Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-10-12
Senator Camden. on the Silver Bill.

Senator Camden of this State has
sent us a copy of his speech on the sill
YER repeal bill now before the United
States Senate. The Senator is in tho
rough accord with the administration
on this que stion. and he discusses the
subiect with the clearness and good
INDICTMENT for which he has always
been noted. His position on the sill
YER question need not be misunder-
stood after reading his speech. which
il a particularly practical and sensi-
BILE argument.
He favored the repeal Of the Sher-
,nsn law for while it was true some
nantlemeo scouted the idea that the
10 -, v.s respCusib e for :he panic. II
coald not b. qnest oneu ''St 'he
,,-a,t boGy o. business men aud tinI.h-
c'e.s regarded il as the ell FL ca"so
and demanded tuat it be wiped om
the : atu'e BOOKS
Taking 40 tire question OF silver Sen
sto. Camden went at some lel:th III
tba history Of the coinage OF ihat
meta, i'm tue last nund"ed years, boz
in This county and Europe. liz
showed that in the early YEA : OF t'uS
government. The able aud pair oilc
G,t ,c,a.s woo directed our financial
DnIicy thought it necessary IN h:lnS
the ra. 10 between s''ver ana god 20
Dy.rc.se the utmost ca'e aud pursue
tho most tho. orch Investigation. so
ss RI he abSolu,elr CO tain that they
got a. the true commercial ratio be
tween the two meals Oefore they de-
c,ded what the le,al ratio should be.
They realized the danger to the s,a
hiI;;v O; our finances that would Ds
involved in oyer-valuiug either me nj
and rOrpSaw the results OF fluctuations
i'm he value Of silver or gold. Iney
knew that geuuiue hjmetalism could
only Inc attained aud maintained by
mol 10, the legal and commercial Ia
tjo aysetlv The same. So. in liking
the ra,io OF silver to god IN our cu:-
r.ncv tnev took the most elaborate
mes.u..s OF piecautiOn although at
tnsf fine the minis Of almost all Eu-
ION. rs vel as our own were open to
the free coinage Of silver ana, the q
fore. the danger OF fluctuations wee
vas ~ less than thev aie now, ana
the possible consequence 10 us OF such
fluctuaiion must have been OF relative
ly sl:cht Importance. Today, the
Seaator went on to point our, the
conditions as to silver are vastly
changed. The minis Of all Europe
were closed to it and we ourselves
have beer on gold basis since 1870.
Within the last three months we have
seen the Widest fluctuations In the
p,ice of the metal with the conditions
so changed. Therefore, the Senator
concluded thai it was unwlse, llDprac-
ticable and dangerous for us TO at
temot nj this time and under these
circumstances to undertake, single
handed and alone. the free coinage
OF silver. In the face Of all we had
done fo- ii bv the Bland uct and the
Sherman act from 1873 down to the
D 'esent. the price OF silver steadily
declined.
He was a bimetalist and believed
the world could not do its business
without the aid OF silver as we'll as
gold. but il was dangerous for Us 70
undertake free coinage alone. We
would have TO wait until events com
pelled the nations OF Europe to JON
us i'm an international agreement.
Trat time would come, he believed,
by ire end OF this decade, and he
hoped sooner.
In conclusion. the Senator said he
fayo.ed legislation which would give
the country an increased currency
and believe we could with safety in
{, ease the amount of silver we now
have. Legislation Of this kind shall
supplement ,be repeal of the sherman
Jaw. Senators had expressed doubts
that such legislation would be PASSED
bv Congress. or signed by the Pres
dent. il the Sherman law were once
repealed: as for himself, he had no
such doupjs either regarding Con
gress o. the executive; ne had fuIi
confidence in the good faith, wisdom
and patriotism of the President.