The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-15
OUT FOR FREE SILVER
The Majority Report From the CON-
mittee through Bland.
IMPORTANT MATTERS COMING,
This Is Likely TO be "a Notable Week in
washington Indian Appropria-
ton BIN win be Called Up at an
Early Day.

wAsHrxoToN, Feb. 15.-The report Of
the majority OF the committee on coinage,
weights and measures recommending the
massage OF the Bland free coinage bill was
presented to the House to-day by Mr..
Bland
The report was long and carefully pre-
nared. IL discusses the various objec-
tions made against free coinage, showing
where. in the opinion OF the majority,
those objections are ill-founded, and how
free coinage OF silver would greatly benefit
the country and especially the producers.
After explaining the provisions OF the bill
the renort referred TO the warning that
free coinage would cause shiploads OF sill
yer from other countries TO be brought
here and dumped at our mlnts IN ex-
change for our gold.
The report declared that the shiploads
of silver brought TO our mints by the
foreigner would, under the proposed law,
be coined into standard dollars and these
dollars returned 10 him, but he must not
60 TO our treasury and demand gold for
them. Nor could he compel one of our
citizens to swap him gold dollar for a
silver dollar.
should the foreigner take coin notes
for bullion, he can take his coin note to
fee treasury and demand redemption, but
the secretary OF the treasury conld hand
him back the coin struck from his ship
load OF bullion. The foreigner would
then ascertain that he had committed the
blunder of bringing silver TO our mints
when it was worth three cents on the
dollar less than IL was at home.
He must then invest his money here, or
90 home with it. He could not buy gold
with it, or gold exchange, unless gold
and silver were at par; in this case there
could be no reason for preferring the one
metal to the other.
II gold went TO premium he would
have TO pay the premium on his exchange
thus entailing additional loss in his en-
terprise of sending us shiploads of silver.
III he invests his money in our property
and business enterprises 1t will stimulate
industries, awaken enterprises and give
as a healthy business and sound cur
rency.
Every shipload of silver brought here
and invested would bring unexampled
prosperity to this country while panics
would occur in the old world. Business
there would be paralyzed for want OF
money. This would force shiploads of
people to come to this country from
abroad in search OF their lost shiploads
of money. The nations of the old world
however, are aware OF this and would see
to IL that no such thing occurred.
The report then quoted from Secretary
WINDOWS report Tor 1889 in which he
took the position that no danger need d-be
apprehended OF flood OF European sill
yer.
The secretary said there was no known
accumulation of silver bullion anywhere
in the world, and the stock OF silver coin
ih Europe was needed for business pur-
poses.
The majority report asserted that the
conspiracy formed in the old world and
successfully carried through there and
here was aimed TO confine the debt-pay-
ing mediums OF the nations concerned TO
the single metal, gold. Gold was decreed
10 rapidly rise in value, thus adding 90
per cent. to the value of credits and enor-
mously depressing the value OF labor and
the products of labor. The promoters of
this conspiracy and the benefciaries, said
the report, know that when this great
government throws Its weight in the sill
yer balance the world will again be re-
stored to full faith and confidence in the
future safety of silver as the money OF the
world. The old parity OF the two metals
will return.
The report referred to the statements
that we give the silver miner at our mints
. dollar for bullion that costs only 81
cents, and remarked that we often coin
the gold miners product that costs but
four dollars into money amounting to
one hundred dollars. But, the report
maintained, there is absolutely no relia-
ble data. TO estimate the cost that the
mining OF our precious metals has, one
way or the other entailed.
Regarding the assertion that, in case
free coinage is brought about, our gold
will fee this country at once, contracting
our currency TO the amount of S68S ,000, 900,
the report stated that official reports
show total of gold i'm the treasury and
in banks OF only 1915, 402 ,554, while the re-
mainder of the estimate $3.50, 900 600 is
mere guess work. The report admitted
thrt return to the coinage of probably
disposition to hard gold. Yet il said
any evils that may result must be transit
ory.