The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-14
BECK'S DARTS OF SILVER
SHERMAN FORCED 10 DEFEND HIS
RECORD ON THE QUESTION.


The Senator from the Blue Grass Re
gion Thinks that the Ohio Mans At
titude in 1878 Would Weaken Him
as a Presid entail Candidate-Sher-
man Failed to Foresee Depreciation.
WAsHINGTNN, March l3.-The Senate to-
day proceeded to consideration of Mr..
Beck's bill to provide for the retirement of
United States legal tender aud national
bank notes of small denominations and the
issue of coin certificates in lieu of gold GER
tificates. Mr.. Beck addressed the Senate in
advocacy Of it.
Mr.. Beck delivered at great length a
carefully prepared speech, devoting his at
tention principally to Mr.. Sherman. After
criticising several of Mr.. Sherman's reports
and suggestions while Secretary of the
Treasury, Mr.. Beck said: "That is one Of
he reasons why / said that while the
Senator from Ohio might be President of
the United States, his conduct in relation to
tho act of 1873, and his great financial
abilities exercised as they have always
been in the interest of the money powerI
will not be a record of which he will be-
proud when he comes before the people
notwithstanding all pretences."
SILVER IN EUROPE.
About silver he asserted that in the banks
of England, France, Germany and Austria
Hungary silver was not in excess of gold,
that silver was there at par with gold, and
that it was maintained at par without any
trouble whatever. The bill which he had
introduced had been voted for by five of the
eleven members of the Finance Committee.
IL proposed to issue coin certificates instead
of gold certificates. This was the first great
step for the country totake. Silver had It's
friends among the people at large, but it
had never had an enemy who had done it
so much harm as the Senator from Ohio.
That Senator was one of the very ablest
men in public life and IL was because of his
gre { abb ity that he (Afr. Breck) regarded
bis policy dangerous to the great masses
of the people. He made no charges against
the Senator, as to reputation or anything
wrong, but he thought that his policy was
DEATH to the best interests Of the masses OF
the people.
NATIONAL BANKS BERATED.
Referring to tho efforts of national banks
to prevent the coinage OF silver, he spoke of
those banks as IA failure. as no longer of any
account, as going down every day. As to
Mr.. Atkinson's report on the silver question,
he said that that gentleman had not even
pretended to notice tho fact that great
Parliamentary Commission, under Lord
Iddeleseigh, had investigated the sub
ject and had reported to the Queen
that the business depression every
where prevailing had grown out of
the great conspiracy of 1873 against silver
between England, Germany and the United
States. and that the restoration of silver to
its legal tender quality was all that was
wanted. lie read letter to himself from
Edwards Pierrepont, calling his attention
to the efforts of the national banks in their
convention in Pittsburg last November, to
suspend indefinitely the coinage of silver,
and stating that such indefinite suspension
was just what the English wanted.
DOUBTFUL PRAISE.
Coming back to the report of Edward
Atkinson, he spoke Of him as doubtless an
able and respectable man, but doctrinaire,
as that kind OF a man whom he (Mr. Beck
would not nd to take care of silver any
more than he would send him out to take
care of lambs "a TIE blue region Of KEN
lucky.
Mr.. Hoar reminded & Beck that the
pre- emit administration haG sent Mr.. Atkin-
son TO Europe.
Mr.. Beck--I know il, and that is what
complain of. There are good men in the
Democratic party as well as in the Republic
can party. We are not divided exactly on
that line, and there are some men ON the
other side of the chamber who stand by in
sustaining silver
In conclusion he said that he would call
up his bill for action at an early day, when
he would see whether the Senate agreed
with him in thinking his bill "A step in the
right direction. He was not sure that silver
SHOULD not be coined up TO the maximum OF
the limit instead of the minimum.
sHERMAy's REPLY.
Mr.. Sherman said that as a matter Of
course he would not undertake to reply to
the argument of the Senator from Ken
lucky on silver question, but he would
reply briefly to one or two matters of d per-
sona chara ter which the Senator from
Kentucky felt justified in Juggling into tho
controversy. He Mr.. Sherman was now
able, from the original Senate records, to
show that toe bill in question had been
openly discussed, fully considered and sub
mitted to public opinion in every
form, inside of Congress and out
side. IL was net bill Of his
designing He had never seen it until 10
was sent to him as chairman Of the Finance
Committee by the Secretary Of the Treasu-
ry IL dill not become a law for three years
afterward, and in the meantime it had been
printed thirteen times and had been debated
over ald over again. He knew that the
original proposition Of the House was to
convert silver dollars into minor coin, and
ne tiil DDL IelieNe III biidJ. he DeleNeu
better 10 have a coin according to the de-
sires Of the California people, that would
become the coin of the country.
DID NOT FoRsEE DEPRECIATION.
But there was one thing which he did not
sec. He lid not see into the future. He
did no foresee that the silver dollar which
wa then at a premium of 3 per cent. over
the gold dollar woull, within fifteen years,
be worth only zoe. If anybody had told
h IN so no would have thought him crazy.
SO that all that there was about it was that
Congress had not foreseen the change in the
value of the silver dollar When any one,
In the light If those fac.s said that anything
was sought TO be done by indirection
and secrecy, he did injustice to himself
and the records As 10 the payment Of in
terest on the United States bonds in coins
(which Mr.. Beck had found so much fault
W thl be thanked God that that had been
egislated for. II II had not been, what, he
asked would hnve become Of the national
credit Without that strong anchor of
coin interest, United States bonds would
have disappeared like Confederate bonds
into thin air, unhonored and unsung.
NOT OPPOSED TO SILVER
AS to the liver question, he WINS not OPP
posed to silver. He wished that he could
add 30 per cent. to the value of ali the silver
in the world and in the mines. But silver
dollarE would hava IN ha maintained at