The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-03
MUST COIN SILVER.
30 Says Congressman Bellord, OF
Silver-Producing Colorado.
No Matter IL the Vaults Get Full.
Z z Rnild More and Issue Ger
tificates---The Kelley
Bill Criticised.

NEW York, JAN "a Washington dis
patch to The Times says: Chairman Bland
of the committee on coinage, weights and
measures of The house of representatives,
VIII have earnest support from at least one of
his fellow committeeman in his opposition to
Judge Kelley'S scheme to limit the coinage of
standard silver dollars. Congressman Bel
ford thinks it could not be possible for one
to go further wrong on the silver question
than the Pennsylvania protectionist has in
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 60 cents per ounce
BY the establishment of bimetallisIu 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.
ave must said the Colorado congressman,
"coin every bit of our siver except that
winch is used in the arts, and store it up aud
so On coming and storing it up. Let the
government issue silver certificates and keep
the dollars. l don't care il we get a pile
/. big enough to fill the whole treasury building
ani have to build an extra store-house. There
are the silver certificates and well take
them. There's no trouble about carrying
them in our pockets. There they are with
the government promise to redeem them in
cola, 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 India, ANA
how long will it be before England will be in
want of it. Judge Kelley waits 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 viii never be resumed The east,
then, with New York and Pennsylvania, isn't
big enough to wag the west and SOUTH and it
won't
During the conversation Mr. Bedford re
marked that silver was the unit Of value
when the states coined their own money, and
the states gave the re 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 q question, in Mr..
Beiford's mind, whether the government had
Il constitutional right to give up the power to
issue coin given it by the states. The trouble
was, Mir. Bedford said, that the holders of
United States bonds were after gold. They
held bonds which bore the statement that
they were redee nc 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, Mr..
Belford declared that it would have mighty
tough time to get through the committee on
coinage, weights and measures Indeed"
said Mr.. Belford, 1T is as dead as Lazarus,
with no Savior in sight" Any similar meas
ure would meet with like fate. Incidently
ne remarked that the silyer-mining industry
was prosperous, as he knew personally despite
loud talk to the contrary. Colorado would
produce from SIS, 900, 900 to $50 900, 900 of
silver this year. Regarding the proposition
to recon the trade dollar Mr. Bedford in
timated that there was big job in
the scheme. II, be said, he went to
a cigar-staRd and offered a trade dol
lar for weed it would only be taken for 90
cents. Spectators had bought up the trade
dollars by the millions at this figure, and now
they hoped to make a nice pile by having the
DuJ iidCA LOT llucn
more than they paid. Mr.. Belford was, how
ever, inclined to agree with Mr.. Bland that
if the trade dollars were recoined they should
not be bought as bullion and reckoned as
part of the bullion the government is re-
quired by law to purchase. He was not GER
tain what would happen in Mr.. Ban IS COM
mittee to trade dollar recoinage measures,
and he did not think it safe to predict what
ba mo fOrity Of fhe, hor1Sa would y Trho,,
such measures were brought before it.