The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-01-20
SPEECH OF Hon. J. R. CHALMERS.
What Will be Saved to the Tax-Pay-
erS by Paying the Bonds Ac cord
ing to Contract.
The Silver Dollar Of 412 and One Half
Grains the Unit of Value.

House Representatives,, January 8, 1871
Mr. CHALMERS. Mr. Chairman, we hay
a debt of about six hundred and seyent
million dollars which it is constantly sal
natures in 1881, but which in truth onl
becomes payabl. then if We choose to pay
OF this debt about two hundred million
bear per cent, and about four hundre
and seventy millions 5 per cent interest
and we are asked to refund this debt, il
order to save interest, into bonds bearing
per cent; some say into bonds having many
years to run, and others say into Treasur.
notes payable in twelve years. Whether W.
shall refund this debt or not involves two
questions one mere question of dollars
and cents, and the other grave question
of governmental science.
The first question depends upon the fact
| which no man has yet affirmed or can affirm
| whether we can borrow money at per cent
or not But for the sake of the argument
am willing to admit that we can borrow
money at 3 per cent. even on Treasury
| notes payable in from two to twelve years,
! and yet / am not convinced that we can save
any money by the operation. Ifit be true,
as asserted, that we can by proper applca-
| ton of the coin now in the Treasury and
our annual surplus revenue pay off this debt
in six years there will be but little differ
six years or 3 per cent. for twelve years.
Governments are like individuals and
debt postponed is too often regarded
debt discharged, and the money which
would pay the debt is liable to be used for
other and perhaps unnecessary purposes. l
am opposed, therefore, to any postponement
of the debt and any diversion of our funds
on hand or our surplus revenues from its
payment. / believe there is more certainty
IfS IiGpbarua and +
tempting to pay the debt as it stands than
in attempting to refund it in any manner
whatever. Again, | am opposed to refund-
ing this debt because it will change the con-
tract.
These bonds are now payable, both prin-
cipal and interest," in silver, and If we
change the contract we may lose the adj
vantage and may bind ourselves to pay
them in gold. | listened with pleasure and
also with profit to the learned and exhaus
tive argument on this bill from the distin-
guished gentleman from Ohio Mr.. War
ner, but | had one serious objection to his
speech.
He said these bonds were by the letter Of
the contract payable either i'll silver or gold
-fl23 grains of one metal to the dollar and
25.S grains of the other. This proposition | |
deny. | deny that there was any such |
double meaning to the word dollar when |
these bonds were issued, and | defy any |
man to show it, The word dollar con |
trolls all of our contracts, and this word |
depends for its meaning upon the definition |
given to it by law. There is no such thing
as dollar of commerce or dollar of the
world. There is Spanish dollar and an
American dollar, both of which are defined
by law and dependent entirely upon law for
their meaning The promise IN these bonds
are promises to pay dollass in coin Of its
then standard value and it was the duty of
those who took these bonds, if they did not
know, to examine the statutes of the United
States and learn what was meant by this
word dollar. If they had examined the law,
or if the gentlemen of this House will now
examine it, they will find nowhere from
1892 to 1873 any statute defining dollar to
be 25.S grains of gold There was not dur
these bonds were issued, any definition of
the word dollar except in grains of silver
In l249, when for the first time a gold
dollar was authorized to be coined, the
statute said gold dollar shall be coined of
The value of dollar. The first coinage act
Of 1902 defined a dollar to be 37I4 grains of
pure, or 4164 grains standard silver. The
act of 1887 reduced the amount of alloy,
making il
4124 GRAINS OF STANDARD SILVER,
md that was the definition and the only
definition of the word dollar at the time
when the gold dollar was first authorized
% be coined and when these bonds were
ssued. That then was the dollar of the
contract and that is the only dollar these !
could collect if they were suing
IN these bonds in a court of law. :
But we have been told that the silver
lollar is dishonest dollar and that it is
yorth but eighty-seven cents. n our coin
Ige the cent is copper piece, and | might :
eply by saying that the bullion value of :
cent is about the eigth- hundredth part of q
silver dollar. Or might say that in legal =
the cent is always the one Q
lundredth part ola dollar, and therefore it >
5 absurd to speak of a dollar as worth but :
ighty-seven cents, But l know that gen
lemen who use this language mean that +
121 grads of silver in bullion valGeis only Q
worth eighty-seyen cents if 25.8 grains of
old be the standard of dollar. i
And this brings us to the most serious y
uestion in this matter of our coinage. The /
ollar is our unit Of value and while am n
q favor of bimetalism in our coinage, am I
opposed to a double standard of value. Gold q
nd silver vary in their relative value, and n
ne must be the standard to measure the !,
alue of the other From 1892 to 1878 n
liver was the standard by which we o
leasured gold and in 1884 and 1897, when
-e found that 270 grains of gold which
opposed the eagle was more than of the
alue of ten silver dollars, we said 25S Il
rains of gold should be an eagle. But in
373 for the first time, 25.S grains of gold b
-as defined to be dollar, and the unit of c.
alue. This statute stopped the coinage of a
liver dollars but it did not repeal the a
.atute which said 4123 grains of silver is
lould be a dollar and the unit of value, so q
nat then, for the first time, we had double h
.andard, although for a term we had no Q
Tn 1879 | 4
ne silver coinage, and now we have both Il
imetalism and a double standard These Al
onds, as l have said, were issued when we 81
ad the single silver standard, and if we n
efund them now we may subject ourselves
pay in gold. Our friend from New York el
Mr. Chittendenl tells US the silver dollar IL
wooth thirteen cents less than the gold u
ollar, and if this is so, and we pay in gold al
debt that is payable in silver, we lose b
THIRTEEN CENTS on EVERY DOLLAR, n
nd about eighty-seven millions in the pay 70
lent of these bonds The people of the a
nited States have been swindled enough sc
the refunding of our debt and hope no 81
lore such frauds will be practiced upon b
lem- We lost millions by refunding the in
onds payable in greenbacks into bonds pay Sc
Die in coin, and we viii lose millions more in
we refund bonds payable in silver into Il
Onds payable in gold. 70
IF we were out of debt we might select "
ay standard we chose, and if we were the IA
'editor nation of the world we might select vi
lat metal which has most frequently en-
anced in value and is likely in future to pc
: the most valuable; but we are debtor dc
sople and good faith requires that we th
lould preserve, as nearly as possible, our pc
ws as they stood when our debts were Ia
For at last all coins, whatever bl
ay be their bullion value, are made legal te
nder money only by law. The bullion L
al4e of one hundred copper cents is about
velve cents, and yet their money value, 30
hen coined, is one dollar. The bullion II
alne of one hundred nickles is about sew III
lty-6ve cents, and yet their money value pl