The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1891-01-22

this country has I'd last been trans
ferred, and they are nov uasui-
mously demanding the free coinage
Of silver. IL IL for that reason that I
cordially support the amendment
proposed by the senator from Ne
vada- In doing 50 not only follow
the dictates Of my own Judgment,
but i carry out the wishes Of the
great majority Of my constituents,
irrespective OF party or political ST
hlliation. have been for the free
coinage Of silver, from the outsst,
and I am free 10 say that after hav-
ing observed the operations Of the
act Of 1878, am more than ever con-
WINGED Of the wisdom Of that legisla-
ton and Of the futllIty Of the
accusations by which Il was sssaIled.
The people Of the country that I
represent have lost their reverence
for gold. They have no longer any
superstition about coin. Notvith-
standing all the declarations Of the
monometalists, notwithstanding all
the assaults that have been made by
those who are In favor Of still further
increasing the value Of the standard
by which their possessions are meas
ured, trey know that money is neith-
er wealth nor capital nor value, and
that II IL merely the creation Of the
Law by which all these are estimated
and measured. We speak, sir, about
the volume Of money and about its
relation to the wealth and capital Of
the country.
Let me ask you, sir, for Q moment,
what would occur II the circulating
medium were TO be destroyed. Sup
pose that the gold and silver were 10
be Withdrawn suddenly from circu-
latlon and melted into bars and
ingots and buried In the earth from
which they were taken. Suppose
that all the paper money-silyer cir
tificates, gold certificates, national
bank notes, treasury notes-were
stacked In one mass at the end Of the
Treasury building and the torch APP
piled TO them and they were TO be
destroyed by fire and their ashes
spread, like the ashes Of wyckliff,
upon the Potomac, to be spread
abroad, wide A. its waters be.
What would be the effectf Would
not this country be worth exactly -
much a. 1t IL today? Would there
not be just Is many acres Of land,
just rs many farms, as many days
a. much merchandise, and n much
property, improved and unimproved,
as there is today?
The result would be that commerce
would lsnguish, the sails Of the ships
would be furled In the hsrbors. The
great trains would cease to run TO
and fro on their errands, trade
would be reduced to barter, and the
people, finding their energies Ian
gushing, civilization itself would
droop and we should be reduced to
the condition OF nomsdic wanderers
upon the primevnl plains.
Suppose, on the other hand, that,
instead Of being destroyed, all the
money in this country were to be
put in the possession of q single
man-goId and paper and silver
and he were to be moored IN mid
Atlantic upon . raft with his great
hoard, or be stationed In the middle
Of the Sahara desert without food to
nOurish or shelter to cover, or the
means of transportation to get away
Who would be the richest man, the
Possessor Of that gigantic treasure,
or the humblest settler upon the
plains Of the West with q dug-out to
shelter him and with cornmesl and
water enough for his dailv bread7
Doubtless, Mr.. President, you
search the Scriptures daily, and are,
familiar with the story Of
those departed politicians Of Judes
who sought to entaugle the Master
in his talk by asking him II it was
lawful to pay tribute TO Cesar or
not. He, perceiying the purpose
that they had In view, said unto |
them, "Show me the tribute money"
and they brought him q penny. He
said: Whose IL this image and
superscriptIon?" And they replied:
tCRsar's." And he said: "Render
unto Cesar the things that are
Caesars and unto God the things |
that are Gods"
hold, Mr. President, between my
thumb and finger, o silver denArius
or penny" Of that ancient time,
bearing the image and superscrip-
Of Caesar. IL has been money for
more than twenty centuries. I'M
perial Cesar 10 dead and turned to
clay" He has yielded to mighty
and his eagles, his en-
signs and his trophies are indistin-
guIshable dust. His triumphs and
his victories are q schoolboy's tale.
Rome herself IL but Q memory.
Her marble portieos and temples
and palaces are In ruins. The
sluggish monk aud the lazy lana
ronT haunt the senate house aud the
aud the derisive owl wakes
the echoes Of the yoiceless forum,
but this little contemporary disk Of
silver IL money still because Il bears
The image and superscriPtlon Of
Cesar.
And, sir, Il will continue 10 be
money for twenty centuries more,
should Il resist % long the corTod-
ing cAnker and the gnawIng tooth Of
lime. But, II one OF these pages
here should take this coin 10 the
track ss boys sometimes do,
md allow the train to pass over Il,
IN one single instant lie function
would have disappeared and Il
would be money no longer, because
he image superscription Of Cesar
would have disappeared. Mr.. Pres
dent, money IL the creation oflaw,
md the American people have learn
ID that lesson and they are indif-
erent to the assaults, they are indif-
erent to the argument, they are In
A.. Al - IL II