared
dialects and languages have been forgotten, arts
have been lost, treasures have perished continents
have been discovered islands have been sunk in the
sea, land through all these ages and through all
these changes, silver and gold have reigned supreme,
AZ the representatives Of value, as the media Of
exchange. The dethronement of each has been at
tempted in turn, and sometimes the dethronement
OF both; but always in vaini And we are here to-
DAY celebrating anew over the problem which
comes down to us from Abraham's time; the weight
OF the "silver that shall be ''current money with
the merchant"