The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-09-16
MR., FORT, OF ILLINOIS.

Mr.. FORT, of Illinois. Mr.. Speaker,
there are many things in and affected
by this bill which it might be we'll to dis
Cuss. 1t seems to me, however, that the
principal question now before the
House is whether silver should continue
TO be demonetized as a coin of the Uni
ted States. If ! have read and under
stood the laws Alright, up to 1873 silver
coin in standard dollars was a legal ten
der to any amount for all debts both
public and private, and had so been a
legal tender for all debts since about the
year 1892, If that be so, why was it de-
monetized? Let those who did it an
swer. 1t will occur to every gentleman
here that all or nearly all Of the public
debt OF this country was contracted
while silver in standard dollars was a
full legal tender for all sums. And
nearly all the private debts Of the people
OF this country, at least all that are
three years old, were also contracted
while silver in the form of silver stand
ard dollars was a full legal tender to
any amount. And as a matter of course
all OF such debts we're legally and in
equity payable in silver coin of the Uni
ted States And no creditor of the
Government, whether resident or for.
eign, could ask or expect his debt to be
paid in anything better, and no private
citizen had any right to demand any
thing else of his debtor up to that date.
That had been the law of our country
for more than eighty years.
With this law upon our statute books,
venerable for its age and for its dis
tinguished paternity, our Government
negotiated all its immense loans and
borrowed its billions of dollars with
which to carry on war and conquer
peace And in this silver coin of the
standard dollar it agreed to pay the
lender. And never in any one instance
did it promise to pay exclusively in any
other coin.
In 1873 the law of eighty years stand
ing by which silver dollars had been
made legal tender was repealed.
ask the gentleman to search the records
and see if that question was ever dis
cussed in Congress. No, Mr.. Speaker,
it was put through under the suspen-
sion OF the rules at the bidding of the
bond-holders, and, as the CONGRESSIONAL
Record shows, without even being read
to the House. OF course was not here
at that time, bat l have examined the
records, and state that so far as they
show, the House was not advised that
this old, time-honored law was even TO
be modified, TO say nothing Of its being
repealed by the then pending bill.
This little mischievous law repeating
the legal tender quality Of silver dollars
was stolen through Congress, as be-
lieve, by being Hidden in the body Of O
long bill protesting only to modify the
coinage laws, and was not discovered by
the good mon who we're on guard here
then.
And, Mr.. Speaker, one thing is GER
tain, that no matter what transpired
here in Congress, the fact remains that
the repeal Of that old law was never dis.
cussed before the people. They were
never asked TO give their views upon
the question or consent to repeating the
legal.tender quality of silver, with the
payment Of which they might make
good almost all their promises. Why
was this repeal? / know not It GER
tainly was not in the interest Of the tax
payers. I imagine, from the speech Of