Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-03-13
FRIDAY MORNING. MAR. IS, 1885.

at bis option, taken in the closing hours
of the Forty eighth Congress. shows in
analysis that it was not drawn on party
lines, but was the result, equally with the
vote on the Morrison bill last winter. of
locality End interest without reference to
party views. In the Virginia delegation
the vote was: for giving the President tie
power-Messrs. Bowen. (Rep.,) Barbour,
(Dem.,l Garrison, (Dem.) and Tucker,
(Dem.); against it-Messrs. Cabell, . Fer
rail- and G. D. Wise, all Democrats; alb
sent-Messrs. Hooper, Libbey and John
5. Wise, all Republicans. Of the 152
votes which struck the power giving
clause out, 119 were Democrats and SO
Republicans. OF the 11S votes for retain
ing the clause. 81 were Democrats and ga
Republicans. The Democrats who voted
with the Republicans to retain the clause
were chiefly from the large cities and
money centres. Among the Democrats
who voted to give the President the pow
er of suspension we're Randall, HeWett, of
N. Y, Cox of N. Y, Ellis of La, Bel
LULU VI N duu SOatCIOO VI oulOs Shu
among the Republicans on the same side
we're Hiscock, 1.-THE Republican leader in
the House,) Kelly of Pa, Horr of Mich,
Poland of Vt, Phelps of N. J., Ray OF N.
H., and Washburn of MINI. Among the
Democrats who voted to refuse the power
to the President. were Holman of Ind !,
Mills of Texas, Blackburn of KY, Brock
inridge of Ark, English Of Ind, Reagan
Of Texas, Rosecrans of CAL, Springer of
Ill, Vance of N. c.. Warner of Ohio, and
Willis of KY, and among the Republicans
who voted on that side were keifer of
Ohio, Bedford of COL, Goff of W. Va,
Kellogg of La, and Weaver of Nebraska.
We cannot, in looking at the vote, help
was no easy task for the one hundred and
nineteen Democratic representatives to
vote in opposition to the expressed views
of the first Democratic President that has
been elected in twenty five years. There
are manifold temptations, too, for men,
Der of the House to vote along with an in
coming administration of his own party.
But neither sentiment nor personal inter-
est seem to have affected the vote Those
Democrats who favored giving the Presi-
dent the power of suspending silver col
mage, voted that way, and those, who did
not 80 think voted the other. The latter
to our mind expressed the sentiments of
the great majority of the people of the
oouptru No Procjdopf ourht fo hauo ha
power over the currency Of the country.
which that clause would have given him,
any more than he should have the power
to declare war. In the next place, the
Wall street idea of the finances of this
country isn't to be relied upon. The
country has not yet forgotten that seven
years ago, when a Democratic Congress
had up the proposition to refund the debt
at per cent, Wall street said it was an
experiment of idiocy and that such bond
could not be floated at par. Besides what
it could do itself. it Ianicked many of the
country banks into retiring their circu-
lati0n, and altogether got up such fur
ry that poor Hayes was frightened into
sOGOldS uAO Dli1s hO dCA1 J ORA IuO LlCoc-
ure was accomplished, the bonds sold
above par, and are so selling to-day, the
country banks saw their folly, and the
world outside of New York State lost its
faith in Wall streets provision of fnan-
cial ruin.
1t is not question Of finance, but of
fate, that both gold and silver are to be
the currency of the world and the more
there is of both in circulation the better.
The world is heaping up great debts every
day, and every day the yield of the gold
mines is less and less. If public debts are
to ba paid in coin at all, they must be paid
In silver as we'll as gold, and any effort to
prevent 1t is but a short way to panic. The
silver coinage Of this Republic enabled it
resume specie payment. 1t is honest mon
sy. AS the National Democratic Chicago
platform of 1884 says:
"We believe in honest money, the gold and
silver coinage of the Constitution, and a cir
culating medium convertible into such money
without loss"
The war against silver has been waged
ceaseiessly by every Secretary Of the
Treasury since the bill was passed in 1878.
We have been told that silver is 'heaped
up in idle piles" in the government vaults
The report of Secretary McCulloch on the
first of this year shows that there are one
hundred and twenty-five millions of gold
in idle piles there. and only thirty-six mil
lions of silver! The statistics show that
while only three-fourths of the gold of the
country is in circulation among the people,
more than four-fifths of the silver Of the
country is in circulation. And again we
are told the old story about the silver
standard dollars being only worth IS cents
silver dollar is worth a gold dollar and
will purchase anything a gold dollar will
even the gold to make the gold dollar
The silver dollar of the United States is
nearer the gold dollar than the fve-franc
silver piece Of France is to the fve-franc
gold piece of that country. And France
which has only thirty-si millions Of peo-
pie to our fifty millions, has six hundred
millions of dollars of silver in circulation
to our two hundred millions! Again, we
hear the old story about the amount of
gold in the Treasury becoming too small
to pay the National gold obligations
There are no National gold Obligations Not
one of any sort Not one bond, contract
note or other obligation which the gov
eminent has stipulated to pay in gold, land
they exist only in the minds of the "gold
bugs" Our government can do and
should do just as France does. It should