Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-03-02
LAST NIGHTS NEWS.
ESPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE EHooRD-usIos.l
DOMESTIC.
Representative Reagan Replies to the
Presid ent=eIect on the Silver Question.

WASHINGTON, March 1st.-Representative
Reagan, of Texas, has published state
ment on the silver question in reply to
President-elect Cleveland S anti-silver letter.
| Reagan says: THE President-elect makes
/ this extraordinary statement that silver and
silver certificates have displaced, and are
now displacing, gold, and the sum of gold
in the Federal treasury now available tor
! the payment of the gold obligations of the
! United States, and for the redemption OF
! United States notes called greenbacks, II
not already encroached upon, is perilously
near such encroachment and he follows
! this statement with one that these are facts,
which, as they do not admit of difference
| of opinion, call for no argument.
Those familiar with legislation
upon this subject cannot fail
| to feel a sense of establishment at
such statement Who has advised the
| President-elect that the legal-tender notes,
| three hundred and forty-six or three hun
bred and forty sevel millions, in circula-
| ton are to be redeemed in gold, or are to
| be redeemed at all? By Act of Congress,
passed by two-thirds of both houses over
| the veto of the President, it was determined
to make these legal-tender notes part OF
| the volume of the currency of the country,
and when taken by the Treasury to be re-
|
| Government should change, and their re-
demption should be required, they would
be redcemable in gold and silver coin OF
the United States Of the present standard oil
weight and finenesS. To what gold obhSa.
| tons of the Government he refers do not
know, for the United States does no! owe
single bond which is not also payable III
gold and silver coin of the United States
of the present weight and fineness The
! President-elect quotes against the United
States reports of the Republican Secretary
of the Treasury, which have been made up
on the theory of hostility to silver and in
violation of law, in preventing its use as
money. | do not understand the policy
| indicated in the letter of the President
elect of preserving the use of silver already
coined by the hostile act for the suspension
of the coinage of silver in 1875, when the
Republicans demonetized silver. We were
then laboring under a severe financial de-
preston, Just as we are laboring under a
! financial depression now, and the policy
then adopted Of taking away from the peo-
| pie the use of half of the metal money OF
| the world resulted, as it would result now,
| if done, in embarrassing every branch OF
| business, increasing failures and bank
ruptcy everywhere, i'll throwing the
laboring population out of employment
and in every county, from Maine to Califor-
MIA, property would be sold for taxes on
account of the scarcity of money, as it was
| then. We ought not to invite a similar
condition cf things again. The effect OF
the suspension Df the coinage of silver, or
! IL characterization. would be to make il
scarce and dear, and to make labor cheap
and plentiful, and To interrupt the indus
| tries of the country generally 4 further
effect of it would be to distinctly annul the
! law of Congress as between the debtor and
creditor classes To compel the payment OF
the bonded debts 81 the United States and
the debts of the Tarious corporations, and
| the private debts of the people, amounting
III the aggregate "a many billions of dollars
III gold, which now, by law, are payable in
gold and silver, and it can be demon
srated that the decentralization OF
silver now, and the adoption of gold
standard alone, would result in requiring
more bales of cotton, i'll requiring more
tons of bar iron, and requiring more sacri-
fees of property, 10 pay the present debt OF
about Sl5O0O0,000 than would have been
required to pay the whole debt as it stood
! in 1866 of s., 500 100000. 1t is urged BY
many that We should follow the example
! Of Great Britain in demOnetizing silver.
| While Great Britain has demonetized silver
| =
less than IS. equivalent to about $25, and
uses a much larger proportion of silver
than we do IN ordinary business transac-
tons Great Britain was peculiarly stu
ated, and had a peculiar reason for the
demonstration Of silver Being the great
creditor nation of the world, and the
wealth of her people very largely being
made up of interest bearing securities
| held upon other Governments of the
world, and upon corporations of other
! Governments OF the world, whatever would
| increase the difficulty in the payment OF
these securities necessarily adds TO their
value, and by declaring that silver, con
! shutting about one-half of the Hlctal money
of the world shall not be used in their
payment, and that they shall be paid in
gold alone, the difficulty Of paving them
was SO increased and their valuation with
reference to property Of the world out OF
which they would be paid, was relatively
greatly decreased. Besides this, Great
| Britain is not Il silver-producing country
| On the other hand, the United States wa:
and is one OF the great debtor nations of the
world. The States Of the Union and the
| corporations of the United States are great
debtors, and they are to be sufferers from
destroying Il large part of the means by
which these debts can be paid. Besides this
the United States is the largest silver-prO-
ducinr country in the world. Silver is one OF
! the great sources Of our national wealth, and
we have been asked to strike down this
great source of national wealth. SO far our
! interests are exactly opposite to the inter
ests of Great Britain, and demand an en-
tirelv different policy. 1t has been urged
| by gentlemen who have come here from
| New York to advise upon this subject that
gold is going out of this country, while
! Silver is accumulating. The reports of the
! Treasury Department show that this is i
false statement; that imported gold is in
creasing, and has been for month past,
and is far exceeding the export of gold,
while our commercial exports are far ex-
/ ceedine our imports, giving Us a healthy
balance Of trade which will increase our
stock of gold. | cannot take time now to
discuss this question: or with more care
| than is above done
Gathering of The Clans.
WASHINGTON, March Washington
| tonight presents an unusually animated
appearance The advance guard of the
army OF sightseers, office-hunters and
others. which Will occupy the city on We'd
nesdiv next, has already arrived. The
hotels are rapidly filling up and every
train arriving here brings recruits to the
ranks All day long the lobbieS of the
various hotels have been filed with noisy
crowds Of visiting politicians, and tonight,
to gain entrance to any of the leading
hotels. requires a struggle through mass
Of smoking, perspiring masculine human
ity, iostling and pushing one another, and
discussing with the noise and demonsua-
tons peculiar to small-fry politicians and
ward workers, the probable policy of the
incoming administration in regard to the
various public questions, but more espe-
cially regarding the offices.
The Mexican Treaty.