Los Angeles herald., 1890-05-16

standard, and if the demonetization of
silver in Germany had brought down
the price of silver, and if the Latin
union had restricted silver on account of
the effect of German silver on the mar
ket, the mints of the United States
would have been opened Immediately to
the coinage of silver and every silver
owner coule have taken his silver to the
mint and had it converted into legal
tender money, against which there was
then at least no prejudice anywhere.
The question now before the senate
was one of vital interest to the people of
the country. 1t was a question whether
the people of the United States were to
continue in advancement or stand STILL
1t was question whether the continual
dropping of prices for fifteen years was
to continue, to the enslavement of men,
to the destruction of enterprise, and to
the special destruction of the debtor
class, the greatest and most numerous
class in this country and in all other
countries. There is in this body ma
jority of men who believe that there is
righteous and just demand
for the free coinage of silver
Some of them may be retarded by
fear from other quarters. They may be
retarded by the fear that we will not be
able to enact free-coinage bill into a
law. My duty is done when 1 exercise
my judgment here as God has given me
power to see my duty, and not as the
executive or anybody else may see it. /
propose to do my duty and l believe if
every senator would do the same we
would have free-coinage act, an act
which will relieve suffering industry and
increase opportunities and bring pros
perity, not to the farmer alone, but to
every class of men deserving of the good
will of the legislative mind.
Coke next addressed the senate in
favor of the free and unlimited coinage
of silver. He declared that the per-
sistent defiance of the popular will by
the executive department of the govern
ment for the past seventeen years was
one of the most remarkable facts in the
history of free representative govern
ment. He could not support the bill as
reported from the finance committee.
1t Disseminated against silverin leaving
to Secretary Tracy the right to determine
how much of the silver purchased
should be coined into money, and
as the secretary held that there
was already too much silver coined
it was sure that with that discretion
given the secretary not another dollar
would be coined. That provision of the
bill was neither more nor less than a
provision to convert the treasury of the
United States into warehouse for
silver, to be held as commodity on
which the government should advance
money. The effect of this bill would be
only to repeal the law on the statute
book requiring the coinage of silver dol
lars. The passage of the bill would
prove the severest blow to silver since
its demonetization in 1878. There
was no provision in it for the
free coinage of silver, nor for any coin
age of silver at ALL except by permission
OF the secretary of the treasury. In
word the bill from the finance commit
tee etfectually repealed all laws provid-
ing for the compulsory coinage of sim
gle dollar of silver. The whole matter
would rest within the discretion of the
secretary of the treasury, and on his
affirmative depended whether or not
dollar of silver should be coined.
At the close of Coke's remarks the
senate adjourned.
Senator Sherman today submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the pending silver bill. 1t pro-
vides that the balances standing to the
credit of the nation at banks for deposits
made to redeem circulating notes, shall
be covered into the treasury as miscel-
laneous receipts, and that the treasury
shall redeem the circulating notes of the
banks which may come into its posses
sion snbject to redemption. The amend
ment also provides that upon certifi-
cate of the comptroller Of the currency
such notes shall be received and de-
stroyed and new notes issued in their
place. Reimbursement shall be made
to the treasury from the appropriation
created by this amendment, to be known
as the national bank notes redemption
account"