The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-07-02
WILL HARRISON VETO THE fREE-siL-
YER BILL?

| NEK
F,or, all nrosent indications before this ar
ticlo appears in print the Senate VIII have
| nassed the bill for free coinage OF the 4lz's
grain legal.tender dollar. That fact snail not
deter us however. from saying what we have
10 say.
Many Senators and Representatives who
know in their hearts that II is midsummer
madness 10 enact such statute favor u De-
cause they think it viii put Mr.. Harrison IN
. bole - az they term IT, They think he VIII
hA certain to veto the bill, and that
,bst will cost him the vote OF all
the free-silver men IN the country
,rbiob will lose him the election.
| re these we say that there has never hap
peped and never can happen a case in which II
vas or can be wise or right for ally man or set
/ Of men TO do wrong thing in the hope tnat
q good result may flow from it. Never has
more odious or demoraizing doctrine been
put forth than the dogma that the end Justi-
fes the means. II it were possible that peo-
ple could adopt this as their controlling RUE
~ policy. the decay and destruction OF that
people would date from the day when It was
adopted. II is an odious principle tnat
bou Id find no place in a generous mind.
And gentlemen who propose to allow their
conduct in this grave circumstance to be
guided by this detestaole consideration
would DO we'll 10 take TO heart the tate OF
the engineer who was hoist with his own
petard.n DO they feel sure that if Mr.. HsTri-
son meets this terrible calamity that they
propose 10 thrust upon the country, with the
serenity and courage Of a man. that that will
cost him his election? They should remem-
Der that Mr.. Cleveland never made himself 80
dear 10 tho popular heart as when
he fouted free silver in the face at
the moment when its partisans seemed
on the point Of running rot in all the inst'-
tutions Of the Government. That act showed
that he was man who was willing 10 cast on
ono side all considerations relating 20 his own
personal Advancement when their considera-
tons were matched against questions OF The
public good, and heroic conduct Of that sort
is what the people seek and desire in their
leader.
If Mr.. Harrison in this supreme moment OF
public safety or public danger shall find In
shall. like a man march up 70 his own defeat
to shield the people from this dreadful
catastrophe. The TINES, for one, will not pre-
dict that that act will insure his defeat. If
TIE TINES were given to predicting at all 1t
would say that the act would make him
hundreds Of thousands Of warm friends who
arc now apathetc spectators.
Acircumstance which took place in the Sen
ate discussion on Thursday should receive
the grayest consideration by all men who
think at all Mr. Warren, the Republican Sen
ator from Wyoming, a silver State, offered as
a substitute for the pending bill. one that pro-
vided that coinage If silver should be free
only to silver produced IN American mines,
and only 10 such ofH0t slrer as may be here
after prodrccd from those mines. All foreign
coins and bullion, and all bullion heretofore
prodoced from american mines is TO be ex-
cluded from the privilege Of free coinage.
No silver is to have the privilege Of free coin
age except that hereafter produced in Idaho,
Nevada and Colorado. Was there ever more
complete give away than this
These United States ARE 10 have their cur
rency debased values upset, gold sent 10
premium a monetary panic such as no poo
pie ever saw, that the silver producing States
may have a market for their silver that will
give them one-third more for it than it is
really worth. The cat is out Of the bag Mr..
Warner has ripped its seams.
We have taken the trouble TO get from the
Director Of the Mint some facts which are
very interesting in this connection. His let
ter brings the date Of the account down to
June 1. 1890. On that day the Government
had purchased between it and February IS.
1878. when recoinage of silver commenced,
3s9 5S5. 23O so ounces of fine silver, Of which
1t had coined all except 1882, 513. "a ounces;
but this latter bulk of fine silver is at this
moment lying in the Treasury uncoined and
just as it came out Of the mines. These "a
S42, 5i3 "a if coined into dollars would represent
about S1OO 100000 The silver coined has
made something over S400, 900 of silver
dollars. But of the amount coined the gov
eminent has been able to get out into circu-
lation only S57, IT'S. ss4. ard finding the rest Of
its coined dollars banked up in the Treasury,
on its hands, it has III disgust quit coming
the silver. and this immense sum of 74.542,-
5l8.74 ounces is allowed to lie idle in the
vaults as useless, for all practical purposes.
as if it was still in the mines. Could the
folly of free coinage be made palmer than
these facts make it,