Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-24
Chances for a Compromise
Very Slim.
The Battle Waged With Ex-
ceeding Fierceness.
Free Coinage Sure to Win the Day
in the HOuee.
Both Sides of the Question Ably Pre-,
sented Pierce of Tennessee
Makes q Telling Ar
gument.
Associated Press Dispatches.

In the house by substituting Dill pro-
yiding for an international monetary
congress, are now admitted to be very
slight, and the advocates of such action
concede a clear majority to the free
coinage bill when the vote is reached.
The opponents of the bill, at the con-
clusion OF the debate, will move to re-
commit the bill to the coinage COM
mittee. This is believed to be the
strongest movement the opponents OF
the bill can give.
The galleries of the house were crowded
this morning. Chairman Bland opened
the debate by giving notice that at
2 O'Clock tomorrow he will demand the
previous question on the silver bill.
Pierce of Tennessee then spoke in
favor of the measure. He said '1n
the discussion of the pending measure,
if / did not believe the unlimited coin
age of silver would be for the best inter-
ests of the people of the whole country,
I should not so warmly support it. 1t
is only by going back to the past upon
this question of bi-metallism that we
can properly understand the great
problem. For the question of today is
whether we shall have bi-metallism or
mono-metallism. Going back to 1915,
beginning with the action of the great
nations of the world upon this question,
we find great industrial England pros
porous and happy until she struck down
silver and discarded it as one of her coin
metals. The voice of labor then, as
now, was unheeded, and the result was
that the next three years witnessed a
period OF depression, distress and suffer-
ing hitherto unknown in Great Britain.
This is matter of history and cannot
be controverted."
Continuing, Pierce showed that after
the expansion of the currency, resulting
from the discovery of gold in California
and Australia in 1S49 and 1850, labor in
every commercial nation affected by
this expansion, advanced 80 per cent.
The spirit dominant today among
financiers and capitalists throughout
the world is that a scarcity of money is
a thing to be desired. 1t has not been
many decades since the chevalier of
France laughed at the reproduction
of gold, which along the fifties made it
wise to adopt mono-metallism and adopt
gold as q standard. Germany in 1876
demonetzed gold and established a
silver standard. Why? Simply be-
cause they thought they were going to
have too much money in two metals.
Limitation of currency, scarcity of
money, was what the tinanciers wanted.
"Our opponents tell us'' continued he,
''that gold must not be molested; that
gold is the only sacred metal; that gold
is king. What is it gave gold the posi-
ton it occupies? Legislation. And it
is only by legislation that the great
wrong can be righted. Applause Up
to the time OF the demonetization of
silver in 1873 it was never worth less
than 100 cents. Silver was at that time
at a premium of 81. Why did they de-
monetize it then? The same spirit Of
avarice and greed that struck it down in
England dominated this country, and
silver was murdered at the interest of
the great banking and financial interests
of the country, and the agricultural and
laboring people from that time to this
have been paying the profits in their
sweat and toll" [Applause.l
Concluding, Pierce cited the speech of
Mills in the last house in support of
free coinage, and insisted that the gen.
tleman from Texas, to make his record
consistent, must support the bill. [Great
applause greeted the announcement Of
Pierce. Whatever Williams, Harter,
HOar and other anti-free coinage Demo-
Gratis might do in the event of the
passage of this bill, the Democratic ad-
vocates of free coinage stood ready to
support the nominee OF the Democratic
convention at Chicago, whether the
platform declared for free coinage or
not.
''There are gentlemen of New Eng
land" said Pierce, "who say if we pass
a free silver bill, New England will send
an unbroken body of Republican repre-
sentatives to this hall and that they
will give us force bill. l say to you.
gentlemen from New England, that we
Democrats of the south and west meas
ure our action by a Democratic rule, and
Thomas Jefferson having said that the
cardinal principle of Democracy was
submission to the will of the majority
fairly expressed, we, when the MAORI
ty speaks, bow to it and support the
nominee and the platform that majority
presents. That is our kind of Demo
cracy." [Applause.l
Pierce spoke of the clouds of gloom
that lowered over the south when the
force bill passed the last house, and
went to the Republican senate; when
the press informed them that President
Harrison had pledged himself to use his
official influence to carry through that
measure. But" said Pierce, "the
clouds began to break away and through
the riffs we saw the grand, glorious,
brave, patriotic Republican senators of
the west standing between their party
and the liberty of the people. By
thei1 votes the force bill was defeated,
and L say to you, gentlemen from New
England, that the same men stand there
today, as bulwark between the Re-
publican party and the interests of the
people. With this reliance, we do not
fear the force bill, and demand that this
house give to the people measure of
redress for the wrongs done in 1874"
Loud applause on the Democratic side.
At 2 O'Clock it was announced that the
on rules had consented to
bring in a rule for vote Monday, in
case the OPP onents filibuster tomorrow,
Stone of Pennsylvania followed Pierce.
He denounced the pending bill as not
oill for free coinage of gold and silver,
but bill for the unlimited issue OF |
paper money. He had suspicion that
he bill was an heirloom in the Bland |
amily. Laughter In reading the
history of his country he discovered that |
,ne Richard Bland was a leading mem