The Press., 1891-01-22
SENATOR HAWLEY ON SILVER.
Speech Delivered Jan. IA, 1891 l

Speech Delivered Jan. IA, 1891
 MT. President, do not propose to occu-
 py the time at this late stage, but am not
 quite willing to have a vote taken without
 a word more than my vote "nay" will be.
 beg to deprecate the feeling that has
 long been exhibited here and to say that
 am not here to speak against silver. We
 are now by the existing law offering to buy
 four and half million ounces a month. or 54, ,OO0. GOO ounces a year, to give treasury
 notes for 1t, legaltender notes, suppose,
 and proceed to coin that at our leisure. Now, that law Is not enough they are not
 satisfied with that because we propose to
 buy that silver in the open market, at
 market rates. No matter how much that
 may accelerate the price we will buy it at
 market rates and coin it and issue it at a
 superior value, taking for the government of the whole people the profit.
 But that does not answer our friends of the silver persuasion. They demand that
 a 20 per Cent profit shall be given to the
 mine owner. No compromise is admitted.
 We are to give him dollar for 412 grains of silver when we could buy 4eO grains for
 $1.07. The difference is not between an
 increase of the coinage through silver. II The difference between us is that we are not willing to give to a certain class of
 producers for the product of their soil 22 per cent. more than the market allows
 them. That is the real difference between
 us.
 They tell us that foreign silver under this proposed law will not be sent in and deposited here. 1 do not see why not.
 They will get here approximately p per
 cent. more for their silver thun they get in the London markets, which is the center,
 the indicator of all markets.
 Mr. Tallor 5o xx,;, ell,
 MT. Hawley--[ decline absolutely to yield.
 Mir. Teller-All right.
 MT. Hawley-Absolutely and am rath-
 CT cross about it, too.
 Mr. Teller-The senator is very cross. f Mir. Hawley-We have been just tramp , led upon by some of the best men in the f world here. They have had no patience. They have denounced my constituents, | and have denounced everything an inch high and year old and all I beg now is
 ten minutes, and am going to try to talk civilly.
 z We are already buying more silver than
 the United States produces. I am making Q arts; l do not know exactly how much that will be; and I am willing to buy { more.
 . Now they will say that am false and r untruthful, for they have said things like , it over and over again, when declare that :, I have an intense desire to rehabilitate sill A yer and if possible, to bring the two met ', , als to parity and make as much use of 7 silver as possible, for gold alone will not ' answer the purpose of the world. Ishould l. l. like to approximate the condition of France . if could and keep it as steadily as they . can do, because they can work their silver . it is interconvertibe; it is made as good U !. as gold by thelr will, and they can hold it z so, I think. 5 I say I, will do more; 1 will buy more than four and one-half million ounces. :. lioiu one of the two democrats on the silver ?, question whom I have heard speak-old '' fashioned democrats-in saying I am will !, ing to go further; but there is no yielding. W It is very little use for me to say this pend ~ ing measure is against the judgment of ,a wise men, because every man who controls 7. large sums of money or handles it, if he :, speaks against the measure, is not to say u personally insulted, but denounced as hay , ing selfish, and corrupt, and wicked, and | cruel interests against the true interests oi !, the people. I do not know any such peo $ pie, yet live in town that is full of sav 1 ings banks, and national banks, and pri . . vate banks, and fire insurance companies,
 
 2. by an honorable body of men, and theil ,a z. money is scattered all over the west. - Gentlemen seem to think that because 'o 'o one of our insurance companies, for exam ~ pie, has $30, 900, 900 capital on hand it is , ~ worth that much, and is living in royal =, rotten luxury upon that money. It is ID every dollar held in trust in Jumps of ter :" thousand or five thousand or fifteen hun 'e dred or two thousand for poor men al 'o over the country. Their lives are insured ,' and they put their money there, and these IL' men are merely trustees for poor men. Sc o- U with our savings banks. l know we ar' T. called gold bugs, goldites, and gold barons E A- In Pratt street, in my town, they are hand a o1 ling $1O, GOO, ,000, and there is not salary Io above $4, 900 in the concern, and is never ,a n dividend paid. These savings banks art llu lu practically managed as a benevolence 'n There is nobody in our town who vii 10 fight more for the sanctity of contracts and for the soundness of the national cur "a .a rency than these men.
 's- There are scores of millions in my towl H. administered, not for the benefit of thu H. Il men who sit there and run it, but for tn, 'n benefit of the little shareholders around and for the savings-banks depositors ant
 holders all over the country. These ar 'a the men whom defend, and assaults up l: on whom, maue nere Wlbnout Inlt aue n ini- without distinction, resent I rely upol 4G' the judgment of men controlling saving .. banks and life insurance companies, an as even loan companies collecting savings 0 ,e comparatively poor men for loaning out il e7y the west, and 1t is loaned to the extent c 70 twelve or fourteen hundred millions of de ch posits in the savings banks of the country 'o- respect the judgment of private an ey public bankers. They are indIspensibl n' CO operators with our great manufacturers is, l1s, with our large merchants, as well as tn ny smaller tradesmen, and others to whor 'u- they loan money. All the people aroun
 there tell me it is dangerous to embar B, upon the unlimited coinage of deprecia
 ted metal, dangerous as disturbance i
 the values of existing property, propert
 held solemnly in trust by the hundred
 and thousands of millions of dollars. The
 tell me not to vote for such a bill; the
 tell me to oppose it; that there is n'
 tional danger in it. They tell me what
 knew already, that you can not control il ternational laws in this matter any mol than you can control international wind
 and waves aud tides that they will sett gs, values beyond all your decisions. Yor s, law is supreme within our limits, but whe