The daily gazette., 1878-01-30
The silver Question.
DEBATE IN THE SENATE ON TUESDAY

DEBATE IN THE SENATE ON TUESDAY
SPEECH OF MR.. WALLACE.
M. Wallace (Pa.) said for the first
time IN the history Of this country he
government Is urged by great interest
70 put and keep silver in subordinare
place and To make gold the sole measure
Of value, 70 add to the value Of gold by
debasIng and degrading silver. Such has
never been our policy. The doctrine
pushed to its logical conclusion is, reduce
the measure Of values, lower the price of
commodities, lessen the wages OF the
toller. Against this our history protests.
Our demand for coinage must increase
the value Of bullion rs a commodity. IL
is this law that has deprecated silver and
appreciated gold. Legal tender function
or debt-payiDg power adds to the value Of
the coin. 1t Is this that gives power and
value to paper legal tenders. Our sub
sidiary coin Is worth but eighty cents as
bullion, but 1t passes as one hundred
: cents. England keeps in circulation
1900 900 Of subsidiary coin ut one hum
dred cents, whilst IL Is worth but eighty.
Legal tender power Is equal to twenty
per cent. In this ca,,. The thaler Is legal
tender In Germany and the five franc in
France they maintain their relative
position, although all other silver depre-
Citations. I'D aau o. -A1l
1t IL argued that the use of gold in
equity compels us to return the same
metal Practically, notes and bonds were
exchanged for bonds, geld or coin was
rarely paid. The creditor who gave us
gold, took his option and paid in the
/ cheaper metal before 1873. Gold was the
cheaper. Silver, up to 1873, was above
par. They had an option In payment,
and we gave them an obligation reserv-
ing our option to pay, An equity can
violation of express contract. On the
face of the contract was the express
agreement to pay in either metal those
| who bought since 1873. The law gave no
one right to waive an option, but the
| very reverse. IL , 4
The bond bought in 1875 expressed the
! contract In plain terms. Full notice was
given. No estoppel can arise on such q
an eq,iity repeals the constitutio onal power
4 to regulate the value of our coin. Policy
or expediency give 1t no higher standing
| Our first duty is to be Just. Referring To
the act of 1873, demonetizing silver, Mr..
! Wallace argued that it was passed in O
secret manner in the dark, and the duty
of Congress now was to repeal 1t. nil
~ REMARKS OF MIR. BAyARD.
Mr.. Bayard, (dem.) of Del, said he did
not propose now 70 give any extended
4 expression of his views upon the remon
etization of silver. He was not in favoi
of aboiishing silver as coin of the copn
TRY. Should 1t be in his power, with on
disturbance to the business and credi
of the country, to restore silver as money
the effort would not be wanting on his
lpart, he argued that the silver dollar
when IL was demonetized was worth 10;
and no one used 1t except the bullioI
broker and the man who, wanted IL fo
smelling purposes. The gold dollar wa
worth 100 cents and the silver dollal
worth 1903 cents, and, as a consequence
we. lost the undervalued coin. In tn
commercial world one ounce of gold wa
worth la ounces of silver. Could W,
frame coinage law which would be IL
disregard OF this fact without losing tina
metal undervalued? How could we af
fix false statement to our coin and de
clare that sixteen ounces of silver ii
America was worth Ia ounces anywler,
else? We do not live in this world b,
ourselves. We are but one of the famil,
of nations and must be guided by the ex
Iperience Of other nations. He argued
that this silver bill, in substance, propos
ed that two men should approach tn,
mint, one with silver and the other witt
gold; that the government should STAMP
the silver and raise 1t ten per cent in val
J ne, and, at the same time, stamp tn,
} gold, but raise it nothing in value. H,
. could not support such measure.