The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1886-01-16

1886.
Beck's silver resolution, and addressed the
Senate omit.
Mr.. Coke made NO war on bond-holders
or on bank men. They were no worse and
no better than the average of men, but
they should never be permitted to dictate
our financial policy against the interests
OF the people. The President and Secre-
tary of the Treasury processes to favor the
use of both gold and silver, but declare
that the amount of silver already coined
wss enough, and that if we continued to
coin it, gold would leave the country. This
statement was made from the fact that in
1873, when the coinage of silver dollars
was ordered, there was in the United States
only 1914, ,OOO, 900 gold, while to-day, &C
cording to the report of the Director of the
Mint, gold (bullion) had increased to $685..
OOO. 900, so that instead of silver coinage
driving gold out of the country. our sup
ply of it had become trebled since silver coin
age had commenced. This was q fact thatno
theorizing could controvert. The silver
standard had no terrOrs for Mr.. Coke.
Germany had been silver country before
it had got so much gold from France.
France was one of most thrifty nations in
the world, and France has $500, ,OOO, 900,
and some said 5000. .OOO, 900 in sill
yer coin circulating in harmony with gold,
and side hx sida with H. yet gold Of only
I5k Is O2e, y ht30 oar silver dollar was ol
tinens Oh 80 I. Give US. said Mr.. Coke,
the same executive vigor aud fidelity exer
cissd by the officers of the Federal Govern
ment in behalf Of silver, and we will show
that we can carry very much more
rs1~ hox % <ho
rate of $4,000, 900 month. It would
take us fifteen years to get $575, 900, 900,
which is less than the amount claimed by
anybody to the silver circulation OF France.
The coinage of silver, Mr.. Coke said, should
be as free as was the coinage of gold.
American silver should be placed on an
exact equality with gold everywhere, but
whether right or wrong as to free coinage,
Mr.. Coke said we should insist that our
government officials should execute the
laws. Mr.. Coke reviewed the history of our
bond legislation to show that bonds were
payable in ''coin," and that the joint
resolution introduced in the Senate in 1878
by Senator Stanley Matthews and passed
by two-thirds vote OF both Houses of
Congress, declared it to be entirely consist
pay bonds in silver, but nobody asked that
they be paid exclusively in silver. All that
was asked was for our officers to
treat silver as they treated gold. We
wanted no more reports from them, saying
that silver cannot be got into circula tion,
wh,n, in violation of the law, the Treas
ury Department refused to pay it out and
allowed bonds that ought to be paid to re-
main outstanding. while keeping locked in
the vaults of the Treasury millions on mil
lions that ought to be in circulation.
The question of the suspension of silver
coinage, Mr.. Coke said, was one OF such
transcendant Importance that the argu-
ment of the President and Secretary OF the
Treasury on the subject should be consid.
cred on their intrinsic merits. and should
not be influenced by the fact that they
were arguments coming from high officers.
Government suspension Mr.. Coke regarded
as tantamount to be q complete stoppage
Of our silver coinage. Silver, he said, had
not deprecated. but gold has risen in value.
He showed by statistics that, taking ninety
leading articles of merchandise that had
been on an average fall OF 26 per cent.
since 1870, while there had been fall of
only 23 per cent. in silver bullion, it was
therefore an abuse of the terms to say that
silver had deprecated. Silver constitut-
ed one-half of the quantity of all
the coin in the world, and the
SCOppdSe Ol lUS COludSe WOulu uepTlVe Ouc
world of one-haf of it's coin supply, and
would double the purchasing power of the
other half. This would be all enormous
contraction. Englands income from her
foreign trade was $500, 100000 annually.
She was q credit country, and wanted her
fdebr6fs TO bay her in gold. That is, she
| wanted her money-money that would
have the largest purchasing power. When
Germany had secured 1,2OO, 900, 900 in
gold from France, she demonetized silver
for the same reason that England had
done. 1t was done upon the cold calcula'
tion of self-interest. The same reason
States. Where big banks and large bond
holders fight against silver, it is fight
against the people by the banks and bond
holders. It was fight against
labor. Had Andrew Jackson been in
| the White House at any time since 1873,
| the silver question would have been set
tied. He would have executed the laws OF
| the United States, and would have taken
by the throat the conspiracy against those
laws. The officers of our Government had
failed to state the whole truth as to our
silver circulation. They well knew that
there were to-day $40 ofsilver coin in cir
culation to one of gold coin, and that
three-quarters of the silver dollars in the
|
certificates in active circulation among the
people. In maintaining prices and wages
in every form, our money, except national
ba nix notes, had been boldly denounced by
our Treasury officials.
Among the bills introduced in the Senate
were the following: By Senator Wilson
| Qa.)-To prevent thepublicationo of lottery
advertisements. Qts provisions have been
published.)
BY Senator Bowen-To establish pub
lie park at Pagosa Springs, in the State o'
Colorado, to be known as Bruno Park
and to be under the control OF the Secre
tary OF the Interior, who is directed to pro
vide it's survey and is given power to pro
vide for the preservation OF timber and fol
the protection of natural curiosities con
tanned therein, and to appoint d superin
tendent to take charge OF it.
By Senator Morgan-To provide fo1
marking with monument the grave o
Gen. Daniel Morgan in the cemetery al
Winchester, Va. 1t appropriates S15, ,0o(
for the purpose.