The record-union., 1891-04-16

the mints of the United States to free
coinage of silver dollars, of full legal
tender, under our present statutes, is but
n proposal to collect forced loan from
the property, product, wages and earn
ings of the people of this country for the
benefit and support of the petty industry
of mining and smelling silver ore-a pro-
duct of which the annual value is less
than half that of the hens eggs, which we
get every year from our barn yards.
8"The price in our market of our cotton,
corn, wheat, meat and dairy products is
established by the price that the excess
or surplus will be for export. That
price Will be fixed in terms of gold. We
| cannot alter it if we would, and we would
not do it if we could. Every man en-
gagged in large transactions is aware of
the loss and dlscredit, or commercial sui
eide, which would come from such part
ing from the ways of true commerce and
exchange as would follow an attempt to
establish any other standard than gold
standard in the United States by way of
an international agreement. Suppose the
seller OF cotton, pork, etc, needs gold dol
lars, and has right to expect them; he
claims them, but the buyer offers to pay
him in silver dollars under the Legal Ten
der Act, which forces the seller to take
such dollars, even if by free coinage
without amendments Of Act OF legal ten
der they had become worth only so cents
each? What term Shall we apply to such
transaction? Such acts of legal tender
can only be justified for the purpose of
collecting forced loans; they are acts of
war There is no danger in coming as
many dollars in silver or gold as the peO-
pie want, who may bring their bullion to
the mint to be coined. True, the only
danger is III the abuse of the trust under
ha Of or I nf 10 low
scribe the respective uses to which the
| gold dollar and the silver dollar shall be
| put in the same way; then, and then
! only, will free coinage be safe"
Mr.. Atkinson submits with his paper
resolutions providing: That the mints be
opened to free coinage OF dollars or a
multiple 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 dollar
! is expressed, the dollar implied by that
agreement shall be dollar made of gold;
! that all contracts or agreements for the
! payment of money be in express terms of
! silver dollars or the equivalent thereof;
! that the purchase of silver for coinage
! into dollars at the expense Of the Govern
| ment should cease.
! Senator Stewart, in his letter. saws he
was in full sympathy with the Western
! States Commercial Congress, and realized
! the necessity for united action of the
! West and South to resist the absorbing
| avarice of gold cOntractions Of the COM
mercial centeTs of Europe and the United
! States. 1t was admitted that the enter
! prize must languish, business be cur
! tailed, and progress and development
stayed by aherence to gold-monometal-
ism. But such was the policy dictated to
our Government by the money changers,
| that silver had been demOnetiZed, and
there had been no material increase in the
volume of gold coin in the commercial
world. The output Of gold had been alb
! SOrbed for non-mOnetary purposes. Pop
ulatiOn, business and credit had ex-
| panded enormously, while gold for ulti-
| mate redemption had remained station
! ary, or declined. An oligarchy Of gold
| monometallists, either owned or con-
! trolled by banks, they held every dollar
! of coined gold in existence.
He advocated that the people break the
corner by the restoration of silver to it's
! proper place as money, and thus free
/ themselves from the hard conditions i'm
posed upon them. All financial laws
! enacted by Congress for the last twenty
/ five years havs been direct subsidies to
! the money powers. How long. he asked,
would the producers of wealth permit
such legislation? 1t was time for the
! producing classes, especially those of
! the West and South, to assert their
]
silver, mortgages have grown heavier
and prices of farm products have de-
/ clined. He advocated, then the free
coinage Of silver and making it a legal
tender, and said the coined silver Of Eu-
rope was legal tender on par with gold
at premium of about 81 per cent. above
| our standard dollar, The suggestion that
! under free coinage, silver coin Of any
| country would find market in the
! United States, and suffer a discount of 81
! per cent. on European silver to per cent.
! on Indian silver was absurd. Other
| measures might be necessary to supply q
| circulating medium, but free coinage was
/ the first and most important 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 Reso-
lutions, and among which were the fol-
! lowing:
! By Hon. w. J. Bryan, of Nebraska:
That part of the revenue necessary for
/ the support of the National Government
] should be raised from a graded income
! tax; that all legal money of the United
! States should be made a full legal tender
/ for all debts; that no advantage was to be
/ gained by the people from the system of
| reciprocity as at present prepared, but
| we regard it as essential to our welfare
! that free commercial intercourse be had
/ with those nations which buy the pro-
| ducts Of our farm; that coal iron ore,
wool, salt, lumber, binding twine and
| cotton ties should be placed upon the free
! list; that the tariff on the necessaries of
| life be greatly reduced and that fuXurieS
be made to bear the heaviest burdens.
Ex-Governor Scar. Of Iowa, responded
to an invitation to adress the Congress,
choosing the subject, Markets for West
/ ern Products" de favored more COM
! plete railway facilities, the improvement
/ Of water ways and the extension of reel
! procity treaties.
! \ recess was then taken until this
| evening, when several speeches were
made on various subjects, after which
! the Congress adjourned until tomorrow