Omaha daily bee., 1892-06-01
SHERMAN ON FREE COINAGE
He Talks in Opposition to the Stewart
Bill in the Senate.
CLOSE ATTENTION PAID THE SPEAKER
Democrats and Republicans Alike Inter-
cstcd in His Arguments-Facts and
Figures Cited-Littic Interest Being
Taken In House Affairs.

WASHINGTON, d. c., May 3l.-Mr. Sher-
mans speech in opposition to the bill for the
free coinage of gold and silver was tho fea-
ture in the senate today. The first two
hours of the session were given, rs usual, to
the morning business and to the considera-
ticu Of bills on the calendar. OF which thirty
were passed. There were few of them, how
ever, of any public Importance. During
these two hours listlessness prevailed in the
senate, the average number of senators pres
ent being not more than twenty-five. But
that hstlessness disappeared and the senate
chamber filled up rs Mr.. Sherman pro-
ceeded with his speech. All around HIM on
the republic side of the chamber his co..
leagues settled themselves in their chairs
and faced him with an air Of marked atten-
tion. 1t was the same on the democratic
side. During the two and half hours that
Mr.. Sherman spoke, but few senators left
the chamber. Fully seventy of them re-
mained in their seats nearly all the time,
paying close attention to the argument Mr.
Sherman's manner was forcibe, his voice
clear and strong, and he spoke like ono who
felt deeply tho Importance of carrying con-
vction to his hearers. Although ne was In
terrupted on several occasions he did not
allow himself to be diverted from the course
which he had marked out for himself.
The calendar WAS laid aside and the bill to
provide FOR the free coinage OF gold and Sill
YER was taken up sherman began his
speech on the subject.
Senator Sherman's Speech.
Five states, he said, were largely inter-
ested in the production OF silver and were
| ably represented in the senate. The south
seemed also TO have caught something OF the
| spirit that actuates the mining states, be-
| of silver, but an expansion of the currency,
| cheaper money, broader credit. 1t was
| also represented largely IN the senate in
favor of the free coinage of silver And so
| in other parts of the country. He-repre-
| sentlug state nearly central in population
| had tested the sense of the people of Ohio
and tney (he believed) were by a largo ma
| iority, lot only in the republican party, but
| in the democratic party, opposed to the free
| coinage of silver. They believed that it
would degrade the body of the currency,
redGce its purchasing power one-third,
| destroy the oimetallc system of the country
| to the single monetary standard of silver
measured at the rate of 81 grains to the
! dollar.
He went on to defend the financial action
| of the republican party ard his action in 1t .
| In passing allrsion to the national banking
| system MIR. Sherman said that those banks
| would soon pass away-not because they
were not the best banks i'll the world, put
because the United States bonds on which
| tney rested would De palu OH. NO man nau
ever lost single dollar on the notes of n
| failed national bank, deposltors had lost
| something here and there, but very little.
The system, therefore, had fully justified
| itself.
Conccrning the Law of 1873.
Coming to the dropping of the silver dollar
| from the coinage in 1873 and the substitu-
tion of the trade dollar for it, he said that
was done on the representations and petition
of the legislature of California-the people OF
that and the other silver mining states want t.
ing to transport their silver TO China. The
total amount Of silver dollars coined from
the foundation of the government up to 1873
had been a little over 900 and at that
time the silver dollar was obsolete dead an d
| buried. No one wanted it. 1t was ther G.
fore unfair and unmanly to arraign the gen
| tlemen who had charge of the Dill which had
demonetized silver. The only trouble about
| that law was that senators were not as wise
as the Almighty and could not see
ahead. II it had been known that silver was
going to fall as rapidly as 1t did he would
have kept the silver dollar and put it on the
suspension of silver coinage by the Latin
union had given another blow TO silver, and
the increased production of silver had given
| it another blow. 1t was not true that he was
unfriendly In silver.
| Mr.. Sherman then went on to denounce the
| bill under consideration as wrong in princi-
pie, wrong in detail wrong in every aspect
fraud on the creditor, deception to the
debtor and demoralizlng to gold. The advo
| cacy of the free coinage of silver, he said
| was dong more than anything to disturb the
business interests of the country.
AT this point MIR. Sherman yielded to ,