Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1890-06-17
BARTINE AT WORK.
He STRIKES TELLING BLOWS
IN The LOWER HOUSE.
An e: TACT From His Great
Sn each for the White
Metal.

\
not call it an argument agains
free coinage that 1 never hea
without a feeling of indignation
1t is that which q lestions the mo
tives of the people OF the silver
producing States and Territorie;
in making this demand. Since
taking my seat upon this floor il
has frequently been said to me
"Why, of course you far Western
people are all for free coin sge, you
want market for your silver y
the tone implying that we stand
upon just the same equitable
plain as if we were demanding the
free coinage of galvanized iron.
Can it be possible that there is a
person in this country, capable of
reading, who does not know that
silver has been one of the great
money metals of world ever since
the first glimmer of civilization lit
the horizon of the East? That it's
use antedates that Of gold and
has been far more extended. That
it was passing current as money
ages before the Pyramids were
dreamed OF, and long before the
Caldean astronomers first read
the story the of stars.
Can it be that any considerable
number of the American people
are ignorant of the fact that silver
is distinctly recognized as money
by the great compact which binds
us together as nation, and that
when we demand free coinage we
are only asking for a legal and
constitutional right which we al
ways enjoyed prior to 1873? 1t
would be difficult, indeed, to inn
agine stronger equity than that
which underlies our appeal to the
Congress. It is safe to
say that but for silver mining
there would not be an organized
State or Territory between the
Rocky mountains and the Sierra
Nevadas. Into that desolate
zone, searching for the precious
metals, our people have gone and |
here they have made their homes.
They have toiled over the parched !,
desert, they have climbed to thu J
oftiest peaks Of the storm beat /
N mountains, they have delved
md labored in the murky dark
less and sweltering heat of the
'ubterranean depths. From the
gloomy chambers Of eternal night
hey have dragged the shining
,old and silver and into the Golfers
4 this nation they have poured a
tream of mineral wealth that has
made the United States the won
ler and admiration Of the world.
hey have braved every hardship
nd danger incident to frontier
fe; they have built villages, cities I
nd towns; they have constructed /,
ighways and telegraphs and rail-
Dads; they have erected churches i
nd school houses and colleges; s
hey have established organized l
overnments throughout a region t
our times as large as the whole '
,epublic Of France, and they
ave done it all upon the basis Of +,
heir silver mines. 8
We say that having staked 4
upon the development /
that country when silver was q
lothed with complete monetary |;
motions, when it stood upon an Z
quality in every respect with gold +
lie Government Of the United +
tates had no normal right to Y
lange its status to our injury; b
nd that TO whatever extent it's q
alue deprecated by the legisla- "
on of 1873, our people were as v
robbed as il the hand fl
the highwayman had been Il
rust into their pockets. And n
}. it is seriously argued that we "
ust not establish free coinage o
,cause that, forsooth, would be- b
fit the mine owners. And why in