Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-03-31
AIlYer in the House.


unusually large. Mr.. Bland at the out
set told the Farmers Alliance members
that they could not be treated as a
separate party in sharing the time for
debate because there was no party in
the silver question. Mr.. Bland was at
his best and he brought out the points
of the silver men with unusual force.
George Fred Williams led the speech
for the opposition inside the Democratic
party. In its economic discussion it
was an able presentation of the subject.
Messrs. Harter, Rayner, and other
Democratic opponents OF silver also got
their inning. Col. Abner Taylor (Rep.),
who is a member of the Coinage COM
mittee, made vigorous speech, con-
trasting the way the rights OF the minor
ity had been overridden in the present
House in the interest of free silver with
the consideration which had been shown
its supporters in the last Congress,
when they were in the minority, by
Speaker Reed. Col. Taylor said the
measure was the most vicious one ever
presented in tho House. 1t has made
the nomination of the idol of Democracy
impossible and had forced every
other Democratic candidate astride the
fence, yet it must be passed to assist
Democratic members in their election to
the next Congress. After this prelimi-
nary scorching, Colonel Taylor entered
upon a searching analysis of the effect
of free coinage. He yielded portion
of his time to A. J. Hopkins of the Au-
rora district. Mr.. Hopkins made con-
else speech showing the weakness of
free coinage and condemning the reck-
less folly which would jeopardiZe the
financial interests of the country and
deceive the farmer and the laboring man
in order to try dangerous experiment.
Mr.. Bland said, in opening the dis
cussion:
1t was just 100 years ago that the found
ers of this Government adopted what we
call @the double standard This provided
for the coinage of gold and silver without
limit at the mints of the United States;
that silver should be coined the same as
gold should have the advantages and the
same recognition. The silver dollars should
consist of 371 400 grains OF silver-pre-
cisely the dollar OF silver that is called for
In this bill. This bill provides that gold
ane silver shall be coined at the ratio fixed
by. the act of 1887; that gold and silver
shall be equal at the mints In order that
this equality should be preserved 1t is nec-
essary that silver should be put on the
same plane In regard to the issue of certif-
Gates at the mint as the gold.
While this bill places gold and silver on
an equality in the matter of the issue Of
coin notes in their deposits at the mints IL
also maintains that equality by providing
that when the coin notes shall be presented
for redemption the Government shall be
free TO redeem them either in gold or silver
AS it may prefer Thus coin notes issuod
on deposit Of gold bullion may be redeemed
in silver, or coin notes issued on deposit OF
silver may be redeemed in gold, just as the
Treasury may prefer
In arguing for greater volume of
money, Mr.. Bland said he would admit
that the refined system of credits which
has grown IN in the country does to
certain extent economiZe the use of
money, but in the end the day of pay
ment of these obligations always came,
and then we must have money. In 1881,
when we had passed bill for refunding
the national debt, the national banks of
the United States surrendered S1S,000,-
O0O into the National Treasury as q
threat made for the purpose of inducing
a veto from the President-a threat
which effected its purpose-and the re-
suit of this withdrawal of $4,000, 900
from circulation put interest up in New
York at the rate Of one cent day. Notes
and bonds are not money-they are con-
ueniences. The whole fight over this
issue is between the capitalists who de-
mana INTEREST anu Jue peOplo WHO ue-
mand money instead OF interest.
The gentleman denounced the periodic
attempts made for international confer
ences and International agreements
every time the free coinage of silver is
proposed, and said:
Are we to he shackled here by the apathy
OF the governments of other nations? Is
our financial system TO be regulated. not by
our own ideas of justice and our own con-
al. ..NSz
nationsY The moment that this great gov
ernment declares for the free coinage of
silver the other commercial nations. too.
will solve that question. Self-interest will
compel them TO do 80. The restoration OF
eflyer here means the restoration OF IL ev-
erywhere-the world over. The moment
you restore silver IL gold is taken from cir
culation, prices viii go down in proportion
and that necessitates money from abroad
20 purchase commodities here that go down
because OF the contraction OF money. Ev-
erything will be cheap. The man who holds
his gold is simply holding IL for silver. for
silver will take the channels OF calculation.
Let silver be coined once and see what
the result will be. You may have TO pay a
little more. II you have the two metals at
par, but let remember that as a rule
when money Is plentiful prices are good.
Labor, after all. is the only money.
Mr.. Bland then explained the last
section of the bill providing that when
ever France opened It's mints to free
coinage of silver at a ratio of 15b to 1,
the United States should adopt that
ratio He called attention to the fact
that for seventy years France had by
its open mints fixed the price OF both
metals and kept them on an unvarying
parity OF 15b to /. To allay any appre-
hension that might arise because OF the
French ratio being l5k to /, while ours
was 16 to /, 1t was proposed that the
United States should adopt the ratio OF
l51 to whenever France did so.
Continuing, Mr.. Bland declared that
the action OF the Government of the
United States on the silver question had
been an invitation to Europe to go upon
the gold standard. We began silver s
demonetization in 1872, and In all our
efforts to restore silver we had been de-
feated by limitation. When free coin
age bill was passed In tho House In 1878
by two-thirds majority and sent 10 the
Senate, the same idea of an international
agreement was injected into the ques-
ton, and meanwhile we provided for the
purchase of from 81, ,000, 900 TO 81, ,000, 900
a month. The last Congress passed
an act to purchase $4,500,000 of
silver monthly, and its friends
proclaimed that IL was done in the in
terest of silver. He opposed that bill,
and said the gentlemen were deceiving
themselves and the country, and that
silver coulf not be brought to par in
any such manner. The law OF 1878
compelled tho coinage and use of the
silver dollar. The law OF the laft Con-