The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-03-06
SENATOR MCDONALD.
His Great speech I'm the United States
senate ON the silver Bili,
February IL, IoSS.

me senate having under consideration the
bill III II. No. l,0gS) authorize the free coin
age OF the standard silver dollar and 10 restore
its legal tender character, Mr.. Mcdonald said:
MR.. PRESIDE NT-Atter the exhaustive dis
cuSsiou that the bill under consideration has
re celved from other senators, do not expect
To throw any light upon the questions
measure has excited throughout the country,
and especially in my own stat, makes 1t nee
esSary lilat should not be silent
Under OrufH8ry circumstances the PROPOSE
lions involved would not probably call for such
protracted discussion, and would certainly not
attract 50 much or popular attention. The
simple circumstance OF restoring coin that
had been our unit OF valu5 for eighty
years, and which without due considera-
ton had been omitted in our coinage
act, would OF ordinarily be matter of much
! moment; for the stand rd 81 yer dollar, wnlcn
* the subject of this bill, is but one of list of
our national coins. But AZ this time and
der the peculiar circums ances surrounding
Us, no question has attracted so much atten-
ton or called forth 50 much discussion, both
in and out OF cOngrt IS, disclosing an Almost r.
reconc liable conflict OF opinion between the
I friends of the measure and It's opponents.
This Is due in great measure TO the financial
EN- barrassment under which a vast majority
OF the people are laboring, and also 10 the fact
( that the step We are about TO take is
most important one in connection with the re-
{ establishment OF our financial system.
/ IS now nearly SiXteCu years since congress
/ fOund II necessary under the pressure of the
1 late civil war to authorize the Issuance of cir
cUiating notes on the credit OF the government
| and to declare them To 'be lawful money"
andtO be legal tender in the payment of
all debts public and private, except duties on
/ imports and the interest the public debt 4"
and sin that lime this paper credit has per
! formed all the offices OF money among our peO-
pie In all their private dealings. The volume
/ OF that paper circulation still out
the present year was iO'42i. The
I same necessities which had forced the govern
ment to a Issuance OF tnis paper credit caused
the establishment of the natiOnsl bank,
whose paper circulation, based also mainly
upon the CIR dit of the government amo ants
at this time 20 about sS-0,UOOU0, making an
paper q
SGt9, ll0,i2.
The effect of the introduction of this paper
currency into the channels of domestic
/ trade was to retire ON circulation both gold
/ and silver coin; and so completely had coin
/ disappeared from the ordinary channels of
! trade ana commerce among our people that
/ when, In 1873, the standard silver dollar was
omitted from our list of silver com, and there
| by demOnetized, more than two years elapsed
I before the fact became generally known For
nearly sixteen years this paper credig has per-
( formed the offices OF money among our people
I and been the basis anu foundation of our
/ financial system and well has ii performed
I made perpetual, and its volume from time to
/ time increased a the real or imaginary wants
I of busi ness may demand.
On the other hand 10 is contendcd that there
| can be no SAFE aud sure foundation laid upon
I which TO rest the finances of comm rcial
country that is not based upon a currency of
value rs distinguished from currency of
credit, and that therefore soon as ii is prac-
ticable 10 do So, consistent with the interest
and Wei being OF the whole country, there
should be a restoration OF the coin currency TO
its proper place i'm our system, and That this
+ coin currency should AT all times thereafter be
I the standard and measure of the value of the
( circulating notes. In this last view of the
question 1 fully concur, and entertain no
doubt that in due time this will be fully ac-
I COM lished, and that there will lie no differ
ence in value between The coin currency of
+ the country and the paper circulation, as tn
/ one VIII become convertible into the other at
the will of the holder. In fact, under existing
( , avs, ii they shall not be mouifed or repealed,
the government STANDS pledged 10 the accom-
pii-hment of tins purpose ON the LIST day OF
+ January, 1879.
IN re-establiShing our financial system upon
a basis Of a currency Of value, the important
question for our consideration is whether We
viii constitute that currency of both gold and
I silver, or whether silver is to be omitted, eX-
cept 50 far a IL may perform the offices OF
sub,aiiry coin and gold alone become our
standard ana measure of valus. If no cnange
hdl zen Iht1ue ~ our coinage actS, thlnk II
safe to say hat at this time no propOsti
would b. made TO change them. IfIhs act of
1873, by which The silver dollar was in effect
7 dCmOnetized, MAI noc Oeen passed no senator
NJ mis- time would propose such n measure.
But II mas heen SAID, we must take.the ques-
tion we finG it-tbat we must deal with the
preSe at and not with the past. This may be
correct. bat, on The other hand, / insist that
have the right 10 choose to restore the
bimetailic standard ii we so elect, and that
there is no legal or moral obligation standing
in our way: that In restoring the silver dollar
to the position IL occupied in money
system for eighty years, and down TO and at
the time that every public obligation out
standing against us as a nation was author
lied, and to claim the option of discharging
n,
SD elect, does not infringe upon any law,
impair any contract, or violate any moral
obligation: So that, IN my opinion, the sole
question for to consider is what in our
Judgment is il our interest as people to do.
Out of the many considerations which in
du e me to give my hearty support TO TINS
measure there are two which are so important
and Controlling as to render it unnecessary for
me 10 discuss others. The first and est i'm
portant of thess is the Wide spread distress
which springs from the long-continu ID de-
preston in trade and business consequent
upon the IS OF confidence and collapse OF
credit under the influence of the financial
panic of 1873. At no time since that panic set
In have the people been suffering from the
pre- sure and weight of their debts and obli-
cations to as great an extent as at the present.
This has resulted from the fact that during its
cont nuance their utmost efforts have enabled
them to do but little more than pay the in
tereSt upon them-in many instances they
have not b en- able to do this-While the con
tinued depreciation in the value of their prop
erty, D. tn real and personal. has iessened their
ability TO pay aud Increased the burden.
Ia many sections of the country IL Is now
questionable whether, under the most favor
a9le conditions we can hope in the future,
there can be any escape from the embarraSs-
nents mat surround the debtor class, except
through bankruptcy; while IL seems To me
perfectly cicar that not look for a
revival Of business or a restoration Oh conf
dence and return Cf credit until the present
Indebtedness shall be so far adjusted or dis
passed of TO relieve the debtor class from its
intolerable burden.
When the annual productions of the farm
or the w1rks hopare insufficient to pay the in
terest and provide for the principal of the
debts which The people owe, and there has
To be a resort 10 the enforced Sales OF liked
property TO hquidate them. general bank
rupicy in such community hes already set
in; for while real estate Is valuable from its
. permanent and fixed character, and the secur-
ity for IL furnishes In times of prosperity as n
7 basis of credit for the owner. vet when the
( prOduc S of industry have all been swept into
/ toe vortex of debt, and the substantial prop
erty OF the country thrown upon tie market
finds no purchasers but the creditor and has
. no measure of value bat the mortgage debt.
TaHe my own ,tate in Its present
( condition Illustrative of these
truths Blessed with the most productive of
soils rich i'm mineral wealth, aud peOpled by
an industrious, frugal, and enteI p isiUg popu-
Z lation, vet finds Itself confronted by threat
I ened bankruptcy and ruin. IL il true that for
two years in succession we suffered from a
partial failure of our crops, but last year was
one of unusual plenty. We can not xpect in
the future to surDass In our productions the
bountiful yield of last year. And yet when
our people come TO market their u plus, they
find that their taxes and their interest ON the
debts they owe have absorbed IL all. and The