The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-01-15
WASHINGTON.
Mr. Edmands Amendment to Mat thews,
Silver Resolution.

Mr. Edmunds Amendment TO Mat thews,
Silver Resolution.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1.-THE following is Mr..
Edmunds' amendment as offered in 1.-THE Senate
today in full:
Be 1T enacted, etc.:
That all the bonds of the United States is
sued or authorized to be issued under acts ofCon-
gress are payable principal and interest 10 gold
coin or its equivalent, and that any other pay
ment without consent of the creditor would be
in violation of the public faith and in deroga-
ton of his rights.
Whereas, 1t appears from the record of the
mint that the total coinage of the silver dollar
has been SIS, 045, 1888, and
Whereas, The silver dollar of the United
States had been long absolutely obsolete as any
substantial part of the money of the country,
and that which had been SO coined was almost
entirely converted into other forms of metal
and did not exist at the time of the making of
any of the existing loans Of the United States.
or those from which the existing Adams had
been refunded, and
Whereas, By the provisions of the coinage
act of 1873 passed on the 18th of February of
that year, and of the Revised Statutes enacted
On the 1st of December of that year, all provis-
ions of the law authorizing the coinage of such
silver dillar were repealed, and
Whereas, Since the passage of said last men
toned acts, gold coin, which, by reason of the
premises, has been the only existing lawful
coin tender and standard value for all pawn nts
above the sum of $500, as it had been the only
one in fact for many years before the United
States has borrowed in gold coin from the peo-
pie of this and other countries the sum of not
less than 1852, 700 at the rate of interest
lower than that of any loaU ever before made
by the government, and payable in coip, and
Whereas, Holders of all government securi-
ties have right to expect that however much
the United States may change its laws so as in
fact Ito effect their interests favorably" it will
never evade or repeal favorable legislation,
either for the purpose or with an effect to make
money at the expense of the creditors, and
Whereas, Differing from the transaction of
affairs between probate persons the creditors
have no means of enforcing payment of their
loans, it is a duty of the highest obligation on
the part OF the United States to pay its debts in
such manner as meets the iast expectations of
its creditors and to refrain from taking advan-
age of the eheapness of silver by reviving eth
er obsolete coin or repealed coinage laws in
order to provide for payments in silver, and
Whereas. The substantial present value of
silver in dollar Of 4l23 grains is only 90 per
also be unjust for the law making power by
new legislation 10 compel all private
creditors to receive from their creditors
such silver dollar at par in payment of pre-
existing debts, and equally unjust and even
more cruel to compel the great number of citi-
zens of the United States who subsist upon the
wages of daily labor to receive payment for
their work in money either deprecated or de-
based.
The Venezuela Awards.
The correspondence in relation to the Vene-
zuelan awards shows that Venezuela first re-
fused to pay unless the United States should
not pay the money to claimants until final set
Element of the allegations of fraud The Unit
ed States refused and made peremptory de-
mand, whereupon the Venezuelan government
paid the money, but claimed rehearing on
the ground of fraud. Our government refused
unless fraud was fully proved, whereupon the
Venezuelan government submitted evidence
tending to show that the commissioners were
bought