The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-25
THE SILVER BILL.
What will be the Effect Of the Pas
sage Of This Bill.
The Burdens Of Municipal Indebtedness
Our Municipal Debts Ali Falling Due
in the Next Fifteen Years.

Special Correspondence Of the Democratl
WASHINGTON, May IS, 1879.
The debate on
THE SILVER BILL
In the House has been prolonged consldera-
bly, beyond tho period originally assigned 10
1t, the understanding at the beginning o. lase
week having been that the previous question
would be called last Thurday and vote
reached at the close Of the morning hour on
Friday But Saturday found the discussion
still In full blast, and the week closed with
vote on an amendment, which was significant
mainly as test OF the sense Of the House on
the main question. That is to say, the
amendment was one proposed by Springer,
Of Illinois himself one Of tho most ardent
advocates Of
AN EXPANSIVE COINAGE
but for all that the effect Of his amendment
would have been to kill the bill In the end;
whether 50 designed by It's author or not II Is
impossible to say. But be this as 1t may. the
amendment was defeated by one vote, and
that the casting vote of the Speaker.
| / will not consume any space Ia speculation
as to the prospects Of Warmers bill; my OBJ
| iect being to review the debate on 1t cursorily
| to give an idea Of the financial notions that
prevail with the majority in the House. At
the outset 1t must be known that the whole
power OF Radical caucus discipline, backed
| nv the force Of the administration and REIN
forced by the personal influence OF John
Sherman. has been from the first exerted to
secure
i ~
| BILL.
| Could this have been accomplished the bill
would have been defeated; for fifteen Demo-
ocrats have voted against 1t steadily On every
| test that has arisen, and 1t Is known that
| three more making eighteen, will vote against
| 1t when 1t shall be put on It's passage. These
| eighteen Democrats added to the solid Re-
publican vote would have beaten the rest OF
the Democrats and the Greenbackers ny two
majority. But eight Republicans will vote
| for the bill as 1t stands now and therefore 1t
Iwil 90 through by not far from fourteen ma
Esvrity on fall vote-which. by the way, 10
/ sure to be had whenever the main question Ia
put.
| You will observe by the test votes that
| GEN. GIBSON
| has voted steadily against the bill. Or rather
it would be- more accurate to say that he has
| steadily voted against what may be called
! the currency-expandiDg features Of 1t, which
| form Its essence 1t Is not my province to
ciitfcse these votes Of Gen. Gibson his
| financial views are as well known to his con-
stituents as they are to me, and SO, for that
matter, are bis reasons for them. He ma kes
no secret either Of his Intentions or his doc
trines on this point, and he votes as he talks,
both In and out Of Congress.
4 The only conversation have had with him
on the subject since the Bland bill was before
the House occurred the other day. and AS it
was quite to the point will give the sub
stance of It.:
Ii H.
majority OF the Democratic party In the
HousesshOuld support the bill and the Repub-
iicans should oppose 1t soltdly, he could not
consistently refrain from voting and let the
record 20 to the country with an unbroken
i Democratic 'front.'
His reply was that, In the first place. such
a contingency as mentioned would not oc-
cur, because the Republicans would break on
VT enough to destroy any effect that an I'M
broken party front might otherwise have,
whiethera were certain Eastern Democrats
and Frank Hurd, Deuster and Morrison from
the Western side, who would vote against the
bill in any event, 80 that the party front
would be broken irrespective OF any sacrifice
ha himself might be willing to make. Besides
aIlthis he said the effect OF passing this bill
as distinctively Democratic measure In a
national sense would be to precipitate now
A the settlement Of o question which ought to
LEFT FOR THE COMING NATIONAL CONvEN-
TION TO DECIDE,
to wit: The question whether the South in the
next presidential canvass should adopt the
so-called Western alliance and leave New
York, Connecticut and New Jersey out Of the
calculation altogether. That matter, Gibson
said was not in his judgment ready for de-
; cision at this time, and, therefore, he wished
to avoid any party action that might amount
to prejudgment
He said, In addition, that, 90 lar IS persons
were concerned, he was for nobody and
against nobody; that he Was for the best
ticket that could be nominated, and as he
thought 1t was too early to select candidates
he also believed 1T WAS too soon to prescribe
any platform which might be calculated. In q
great measure, to preordain the choice OF 9
candidate.
OF course there Is no rational ground or
which to criticise these expressions, 80 far az
they GO Viewed as propositions In politlca
strategy, they are not valuable enough tt
make IN attempt at refutation worth while
But there is a serious question whether thu
matter can be exhaustively considered from
that point Of view: whether there Is not II
the tenor and logic OF the liver bill an aspect
OF general relief; d blow struck at
THE MONEY MONOPOLY,
, which is the Democratic party's worst ant
greatest enemy; which takes precedence 0
any proposition of political strategy pure ant
simple. TO me the question seems to turf
i upon very plain point; that IS, that Tn
debts which this people owe never can pc pale
under the operation Of gold standard Q
! value, and that any attempt to force suci
payment is bound to result either In bank
Lfuptcy, anarchy or empire, sooner or later.
"A The Glearest statement vet made on thi
: point was that OF Proctor Knott who said tn
: other day that the silver dollar was as good
dollar as it ever had been, and was worth |
hundred cents; whereas the gold dollar
which coterie OF money-kings was trying t.
force upon this country, was In fact worth
hundred and fifteen cents, and the money
/ kings wanted to collect their mortgages at
hundred and fifteen cents on the dollar!
II the country owed nothing but the ma
] tional debt. its tremendous resources coul'
undoubtedly stand the strain OF gold pay
ment, viewing it simply as matter OF posi-
} biltty and leaving out the question OF equity
But what really Expresses the people is tn
} multitude Of State county,
MUNICIPAL AND CORPORATE DEBTS,
amounting In the aggregate to nearly as muc
; as the national debt, bearing higher rate 9
interest, and not relieved by. the almost com
T~Io