The advocate., 1890-06-04
CONGRESS rs ROTTEN


From tho Peoria journal,
Among the bills which have been In
troduccd In congress 10 one for the free
coinage Of silver II would perhaps be
much bettor II Il bill we're introduced re-
pealing all laws which are In conflict
with the constitution and coinage acts OF
1902, 1897, 1863 and 1873 The manner
In which the coinage Of the silver dollar
was dropped from our coinage laws was
one OF the most rascally pieces OF
legislation OF which our American
congress was ever guilty. The
Baaker's Mdgazine for August,
1879 made the following editorial
announce nent, which, after seventeen
years, sounds significant, now that the
silver question Is being agitated again
In 1879, silver being demOnetIzed In Germany
England and Holland, a capital Of RlOO,OO SybOO,.
00Ol WAS raised, and Ernest Neyd, Of London, was
sent lO thls country with this fund, ns the ngent
" foreign bOndhOdem, 10 effect lhe same oD'
leot.
Here we hayean acknowledgment from
nm dnqucstlonod source OF tho true mo-
tlves Of an omissary Of the foreign bond
holders, Mr., Seyd, not only yas regards his
true mission TO the United States, but the
amount Of money glvon him as corrup'
tlon fund to effect the object Of his visit.
Now let us examine in detail and see II
we can discover what became Of Mr..
seyd and the part no played in demone-
ti2ing our silver dollar The C0ngress-
iOaai Record Of April 0, 1872, pages 2,3O4,
1906 and 2,3OO, contains the report Of a
bill presented to the house by Mr. Hoop
er, Of Massachusetts, the chairman OF the
committee on coinage, in which the fol-
lowing language occurs as coming from
Mr. Hooper's own lips, and refers 10 the
act which was passed dropping the silver
dollar from our coinage laws, whore Il
had been been recognized as the unit of
value since 1850;
The bin was prepared two years ago, and has
been submitted 10 careful and deliberate examl-
nation 10 has the approval W nearly nll the
mint experts Of the country, ANA tho sanction Ol
Che secretary Of the treasury. Ernest heyu, OK
London distinguished writer ana DulllOnlat,
who Ii now here, and has given great attention
20 the subject NJ mints and coinage, after exam
lining the nrst drafts OF this bill, made various
sensible suggestions, when we C0nlmlttee ae'
Cepted and embodied In the BILL While the COM
mittee take no credit 10 themselves for the orig
lnal preparation OF this BILL they have given u
the most careful consideration, and have no hes
tati0n In unanimously recommending ltS passage
as necessary and eSpedlenl
So cunningly had the bill been drawn
that President Grant did not understand
it. He stated afterwards, when his at
tentlon was drawn to the act, that no had
read It carefully but did not know that 1t
contained any words detrimental to silver
coinage. The "various sensible sugges-
tiOns" referred to by Mr.. Hooper we're
what did the work Just what figure the
&5O0,O0O cut in these suggestions, we will
let the reader imagine. Usually, how
ever, man does not carry that amount
Of money about his person unless II is for
the purpose Of accomplishing scme GER
tain object, and we believe II the truth is
ever known Il will be found that a por-
tlon Of ii was very jndiciously used in the
passage Of the act, as well as Mr., Seyd's
"varlous sensible suggestions, which the
committee accepted and embodied in the
BILL" For the period of eighty-one years
previous to the passage Of this bill the
government had recognized the silver
dollar as the unit OF value. Our gold
coinage was fixed in quantity and In
value, not with reference to itself, but