The Portland daily press., 1886-01-20
XLIXth CONGRESS- FIRST SESSION.
SENATE.

w Ne LIZ
A resolution appointing Gen. John p.
Hartranft of Pennsylvania as one of the
managers of the National Soldiers Home, in
place of Gen. Mcclellan, was passed.
Mr.. Harrison's resolution Of yesterday to
admit Mr. Moody of Dakota to the floor of
the Senate, was laid before the Senate.
Mr.. Vest took the floor in opposition. He
denied that Dakota was a State, either de
jure or de facto, or that it could become so
without the authority Of Congress.
After considerable discussion the reSolu-
tion admitting Mr.. Moody to the courtesy of
the floor was agreed to.
Mr.. Frye's resolution of yesterday regard
ing the Presidents recommendation for a
fishery commission was placed before the
Senate, and without debate referred to the
committee ON foreign relations.
The Presidential count bill was placed be-
fore the Senate, but was informally laid
aside.
Mr.. Teller then addressed the Senate on
the silver question. Without a sufficient
amount of which to do business, Mr.. Teller
said, the energies of the people were de-
pressed. A money scarcity meant dull times
and low wages, or no wages at all. The per
sons who suffered the least from such scare
lty were the money lenders, BILL d1sc0unters
and pawnbrokers, while those who suffered
most were laborers. Mr.. Teller presented
elaborate tables showing the coin circula-
tion of the world from which it appeared
that the silver circulation of Great Britain
$4.67 per head; the United States, $4.0S per
head, and France, $15.79 per head. The
total coinage of the world had been esti-
mated as follows: Silver, $2,776, 100000;
gold, So, ,292, ,000 600; but gold and silver had
been found insufficient to carry ON the bust
ness of the world and all the nations had
reSOrted to a paper currency based on those
metals. The whole amount of paper money
issued had been $3.943, 100000, which was
more than the whole amount of either gold
Or cilYnr If thpn rOl6 and silver 0nmhInp0
had been found insufficient to carry on the
worlds trade, what reason was there for
supposing that gold alone would be suffic-
lent When you destroy the money faculty
of silver you increase the purchasing power
of gold and you thus benefit the holders of
bonds and mortgages and government secur-
tiles because the principal and interest of
these obligations remain to be paid with but
one-half the money in existence when the
debt was contracted. Holders of these Obli-
cations constitute a great and powerful
class of creditors and a class who wanted
silver demonetized because of the consequent
enormous increase in the purchasing power
of gold They had raised. the cry that gold
would leave the country if we ibid not sus-
pend silver coinage. They had raised the
same cry in 1878 against the passage of the
silver coinage act We had been told that
the United States would become the repos-
itory of all the silver in the world, that we
would lose all our gold, would lose cur ma
tional credit and would be unable to sell our
bonds. What was our financial condition at
that time and what is it now? In 1877 our
national notes were worth "a cents, and ey-
erybody knows what they are worth today
The amount of gold then in the United
States was then $193, 100000. and the amount
today was $623, 100000 We had been adding
to our stock of gold at the rate of $60,000,
900 year. There was but one nation that
had today more gold than the United States
That nation was France, which had $685.
100000. The coinage of silver had not hurt
our national banks. The Bank of England
was fast losing its coin and bullion, In the
last six months it had lost $3S, 100000 OF it.
and in the same time had lost $48, 100000 of
its deposits, Was it not extraordinary that
if our financial policy was so unwise. and
that of England so wise we had accumulated
so large an amount of gold while England
was losing her gold? The whole condition
of our country was an eloquent denial of the
truth of predictions and complaints of the
enemies of silver. The Stoppage OF silver
coinage would be equivalent to an addition
of $500 200, 900 to the national debt; it would
add from 20 to 30 per cent. to every dollar of
debt in the land, an amount almost too great
for computation. The creditor class de-
manded the suspension of its coinage, which
was practically a stoppage OF 1t, and also
that we pay in gold $346, 600 OF the ma
tional bank notes and withdraw them from
circulation. The next move would be to
take from the dollars already coined their
legal tender value, thus effecting a reduc-
ton amounting altogether to $562, 100000 in
the circulating medium, over one-third of
our whole circulation. This, with the
$400,000,000 of the balance locked up in the
Treasury as now, the business of the coun-
try would be left to be done with about
one-third of our present stock OF money.
The Secretary of the Treasury has told us
that the laboring man would first suffer from
silver coinage. Let the gentlemen, said Mr..
Teller, speak for the great monied corpor-
ations and for the bondholders and capital
lists but not for the laboring men. The Ia
boring men were well aware that that great
department of the government had passed
into the control of the banks, bankers and
the monied power. They knew that the
statutes passed to curtail the powers of the
monied corporations and capitalists were
violated every day in the Treasury Depart
ment. The present disturbed state OF the
public mind concerning silver, Mr.. Teller
ascribed to the attacks made upon it by gov
ernment officials. Every scheme that could
disgrace silver had had the sanction, if it did
not originate in that department. The Treas
urer of the United States had even gone into
convention Of 81 banks,s convention
whose object was the depreciation of silver,
and his presence among the bankers
was carefully telegraphed to all the
corners of the earth. That was a scheme
to frighten the people into the idea that Sill
yer coinage would bring ruin to our. indus
tries and the treasurer's presence in that
convention was the most indefensible attack
that had ever been made on the credit of the
government by it's own officials sworn to re-
spect and execute the laws of their country
Another attack on silver was found in the
system of bookkeeping newly adopted in
the treasury department in treating as liabil-
tiles and not as assets, the $100,0o0,000 of re-
serve held in order to meet the greenbacks.
According to this idea the more money the
government held in its vaults with which TO
redeem its paper money or pay its debts, the
greater its liability. This change of book
keeping comes Of long experience in Wall
street. 1t was for the purpose of deceiying