The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-07-27
arARMER FUNSTON IN IuNE, 1s9O.

mBu uunGOu ubuo y DpeeCu Ru bnS uOuDS
of representatives on the silver question,
and here are extracts from the same:
Mr.. Speaker, in my opinion no question
of greater Importance than this one has
been before this house since the great ques-
tions growing out Of the war were settled.
Along by the side Of the principles Of hu-
man rights and the maintenance Of the
government, lies It's financial system. Our
fathers believed this and migrated into the
constitution a clause oOnferring upon the
general government the right TO coin money
and regulate the value thereof. =.
Now, Mr.. Speaker, the alarming Condi-
ton of the business Of the country, arising,
not by reason Of the tariff nor over produO-
ton, as has been claimed on this floor, but
by reason of an insufiCienoy Of currency,
demands that the mints be thrown open and
every ounce of available silver be coined
into standard dollars. The people are ex-
pecting this; they are demanding this; and,
mark my word, the man from the west who
stands out against il viii forever have hung
his political "hsrp on the willow tree"
The people of the west, and south and
northwest have taken up this question in
earnest, and they mean that every man in
this body from those sections, who opposes
free coinage, shall be made to feel their
power at the polls. Mr.. Speaker, am op-
posed TO this bill and shall aoOept il only
when have found il impossible TO get any
thing better. The principles Of il are wrong.
It reduces silver from the rank il holds as
coin and stores it away as a commodity on
which money is to be issued at its value in
gold.
Could anything be more humiliating to
the friends Of the silver dollar, than TO
see it divestsd of all It's functions as money,
and then stored away in the basement Of the
treasury, dishonored and disgraced1. {.
BY what authority does any one make the
charges Of the silver dollar beng 72-cent
dollar9 One dollar in silver may not con-
tain 100 cents in gold, but it does contain
100 cents in silver. One dollar in silver will
purchase as much Of the neceSsaries Of life
as dollar in gold, and as much as it would
at any other time during the last hundred
years. One dollar in silver to-day contains
as much pure silver as il did in 1874, when it
was made the coin of the country. Il has
never varied in It's weight of silver, while
gold, in 1884, was changed in weight to
make it conform to the value of the silver
dollar, and thus, il precedent be law, show
ing that silver should be the measure of
value.
Much of the time, during the life Of the
government, the silver dollar has possessed
greater intrinsic value than the gold dol
lar, and it was only when legislated against
and deprived Of its functions as money that
it and gold parted in value to any great de-
gree. And why should not silver 60 down
under such OircumstanCes9 II, by an act Of
Congress, it's use as tableware could be pro-
hibited, its value would 60 still lower, and
il its use for all purposes could be destroyed
it would have no value whatever.
Things are valuable only for the purposes
they serve. Restore silver TO its normal
condition as a currency by the side Of gold
and gold will have less value because Of It's
reduced purposes, and silver will become
more valuable because Of It's additional pur-
poses, and thus the two coins approach each
other so nearly in value that there would be
no observable difference.
And now, Mr.. Speaker, If the charge be
true that the silver dollar Is worth only 70
cents, am puzzled to know how the gen.
tlemen who make that charge are to explain
to their constituents the justice Of forcing
the borrower TO pay 100 cents for every 70
cents borrowed.
Either these gentlemen do not believe
what they say about the lack Of value in the