The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-03-01
To James Durant, of District of Column
bia Delegation, Toledo:

ton;
WAsHINGToN, FEB. %, 1878.
To James Durant, of District of Column
bia Delegation, Toledo:
The Senate amendments agreed to !;
the entire bill is a seduction aud a
sham. 1t limits coinage and allows
the Secretary to shut bullion from de-
posiC and enables banks to contract so
as to nullify it. You should have the
convention pass resolution denounc-
ing it. BEN BUTLER.
The House on Tuesday, resolved itself
into Committee OF the Whole, to hear
Mr.. Butler define his financial views,
and he is briefly reported as follows, 1t
will be seen that he has planted himself
squarely in favor of silver, and the con-
Yertible bond and paper currency plan
indepe hdent of all specie basis or specie
redemption. Having taken this posi-
ton deliberately, there is no doubt but
that he will bring all his ability to bear
in supporting it;
Mr. Butler declared himself for the
full restoration of silver to the coinage
of the country, and that every debt Of
the United States now existing which
could be paid by the silver dollar now
proposed, was by the very terms of the
law under which the debt was con-
tracted to be paid by silver dollars of
the same weight and f1neness. In re-
gard to the point of dishonesty towards
public or private creditors, he asked
whether it was immoral, dishonest or
wrong to provide by law that the
debtor shall pay back all he received
with interest in the discharge of the
money debt. The same dollar which
pays the poor mans debt should
equally cancel the rich mans demand.
Both should stand before law alike aud
right and justice be done at the hands
of Congress in spite of executive rec
ommendation, of executive power
whether in shape of veto or otherwise.
Mr.. Butler denied that sixty million
of bonds, or anything like that amount,
has. been returned from Europe, but
wished for the financial and business
prosperity of the country it were. He
wished Europe would send back every
bond OF ours it holds. II he could
hear our six per cent bonds were COM
| ing back as fifty cents on the dollar, to
be exchanged for our merchandise, our
! gold, or our silver, he should look upon
it as the brightest and happiest finan-
cial fact the country ever knew. He
wanted to see both silver and wheat
| sent abroad to pay our debts and bring
the balance of trade in our favor. He
saw neither wisdom nor statesmanshiu
in locking our silver mp in vaults. He
repudiated the withdrawal of the paper
fractional currency and the 81 bstitu-
ton for it of subsidiary silver coin,
saying that the people were to be taxed
the enormous sup represented by five
per cent. compound interest on fifty
millions for thirty years, and that il
the Secretary of the Treasury, who
framed that measure, had ever sal
down and made calculation, Bnd then
foolishly cast that ENORMOUS burden on
the people, he ought to be hanged tC
the nearest lamp-post for malice to-
wards all mankind. If he had not
done so, he ought to be hanged at al
events for getting into an Office which
he could net fill. Mr.. Butler concluded
as follows: We want the greenbacl
currency and mean TO have it, but / dC
not desire that the greenback currency
should be made Co serve the country a.
it has been, villified, insultad-depre
ciated by the act of the government
being refused not only to be receives
for ali debts due the government, anC
| not even paid tor ali the demands du(
from the government. The American
system OF finance which will be OBJ
tanned in the near future (and / hop,
at once), and which desire is.
1st. A dollar that shall have at al
times; certain liked staple value below
which tt cannot go,
I'd. / demand that that dollar shall b
issued by the government alone, In th'
exercise Of its high prerogat1ve and con
sfEtutional power, and that that poWe
shall not be delegated 70 any corporation
or Individual, any more than Charles Ii
ought 70 have delegated hts prerogatlve Q
stamping gold geiH foR ths benedt % hi
Il paramours, as = monopoly.
Sd. / want that dollar stamped upoI
some convenient and cheap material Of IN
least possible intrinsic value. 50 thai tn
neither, the wear nor Its destruction vii
be any loss to the government issuing Il.