Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-02-25
WINDOWS SILVER BILL,
The Secretary Speaks I'm Defense Of
HIS Theory.

WASHINGTON, D. c., February pa
Secretary Window appeared before the
House committee on coinage, weights
and measures, today, for the purpose of
having an interchange of opinion on the
subject of silver coinage with the mem
bers of the committee. He declared his
bill framed to meet in the best way
he could devise, the present financial
condition of the country, and he dis.
avowed all charges that the bill was a
mere make.shift; that it's au
ther did not believe in it, and
that it was brought forward to. defeat
some other measure. He said he was
really strong friend of silver, although
some people did not think 80, and he
was anxious for some measure that
would enhance its value.
OBJECTIONS sMooTHED OVER.
Window took up the objections raised
against the bill. The first difficulty was
that excluding foreign ores. To meet
this he 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
"foreign."
1t also makes it the duty of every
assayer or re6ner of the United States, or
any other person or firm who may receive
bars of silver stamped with the word
"foreign," in case such bars are remelted
or refined, to stamp the resulting bars
"foreign." In case the bars of silver
stamped "foreign" are remelted or re-
fined with silver products of the United
States, it shall be the duty of such
ne To at .nt nf
silver bars which will be equivalent to
the amount of foreign s::!!yer melted or
refined, with the werd "fc1oign" f.. oo.gn." Inc
same rule shall apply to foreign silver
coins. Penalties are provided for failure
to stamp bars, or for removing the Stamp
to prevent Identification. This section
shall not apply to silver extracted from
imported ores by processes of smelling
amalgamation and iixiviation or other
metallurgical 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 that the price is arbitrary, the
Secretary said: As far as speculative
power is concerned, the powers the Sec
retary now has are greater than those
conferred on him bv the bill. II the bill
passed, the price of silver would in his
opinion advance steadily and rapidly
An excellent feature of the discretionary
power vested in the Secretary would be
its deterrent on speculation in silver
and it was with reference to preventing
this, rather than any expectation O
using it, that it had been proposed. He
however, would leave it to the commit
tee.
AS to the objection to the bill that il
made commodity of silver and degraded
it from it's high use as money metal
the Secretary said be thought this 8
sentimental objection. His purpose was
not to degrade silver, but bring it up al
gold. He was convinced that the meas
ure would meet all the needs of the stu
alton without endangering the interests
of the country, and would absorb the
surplus of silver, and thereby put up the
price certainly and rapidly.
NO OBJECTION re INCLUDE GOLD.
In answer to question by Conger
the Secretary said there was not any
reasonable objection to including gold in
the first section of the bill. To benefit the
interests of the silver producers. was moi
the only motive in the bill. He believed
in aiding everybody affected by the
measure. He thought the wheat-raisers
OF the country were more interested than
the silver people, for the farmers were
heavy losers on account of the depression
in silver, and the operation of the bill
would tend to raise the prices of farm
products Free cojnapa Windom said
would reduce the price of silver below
the present value. The present bill
would increase the circulation of the
country to the extent OF 500, 900 an
nually.