The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-02-25
WINDOW ON SILVER.
He PrOclaimS Himself the Friend
of the White Metal.
PATERNALISM IN GOVERNMENT.
Vance Wants the Government to Receive De-
posts of Farm Products-Paddock
Poses as the Farmers Friend.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.-Secretary Win
dom was before the House committee on
coinage, weights and measures for the pur-
pose of having an interchange of opinion
Dn the subject Of silver coinage with the
members of the committee. He declared
that his bill was framed to meet in the best
way he could devise the present financial
condition of the country. He disavowed
ali charges that the bill was a makeshitt;
that its author did not believe in it and that
1t was brought forward to defeat some
Dther measure. He said he was a strong
friend of silver, although some people
did not think So and he was anxious for
some measure that will enhance its value
Window took up the objections raised
against the bill. The first difficulty was
that of excluding foreign ores. To meet
this he had prepared an amendment to add
TO the first section, making it the duty of
collectors of customs to stamp on every
bar of silver bullion imported the word
u ''foreign."
Z also makes it the dutyo every assayer
or refiner in the United States, or any
other person or firm who may receive bars
of silver stamped foreign u in case such
resulting bars foreign" In case the bars
of silver stamped foreign" or remelted or
refined with the silver products of the
United States it shall be the duty of such
assayer or refiner to stamp on an amount
of silver bars which will be equivalent to
the amount of foreign silver melted or re-
fined foreign The same rule shall
apply to foreign silver coin. Penalties
are provided for failure to stamp the bars
or Tor removing the stamp TIC prevent iden-
LITIGATION. The section shall not apply to
silver extracted from imported ores by
processes of smelling, amalgamation and
Gxiviation or other metalurgical processes
used in the United States
Concerning the objection to the sixth
section, authorizing the secretary to sus-
pend the receipt of silver bullion when
satisfied the price is arbitrary, the secre-
tary said that so far as speculative power
IS concerned the powers the secretary now
has are greater than those conferred on
him by this bill If the bill passed the
price of silver would, in his opinion, ad-
vance steadily and rapidly. An excellent
feature of the discretionary power, how
ever vested in the secretary, would be its
effect as deterrent on speculation in sill
yer, and it was with reference to prevent
ing this rather than any expectation of
using 1T that it would be proposed. He,
however, would leave it to the committee.
bill made commodity of silver and de-
graded it from its high use as a money
metal, the secretary said he thought this a
sentimental objection. 1t was the purpose
not to degrade silver, but to bring it up
as nearly as could to an equality with gold.
He was convinced that the measure would
meet all the needs of the situation without
endangering the interests of the country.
and would absorb the surplus silver and
thereby put up the price certainly and rap
idly.
In answer to a question by Conger, he
said there was not any reasonable objec-
ton to including gold in the first section
of the bill. To benefit the interest of the
silver producers was not the only motive
of the bill. He believed in aiding every
body effected by the measure. He thought
the wheat raiser of the country more in
/, terested thai the silver people, for the
farmers were heavy losers on account of
the depressions in silver, and the opera
tions of the bill would tend to raise the
prices of farm products. Free coinage.
Window said, would reduce silver below
It's present va ue. The present bill would
increase the circulation of the country to
the extent of S25,00O,0O0 annually.