Los Angeles herald., 1890-05-13
Senator Jones Opens the Sill
yer Debate.
The White-Metal Cause Ably
ChampiOned.
The Senate Held Spell-BOund For
Three Hours.
Consideration of the Tariff Bill by Para
graphs Begun-Divers Amendments
Offered and Rejected.
Associated Press Dispatches.


today, Hoar, for the judiciary commit
tee, reported back the house amend
ment to the senate antitrust bill, with
an amendment. Vest and Coke stated
that as members of the committee, they
dissented from the report. The matter
went over till tomorrow.
The senate bill appropriating 100000
for public building at Ogden, Utah,
was reported and placed on the calen-
dar.
The senate then proceeded to the con-
sideration of the bill authorizing the
issue of treasury notes on deposits OF
silver bullion. Jones, of Nevada, ad-
dressed the senate in its favor.
He spoke of the general unrest pre-
vailing throughout the country. The
prices on all comm odities, he said, had
fallen and continued to fall. When the
fall in prices was found operating on the
products of all industries when it was
found not confined to any one cline,
country or race, but diffused over the
civilized world; found not to be charac-
terlstic OF one year, but to go on
for series of years, it became
manifest that it could not rise from
local, temporary or subordinate causes
but must have its genesis and develop
ment in some principle of universal APP
plication. What was it that caused a
general decline of prices in any country? :?
1t was the shrinkage in the volume of
money, relatively to the population and
business. The world had never had
proper system OF money. Property and
speculation had been stimulated at times
by great yields from the mines, and
when those mines were worked out,
then came revulsion and adversely.
He went on to speak of the natural
ratio between gold and silver existing
for $500 or 5000 years ratio of 151s to
l; and said it was only since legislative
prescription on silver in Germany and
the United States, and it's banishment
from the mints of Europe, that any ma
terial change on that ratio took place,
and the present divergence in the rela-
tive value of the two metals was greatly
due to the legal outlawry of silver, and
not to any natural causes. 1t always
had been the object of the creditor class to
enhance the value of money by reducing
the volume, so that when the gold mines
of California and Australia were produc-
ing the largest yield, it was proposed to
demonetlze silver.
The motive for demonetization in the
case of silver as we'll as gold was, Jones
said, to aggrandize the creditor class of
the world and confiscate, as far as prac-
ticable, the reward hard labor realized.
He spoke of the demonetization of sill
yer by Germany after the war with
France as having inflicted greater evils
on her people than her armies inflicted
on France, and said when it began to
have its effect veritable hegira of the
German population began to take place.
If surprise was felt at the selfshness
of the privileged classes in Europe in
demonetizing silver, what, he asked, was
to be said in defense of the United States
stupendous act of folly and injustice had
never been perpetrated by the repre-
sentatives of free people. 1t had proved
misery. No better remedy could be APP
piled than the absolute reversal of that
legislation, and putting back the none
tary system of the country to what it
was before 1873.
All the nations of the earth used
silver as money up to 1919, when Great
Britain sundered the silver link that
bound her to other nations, doing so for
reasons of her own, arising from her
position as the creditor of all nations
but the industry of the English nation
became CONCEALED by reason of that con-
traction of currency. Within seven
years thereafter the number of her land
owners was reduced by reason of forced
sales from 100000 to 10000, and a large
proportion of the population had to live
wholly or in part on the bounty of or
ganized charity. That had been part of
the burden imposed upon the English
people by the creditor class.
In regard to the bill pending before
the senate, Jones said he had reported
it from the committee on finance, but it
did not fully reflect his views regarding
the relation which silver should bear to
the monetary circulation of the country
or the world. He declared himself to
be at all times and in all places a firm
and unwavering advocate of the free and
unlimited coinage of silver. In view,
however, of the great diversity of views
prevailing on the subject, and the possi-
bility that by reason of such diversity
this session of congress might terminate
without affording the country any relief
from the baleful and benumbing effects
of the demonetzation of silver, he had
joined with other members of the COM
mittee in reporting the bill. He held
himself free to vote for any amendment
that might be offered, which might tend
to make the bill more perfect as a meas
ure of relief, and that might be more in
consonance with his individual convic-
tions.
Resuming his argument, Jones said
the single gold standard men attempted
to brush aside the equities involved by
sneering at the, debtors. He asked
who were the debtors in this country
They were the aspiring, the hopeful, the
energetic; they were the conservative
force in every community. AS probably
nine-tenths of the business of America
depended in one form or other on credit,
any system which made the dollars of a
debt more valuable at the date of pay
ment than at the date of borrowing was
a system of robbery
He warmly defended the silver miners
from the charge of selfshness in desir-
ing the reconciliation of silver.
At the suggestion of Teller, Jones
postponed finishing his speech until to-
morrow Adjourned.
The scene in the senate chamber dur
ing the delivery of the speech was fair
indication of the great interest felt in it
or6 II, thu sub; ho frop,