The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-09-15
ISSUES OF THE CANVASS.
GEN. GARFIELD'S RECORD on THE
DECENTRALIZATION OF SILVER.
History Of That Measure.

what overshadowed by the more absorb
ing one involving the existence of civil
liberty and constitutional government
in the United States, is nevertheless
intrinsically and practically important
! in its relations TO the Presidential cleo
ton The whole weight of the Hayes
/ Administration Is thrown in favor of
/ Gen. Garfield's election. Four of the
Cabinet are actively engaged in the can
vass, with John Sherman, the Secretary
I Of. the Treasury in the lead, the cham
pion Of the anti-silver money ring, and
the defiant nullifer of the law restoring
that metal to its legal tender functions.
lie not only refuses to do what the peo-
pie, speaking though their representa-
tives, required should be done, viz: to
use the silver coin in payment Of the in
terest and principal Of the public debt,
but he has recommended that its coin
age be totally discontinued, and his
recommendation is backed up by the
President in his last message to Con-
gress 1t Is understood that if Gen
Garfield should be elected, Sherman
viii be kept at the head of the Treasu-
~ department to enforce the policy to
which he is committed, and to which
he has desperately adhered even to the
extent Of defying the will Of the people
as embodied in the law remonetizing
silver
The history Of the infamous law de
signed to destroy silver forever as
money metal, may not be known to all
ourreadcrs. twas passed insidiously-
aimed like an assassin's blow, in the dark,
at the industrial interests Of the coun-
try, by the agents Of the money ring.
II was first reported from the Commit
tee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures,
I by Representative Hooper, Of AIassa-
chusetts, February 9th, 1872, under
bill entitled. An Act to regulate the
minis, pay offices, and coinage Of the
/ the United States" Pending the con
sideration Of the bill, Mr. Hooper said
/ "Mr Ernest Seyd, Of London, a dis
/ tinguishcd gentleman who has given
great attention to the subject of mints
and coinage, after examining the first
draft of the bill, furnished many
valuable suggestions which have
been incorporated in the bill This
Mr. Scyd was paid writer Of one of Eu
ropes heaviest BODYBUILDING firms. The
remark Of Representative Hooper shows
that the measure was dictated by Euro
pean capitalists; and it has been charg
/ ed since, that it was bribed through
Congress by the expenditure of $780,,
900, contributed by the bond-holders,
whose object was to enhance the value
Of theis securities by striking down one
Of the coin mOuies Of our government.
so as to compel their payment III gold
ut Il valuation which would thereby be
greatly increased After some debate,
and protest. on the part of leading De
mocratic Representatives, tbs bill was
passed by the Republican House of Re
representatives.. The serpent that lurked |
in the bill, viz: the demonstration /
clause, ,as carefully covered up by the +
title which did not denote its existence.
Only three of the seventy-seven Sec
tions related to the silver question. Sec
ton ! / declared that hereafter the gold
dollar should be our unit sf value, thus
departing from the custom of the goy-
ernment from the time it was founded. /.
Section Is provides that the silver coins
shall be trade dollar, q hall dollar, a
quarter dollar, etc, > = < and said
coins shall be legal tender at their
nominal value for any amount not er'
ceediag fire dollars IN any one payment,
Section II declares that no coins either
of gold or silver, or mlnor coinage shall
be hereafter issued from the mint Others
chan those Of the denomination and
standard iborein set forth. Thus the
old silver dollar th&I lad been in use
from the formation of the Onion @QYn
10 that period and which was u part of
1.-THE coin" in which it was written on
the face of the bonds they should be
paid, was abolished, and gold made the
only standard. The bill was reported /
from the Committee on Finance in the /,
Senate by the same Mr.. John Sherman,
who is now AT the head of the Treasury /
Department, and is defying the law /
which was designed partially to restore
it to its original functions He cum
ningly suggested that as the bill was
intended merely to regulate minis, as
say, pay offices, ETC., its printing and
reading was unnecessary. On the 10Th of
January, 1873, after brief debate
upon some of the minor details of the
measure, the weightier matter which
was kept in the background, having
apparently escaped observation, the bill
passed.
Such is the astounding history of a
scheme which was conceived in fraud
and brought forth in iniquity. 1t was
the offspring of bribery and disgrace
to the United States Congress Its
success is one of the marvels of the
times. The people were in total igno-
rance of what was DONE The Southern
States were at that time represented by
adventures who cared little for the
effeetof legislation on the public well
fare. The fact of the destruction of
this coin money of the Constitution,
came upon the country like clap of
thunder in a clear sky. The people
saw with amazement that at one fell
swoop, the old silver dollar which had
! ] j.