The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-04-16


from the ways OF true commerce and exchange
as would follow the attempt 70 establish
any other standard than the gold stand
ard in the United States by way of an
International agreement Suppose the seller of
cotton, pork. etc, needs gold dollars and has q
right TO expect them He eiaims them. but the
buyer offers 10 pay him in silver dollars under
tie legal tender act, which forces the seller to
take such dollars, even ii By free coinage. with
out amendments of the act of legal tender, they
had become worth only ~ cents each. What term
shall We apply to such acts of legal tender,
They can only be justified fo- the purpose of
collecting forced loans. they are acts of war
There 10 no danger in coming as many dollars
In silver or gold as the people want who may
bring their bullion TO the mint to be coined.
Tho only danger is in a0nse OF the trust under
the act of legal tender. let the law prescribe
the respective uses to which the gold dollar
and the silver dollar shall be put in some way
Then, and then only, will free coinage be safe
Mr.. Atkinson submits with the paper res
olutions providing that the minis shall be
opened TO the free coinage of dollars, or
multipies of dollars of silver or gold; that
the legal tender act be so amended as to
provide that in all contracts or arrange
ments in which the single word '.iollar"
is expressed, the dollar implied by the
agreement shall be dollar made of gold !:
and that the purchase of silver for coinage
into dollars by the government should
cease.
Senator Stewart, in his letter, says he is
in full sympathy with the Western states
commercial congress. and realizes the
necessity for united action of the West and
South to resist the absorbing avarice of
the gold contractionists of the commercial
centers of Europe and the United States.
1t was admitted that enterprise must Ian
guish, business be curtailed and progress
and development stayed by adherence to
gold monometalism. But such was the
policy dictated to our government by the
money changers. Silver has been demon
etized, and there has been no material in
crease in the volume of coin in the COM
mercial world. The output of gold had
been absorbed for non-monetary purposes.
Population, business and credit had
expanded enormously, while the
gold for ultimate redemption had
remained stationary or declined. An
oligarchy of gold monometalists either
owned or controlled by the bond, they
held every dollar of gold coin in existence
He advocated that the people break the
corner by the restoration of silver to its
proper place as money, and thus free
themselves from the hard conditions i'm
posed upon them. All the financial laws
enacted by congress for the last twenty
five years had been direct subsidies to the
money power. How long, he asked, would
the producers of wealth permit such legis-
lation? 1t was time for the producing
classes. especially those of the West and
South, to assert their rights. Under the
of af
have grown heavier and the prices
he advocated the free coinage Of silver and
making it legal tender, and said the coined
silver of Europe was legal tender at par
with gold. at premium of about 81 per
cent. above our standard dollars. The
suggestion that under free coinage the
silver coin of any country would find
market in the United States and suffer q
discount of from BIZ per cent. on European
silver to per cent. on Indian silver, was
absurd. Other measures might be neces-
sary to supply circulating medium, but
free coinage was the first and most import
ant step in the emancipation of the masses
from the domination of the money kings.
The roll of states was then called for the
introduction of resolutions, which were
referred TO the committee on resolutions,
and among which were the following by
Hon. w. III. Bryan, OF Nebraska:
That part of the revenue necessary for the sup
port of the national government should be
raised from graded income tax: that all legal
money OF the United States should be made full
legal tender for all debts: that no advantage is
to be gained by the people from the system of
reciprocity as at present prepared, but il is as
essential to our welfare that commercial inter-
course be established with thosa nations which
buy the products Of our farms; that coal, iron
ore, wool, salt, lumber, binding twine and cot
ton ties should be placed on the free list: that
the tariff on the neeessaries of life shall be
greatly reduced and that luxuries be taxed
Ex- Governor Gear. of Iowa, responded
to an invitation to address the congress,
choosing the subject Markets for West
ern Produces" He favored more complete
railway facilities, improvement of water
ways and extension of reciprocity treaties
Adjourned