Morris tribune., 1884-01-05
MUST COIN SILVER.
90 Says Congressman Bslford, Of
silver.Producing Colorado.
No Matter if the Vaults Get Full,
Build More and Issue Ger.
tifleates...The Kelley
Bill Criticised.

NEW YORK, Jan. 3.-A Washington dis
patch to The Times says: Chairman Bland
| Of the committee ON coinage, weights ant
measures Of the house of representatives
will have earnest support from at least one o
his fellow-committeemen in his opposition Il
Judge Kelley's scheme to limit the coinage O.
standard silver dollars Congressman Bel
ford thinks it could not be possible for ont
to go further wrong on the silver question
than the Pennsylvania protectionist has il
| his proposed bill. Judge Kelley hopes BY
virtually stopping the coinage of the standard
dollar to force England to unite with France
Germany, and the United States in restoring
silver to its true value Of 20 cents per ounce
by the establishment Of bimetalism by inter.
| national treaty. This hope, Mr. Belford
said in conversation, could never be realized
by any such means as Judge Kelley proposed.
On the contrary, the only true way to force
E gland to take the desired position was the
exact opposite of the Kelley plan.
"We must, 3 id the Colorado congressman,
"coin every bit OF our s.ver except that
which is used in tho arts, and store it up and
so on coming and storing it up. Let the
government issue silver certificates and keep
the dollars. I don't care it we get pile
big enough to fill the whole treasury building
and have to build an extra store-house. There
are the silver certificates and Wen take
them. There's no trouble about carrying
them in our pockets. There they are with
the government promise to redeem them in
coin. and there's the coin in the treasury ready
to redeem them on demand. Suppose
we coin all our silver and hoard it up, it
won't go into China then nor into In,!ia, ami
how long will it be before England viii be in
want Of it? Judge Kelley wants to appreciate
silver by stopping its coming. which won't do
it. want to appreciate it by coming it all,
not storing it as bullion, but in dollars, and
keeping it, and that will do it. If the west
and south allow the east to suspend silver
coinage it will never be resumed. The east,
then, with New York aud Pennsylvania, isn't
big enough to wag the west and south, and it
won't.
During the conversation Mr.. Belford re-
marked that silver was the unit of value
when the states coined their own money, and
tae states gave the pe wer to coin their money
to the general government only because they
could not secure uniformity of the old Mexi-
can dollar by legislation among themselves.
They gave the government power to issue
coin, and the constitution says "coin" was
gold and silver. 1t was a question, in Mr..
Belford's mind. whether the government had
a constitutional right to give up the power to
issue coin given it by the states. The trouble
was, MIR. Belford said, that the holders of
United States bonds were after gold. They
held bonds which bore the statement that
they were redce NJ bl in coin, and because
silver was not worth quite as much as it once
was they are striving hard to make "coin"
mean "gold."
Referring again to the Kelley bill, MIR.
Belford declared that it would have a mighty
tough time to get through the committee on
coinage, weights and measures. Indeed"
said Mr.. Belford, "it is as dead as Lazarus.
with no Savior in sight" Any similar meas
are would meet with like fate Incidently
be remarked that the silver-mining industry
was prosperous, as he knew personally, despite
loud talk to the contrary. Colorado would
produce from SIS, ,OO0, 900 to $4,000, 900 of
silver this year. Regarding the proposition
10 recoin the trade dollar, MIR. Belford in
imated that there was big Job in
;he scheme. If, he said, he went to
} cigar-stand and offered trade dol
ar for q weed it would only be taken for 80 |
,ents Spectators had bought up the trade |
lollars by the millions at this figure, AMI now |
hey hoped to make nice pile by having the
government buy the dollars back for much
more than they paid. Mr.. Belford was, how
'ver, inclined to agree with Mr.. Bland that
t the trade dollars were recoined they should
lot be bought as bullion and reckoned as
'art of the bullion the government is re-
luired by law to purchase. He was not GER
ain what would happen in Mr.. Ban s COM
nittee to trade dollar recoinage measures,
md he did not think it safe to predict what
he majority Of the house would do when
uch measures were brought before it.