The daily gazette., 1878-02-19
Coinage. OfSnV1eedr: Dollars / 5
speech or lHen@ ELI salisbury,
3 or Delaware. In the Senate !,
.aa Of the Untted states. Won
a@p ll@p day. February 11.Ds7s.

W ~ w .t-s - ss.Sf tDtbAe@aC.
.ea Of the Untted states. MON
,.,' iIg7 day, February II. .Js7s.
-" -. 49,, lcONcLypED.l
uThere-coinage OF the silver dollar inveet-
ed wi tn the character of a legal tender viii
not necessarily diminish our gold cpin,l -
On the contrary IL made an equivalent
with the gold dollar, or closely approx
mating II in value, Il win have acontrary
effect and aid ir the retention of gold
that have been somewhat surprised at
thp zeal displayed in debate in behalf of
q single standard. The apprehension has
been repeatedly expressed that depar-
ture from 1t win expel gold from the
country and leave us silver as our only
coin. / do not anticipate such a result
But suppose 1t should, would we not have
better circulating medium than we
have to-dayH Gold has ceased to be a
medium OF exchange In the ordinary
affairs Of life, aud It's only use as money
is 10 pay duties on imports and interest
on the public debt. Outside Of California,
Oregon, and one or two other States, 1t
has ceased to circulate altogether, and
not one man in thousand has owned a
gold coin In the last ton years. There
are hundreds and. thousands Of young
men in this country grown almost TO
manhood that have never seen agold coin
and yet gentlemen insist that the recoin-
age of tie silver dollar will drive gold
out of circulation. Mr.. President, with
the interest and principal Of your bonds
payable in coin you never can have any
large amount of gold in the hands of the
people unless silver Is coined and made a
legal tender for the payment Of debts. To
the extent TO which this is done It win
relieve the dratight upon the gold re-
sourses of the Treasury and assist In re-
storing TO the people the coins of both
the precious metals. How Ii IL possible
that gold coin should again reappear in
circulation If 10 is TO be the only coin
authorized by law? Our coinage Is an
nually less than $50, 600 900, and the de-
mand upon the Government and the
people of the country for coin to pay in
terest ON obligations held abroad Is esti-
mated to amount to at least S100, 900 900
With this large draught upon the gold
resources Of the country ON foreign ac-
count 1t would be delusion to- expect
any large admixture Of gold in the circu.
lating medium of the country. We had
NJ well look at this matter, fairly. 1t Is
Useless to deceive ourselves, We must
recon the silver dollar with fun legal
! tender power to pay debts, FOREIGN or
domestic, or we are shut up hopelessly
and irrevocably to an irredeemable paper
currency as the only medium of exchange
In the ordinary business affairs of life
If the interest alone payable abroad
can only be discharged in gold coin II
win require all the productions of your
gold mines and much more to meet the
| demand. Nothing will be left for the re
| demption of the legal-tender notes oi
the Government. Resumption Of specie
payments for any length of time will b'
impossible. IL is useless to talk abou
maintaining resumption with the out
standing greenback and national bank
note circulation without the recoinage Of
the silver dollar as legal tender / d,
| not say that you cannot resume, but l dt
say resumption cannot be maintained
without it. There Is only one of TIVE
ways in which specie payments .can b.
mai iptained the paper currency must b'
largely contracted or the coin of thu
country largely increased. l know tina
very great reliance is placed upon thu
confidence of the country as factor il
the attempt to resume and maintain
specie payments. II is sad that the peo
pie win not want coin If they know tina
they can obtain it on demand In ex
change for paper money, and this proba
bly, may be true. But with the knowl
edge that you have demand for all the
lgold you can command to meet interes
payable abroad, and an outstanding pa
per circulation of nearly or quite 500,
000, 900, how Is it possible that the peopl,
of the country can have confidence
RECON- the silver dollar and increas,
your specie reserve, and resumption viii
follow without contraction and withou
any shock to the business interest of th
country.
Let us look now to the details of tn
bill under consideration. 1t proposes t.
coin, as legal tender for the payne
of all debts, public and private, silve
dollars containing 412t grains OF stand
ard silver in other words, to restore th'
old silver dollar to the coins of the coun
try, with the same power for the pay
ment of debts which 1t possessed befor'
decentralization. As the bill came iron
the House it provided for free coinag'
and allowed any owner of silver bullion
TO take it to the Mint and have it coine,
into dollars for his benefit upon the sam
conditions that gold is coined under eX
listing law. The Senate Committee oil
Finance has reported an amendmen
striking out the free-coinage feature aii'
providing for the purchase by the Gov
ernment of bullion, not exceeding fiv'
millions of dollars worth Mt any ON
time, for the purpose of coinage, ant
fixing the amount of the coinage at no
less than two nor more than four million
of dollars in any one month.
/ shall vote for the amendment propos
ed by the committee. In my judgmen
it is wise anu proper and in harmon.
with the provision of the Constitution
which gives to Congress the power tt
coin money and regulate the value there
of. There is no just reason why tn
ispeculators in silver bullion should de
rive any advantage resulting from coin
age, if any profits accrue therefrom. An.
increased value impaired to silver from
its conversion into money will be derive'
from the action of the Government II
impressing it with that character, an'
not from anything done by the owner o
the bullion. Why, then, should he make
the profit, if profit there shall be, .whel
he has neither expended time or labor il
its conversion into coin nor done an.
other act or thing which has impaired T.
mt its increased value? He will receiv
from the Government all that his bulliol
is worth in that condition, and it woul'
be gratuity, subsidy, granted him b,
the Government to give him the prof
that would result from its coinage int
money. And who would be the recipien
of this bounty? Not the miner who dig