New-York tribune., 1891-02-20
NO FREE COINAGE THIS YEAR
LITTLE LIKELIHOOD OF THE BILL COMING
TO A VOTE N THE HOUSE.
THE COMMITTEE TO PRESENT AN ADVERSE RE
poRT-THE CHANGE OF SENTIMENT on
sILyER-MoNTANA PEOPLE oP-
POSED TO THE BILL.
iBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNEI
jBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUYEI

POSED TO THE BILL.
iBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRBUNE-I
Washington, Feb. 19.-The impression that the House
Committee on Coinage woud report the senate Free
Coinage bill "withOut recOmmen latOn,' which seems
70 have found lOdgment in the minds of some per-
sons I'm Washington yesterday and it is said, was
widely circulated throughout the country by telegraph
WAS not confirmed by careful inquiries today. On
the contrary The Tribune correspondent Is justified In
reiterating aud emphasizing the statement that the
committee in all probability will report the Dill ao
versely and that the minority will dissent from the
report. 1t would be singular indeed, the members
Of the Committee on Coinage. after listening 10 eN-
haustive arguments and statements pro and con, ana
after lively debates among themselves, OF which the
country has been fully advised, should agree to say
that they had convictions in regard to the suDJecV
OF free and unlimited silver coinage suihcient 10 Jus!
tfy them In making any recommendation 10 tio
House. In view of the known facts, of the intelI'
gence Of the committee. Of the integrity OF lts eh
bers and their conscientious CONVICTIONS ana OF every
,ther consideration such a report would be justly re-
garded as cOwardly and unworthy, If not as an hsuls
TO the House Of Representatives.
Indications are not wanting that public sentiment III
favor Of free and unlimited silver coinage is waning
even in REGIONS where regarded as Overwhelming
only short time ago, and some Democrats as well as
Rcpnbicans already recognize the fact There IS good
reason to believe therefore, that the conclusions OF inc
majority of the Coinage Committee will be formally ap
proved and ratified if the matter shall be brought 10
vote in the House, contingency which now seems 10
be improbable. Even the extreme silver men reallze
This they regard silver legislation by this Congress as
hopeless as indeed it is. few weeks ago they were
rather proud Of their efforts to manufacture pubIc
sentiment in favor OF free coinage by distributing
millions OF documents. and blank petitions by the nun
dred thousand be signed and sent TO Representatives
and Senators. Now they seem to be annoyed Wleh
these unsefsh efforts referred TO, ana tesliy ue
cline 10 answer questions in regard TO them IL may
he added that the men who feel the greater mor'lca
ton and disappointment are the socalled silver SCH
afors" who rskcd everything, even the pocai pflno
pies and profcssed convictions OF lifetime on 'iio
hazard OF an alliance with antfrec election Democrats.
Some interesting statements were made today AT
The sessions of the House Committee on Coinage hr'
Walker continued his cruel crosSeXamhe'loh vi M
Ncwlands of Nevada, and when it was ended MI Ne"
lands was glad. Some statements from Mf' bech' Vi
Montana. who is engaged In the silVef-mnlhs Hiu"7
try seemed to give Mr.. Bartine, OF Nevada d soou
deal of concern, as also did letter from an eH-ooV
prncc of Montana, which declared that "sen'hehV j.
rivnr WAY 10 reasona there the subject OF silver
eoinape Mr. Beck's plain and blunt oppOsltlOh u
free and unlimited coinage and TIE reason Which hu
offered in support Of his position, evidently sassereu
the NevaAa Representative, because IN the man. JIG
fortified the ground taken by the opponents oil te sen
ate bill. .,,.-
Mr. NcwIands, in response to one of Mr.. WalkeT's
statements said that in his opinion both gold ana
silver arart from their money use, WHICH hau oc''
given them by law. custom and tradltoh' "eFc III
trnscally the most worthless metals III the "ofIu'
That was he added, perhaps an eXtraVaSaht sIau,-
nent Deprive gold and silvct OF their money qudI'
ity and they would be worth little compared win
iron conner lead and other useful metals. The recent
manic having been alluded to by Mr. NewlahdS' Nr'
Walker wanted to know if there was anything III 'n's
world with which man had TO do which would not DC
subject occasionally to disturbance
Mr. Newlands's reply was that ne dh not kio" oi
any financial system which could be made perfect ana
entirely avert panics; but their liability TO occur
could be esened and he thought one great cause OF
pancs was a small volume OF money
Mr. Walker said that as it had been charged that
there were gold pools and gold bugs who were seeks
10 influence legislation, he would ask General warner
was paid for his services by the silver organization
The witness replied that General Warner was not pald
for his services and that his interest in the silver
question was entirely mpcrSona but ne should decline
TO answer questions relating TO the organization lie
lad gwen his testimony in this matter before e silver
Pool Investigating Committee.
j. ;. Moore. the Parsee merchant maze SCdIe
rput 10 the effect that il not the decentralization OF
silver by the United states which caused the decline
i'm value Of silver, but smaller demand for silver IN
India and larger supply Of silver, due TO mporations
and an improvement in transportation, among uie
Indian provinces. India was called Sink hoie
for silver, because although great amounts OF slNeT
were sent there, none ever came back.
Mr. Bartne closely questioned Mr. Moore with refer
encc 10 his statements Of Indian silver importauons
and called attention 10 the fact that they were II
conflict with the testimony before the English Royal
Commission but Mr.. Moore insisted that his state
mens were correct nevertheless.
Ngliam II. Beck who is engaged in silver mining in
Montana opposed free coinage, on the ground that he
believed the present law, which took ftyfour millions
of Ever annually out of the market and absolutely
locked il up was a better thing for the siNermineT
,,,,ia yli al he
On the market He did not think freecoinage legsla
ton alone could raise the price Of silver bullion to It's
coin value. Mr.. Beck gave IL as his opinion tnat
fire., coinage would absolutely destroy the exchange
ability between gold and silver and would make silver
whether in the shape of coin or bullion, worth simply
the bullion value in the markets of the world Under
free coinage the American silver coin would be Just az
much commodity as the coins of Mexico, which had
free coinage and the purchasing power OF SILVER com
wouM be simply its bullion value, as fixed IN inc
markets Of the world The number OF low gfade SVeI
ore mines he declared. absolutely illlma5le, ana
with the greatly improved methods III production there
would be great quantities of silver put on the
market There had been such great Improvements In
mining that he believed that within five years silver
would get down to so cents an ounce. He was sorry
to see IT, but believed ii would have to come Mexico
was also greatly increasing her productions lie redu
a letter from Ex-Governor White, of Montana, eX-
pressing ratification at the fact that free coinage
could not pass this Congress, and declaring that free
coinage would be a great disaster to the silver
Industry The sentiment of the people, the letter
said was changing If Congress were to pass a
free coinage law he insisted that it should be provided
that gold dollars could be exchanged at the Treasury
for silver dollars and vice versa. and that either
metal went up or down tho Government should stand
An the breach and bear the loss.
Pierre Humbert, ir.. civil engineer, OF Boston,
speaking ior the Fanue Hall meeiing advocated the ne
remonetza ion of silver. Many Of the bankers. ne
said persisted in talking about quality. quality, as
the one essential in money, but he and others be
leved that quantity just essential as qualty.
If quality were the only thing to be considered
platinum was mmCaSuIabN superior TO gold But
gold was not produced in sufficient quantity To do tho
legitimate business of the country, ana Mr. HumDcrt
earnestly argued In favor of "a bi metallic standard.
As Bismarck had said. the gold blanket was 50 small
that each nation was tuCging at 1T until the sIalh
had become such that the blanket COGld not fail to