Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-02-11
THE NORTHWEST
HON. JAMES B. BECK's
GREAT SILVER SPEECH
In the Senate the United States, on
December 81, 1885.
Coin DUTIES ON IMPORTED GOODS.
[continued from last week.l

II the gold mines Of California and
Australia had continued to produce
abundantly, and the Comstock lode
and the Leadville mines had not pro-
duced silver, so that the market value
of the two metals as bullion in London
had been reversed, the argument could
be made quite as plausible that the sil.
yer dollar was the constitutional unit of
value in 1870, which the bondholders
have a right to demand.
There is not an outstanding obliga-
tion of the United States. nor of any
State, municipality, corporation, or
individual which can not be legally and
honorably discharged by the payment
of the present standard silver dollar.
What right has Congress to deprive the
debtor of that right by adding more sill
YER to the coin than he agreed to pay.
or by stopping its coinage so that he
can not obtain it. It Is as palpable a
violation of a contract to increase the
obligation of the debtor as 1t is to i'm
pair or reduce the standard value of the
coin which the creditor stipulated in
his contract should be paid to him.
When Congress has once coined money
and regulated the value thereof, and
contracts are based upon it, the right to
paw according tn its terms can not
rightfully or justly be taken from the
people, and Senators and Representa-
tives who deprive them of their right
will have unpleasant explanations to
make the men whose burdens are in
creased by their vote. 1t is simply an
attempt to repeat the legislation of
1859. and the same pretenses are made
now that were made then. An honest
dollar for the laboring man was then as
now. held up as the patriotic object of
those who repudiated the greenhack, as
higher wages to labor is claimed to he
the prime object of all the patriotic
combinations of monopolists and ma
chine-owners, who tax us all 46 per
cent. under the present protective tariff
and vet hire the cheapest pauper labor
thew can import. 1t is the wolf guard
ing the lamb, the spider the fly, and the
hawk the sparrow.
I propose to test this question in the
light of the facts furnished us by our
Treasury officials. We are, of course.
as good Judges of the value of the facts
they furnish and as competent to draw
correct conclusions from them as they
are. The last report from the Treasury
Bureau of Statistics, relative to our for
eign commerce for the fiscal year of
1885. proves that there is no such con-
dition either in our trade or exports Of
metals, whether of coin or bullion, as
to render it necessary to strike down
our silver coinage. 1t shows (page y
that our total exports for 1885 were
$726, ,6s2, ,946, and for 1884, 1874, 1854, ,852,
while our total imports for 1885 were
$577, ,527, 1929, and for 1884. $667 ,696, 1893.
It will thus be seen that while the
value of our exports in 1885 exceeded
those Of 1884 our imports were more
than 800, ,O0O, 900 less. The same report
show that for 1885 our exports of gold
were $S,477, 1872, and for 1884, $4l ,0S1,
957. or over $32 ,OOO, 900 less for the last
fiscal wear than for the year before. Our
exports of silver for 1885 were $33, ,75O,-
8SS, ,..and for 1884, sc, ,05l ,426, or nearly
$4,000, 900, more last year than the veal
before, while our imports Of gold las,
wear exceeded those Of the year before
nearly S4,OO0,000. These facts falsify
the ciamor is that goldheeing from oul
country, and proves that that all tht
(pertendedl evilsOf single deprecated
silver standard are myths.
Nor il it true that our silver coin ha'
deprecated since July, 1870, when test
ed by any other standard than the mar
ket value of bullion in London.
The report above referred to (pages
and 81 gives the New York or expnr
prices in currency of the commoditie
which constituted over 80 per cent. o
our exports, nearly all agricultural pro
ducts in 1870 aud 1885; from which
will be seen that the silver dollar, whicl
it has become fashionable to malign al,
denOunce in aristocratic circles, vii
now purchase from rs to 80 per cent
more Of all that the toiling millions q
this country labor to produce, and {
ali that men need money to obtail
than it would in July. 1880. To avoi
al, dispute as to these facts | quote tn
language of the report, as follows:
the following table shows the annut
average export price in currency of til
articles of domestic product named, an
for the years Indicated:
:, lYear oniin