Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-06-16
Senator sherman's Speech.

| Senator Sherman's Speech.
Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegram
The published reports of Senate
Sherman's recent two days speech upol
national finances gave no idea of tn
strength and cogency of his argument
1t was made under running fire of il
terruptions, which did not, however
embarrass him in the least, but some o
his reioinders were embarrassing to hi
| assailant. The speech as a whole i
one of the greatest intellectual efforts
in Congressional annals and in tone an(
matter it belongs to the highest order o
craftsmanship.
a striking feature was the distinc
exposure of the fact that free coinage
would be an entire novelty in the United
States. The free silver men are accus-
toned to represent their scheme as re
turn to the policy of the fathers. Mr
Sherman shows that when national
coinage was first begun there was nc
other thought than that of making the
mint valuation an official certificate OF
real value. Mr.. Jefferson and NJ. Ham.
ilton, took gold and silver coin and
melted them, to arrive at the ratio OF
their bullion contents. In this way they
decided that it was as Is to l, but it
happened that the silver coins they used
were light weight, and so they underes-
timated the value of silver. The conse-
quence was practical decentralization
of silver, for as rule silver was worth
more in the metal market than it was
as at the mint. Only S1,530,000 silver
had been coined when silver coinage
was stopped by Jefferson in 1905 as a
useles expense. Not until 1886 was
silver coinage resumed, and then only in
small amounts. In 1854 the ratio was
made 16 to l. Up to 1873, when the
coinage act was passed, of which such
bitter complaint is made by the silver
men, only little over $9,000,000 silver
dollars had been coined in the mints of
the United States since the beginning
of the government. The act of 1873,
which has been styled silver demonesi-
zation law, was not voted for by Mr..
Sherman and several other Senators then
members of the Finance Committee, be-
cause they objected to it on some points,
but it did receive the votes of the Sen-
ators of all the Pacific States and all
the silver States.
Mr.. Sherman also showed that the
Pacific States had been careful to guard
themselves against the consequences of
false coinage valuations. California
provides that all judgments shall be Civ
en- in the kind of money the contract
calls for. Nevada has similar law
and in addition provides that all judg-
ments for damages shall be payable in
gold coin. In Idaho the same is the
case. A regular stipulation in the
printed forms of all bonds, leases, con-
tracts and mortgages in the Pacific
State is that payment shall be made sin
gold coin of the United States of Amer
ica." Senator Jones, of Nevada, inter
rupted Senator Sherman to explain that
this covenant "was aimed against the
greenback alone" and that it is snow
merely form, and nobody pays any at
tention to it whatever" but he admitted
it to be the fact. If ever the time
should come when silver coinage shall
allow obligations to be discharge at
from 65 to 20 cents on the dollar, the
silver producing States will be safe.
Mr. Sherman showed that the amount
of gold coin actually in circulation is
$407. .6l5, ,949; of silver dallars only $57,-
554,457. The establishment of the sill
yer standard would convert gold into
causing an enormous shrink
age of the currency. The savings banks
deposits of the country amount to 81,
623,079,750. A simultaneous attempt
to draw out that amount in gold would
the country. If silver were
it would mean confisca-
ton of 80 per cent and upwards of the
savings of the people. The only argu
ment the free silver men have to make
on this point, is that the cOionage of
gold would continue as usual with the
mints open free to either gold or silver.
Senator Sherman pointed out that this
implies that the people will take gold to
the mint to be coined at a valuation of
l6 ounces of silver for one of gold when
the ounce of gold could be sold in open
market for 23 ounces of silver, Alto
gether the argument is crushing in its
affects ON the silver miners plot.