The sun., 1893-09-28
THE REPEAL DEBATE.
sENA TOR oAmEnoS,s SPECIE.
Delivered In the Senate at Washington on
Monday, sept. e5.
i,om NE Congressional R.oovd Sept 90

lie interest forces me to speak to-day.
l shall begin by calling. your closest atten-
tion, N ut TO my own views. but to those OF Mr..
Gladstone. tho Prime Minister OF England.
given officially by him in the House OF Com
mons. on the 2Sth OF last February, when the
silver question was last debated. As far as
know. this is the latest and most formal. as
well as most eNp icit statement OF the British
aovernment on ths subject, .,.
great creditor of the countries OF the world;
Of that there. can be no doubt whhtever;. and
II Is increas,nSy Ing yrhS ths great eredtor q the
does ss not largely add to the mass sa Of British
estimate the tota! amount Of the property
which the United Kingdom holds beyond the
We that is not to o Be es
mated by tens or hundreds of millions One
Thousand millions probably would be an ex-
tremely low and inadenuate estimate. Two
thousand millions. or something even more
than that. is very likely to be nearer the mark.
l think. under these circumstances. it is
rather a serious matter to nsk this country to
consider whether we are going to perform this
will not trouble you further with Mr.. Glad
stones remarks. although he went on to de.
eiop his idea in terms even iorcbe than
debate for themselves. | have NO wish to ex-
cite angry feelings against any, one. whether
the supreme act Of elt.sacrifiee" Which Mr. Mr..
Gladstone considers to be contrary to the in.
the world. Is the attempt to maintain or re-
store to silver the function OF serving as
1 am tempted to sit down and leave this
speech OF Mr.. Gladstone to stand alone as the
ground for the vote shall give on the bill now
before us. 1t 10 ground enough. To my mind
1t carries conviction as to the true course OF an
American: but every one cannot be expected
u lifetime Of my feelings and thoughts: and
not one lifetime only. but fully two hundred
viii viii nave ~ patience With me II S Explain I e WRas
seems to mo. and perhaps to them. self -evi-
dent Iwant to carry with me their unanimous
More than once in this debate we have heard
the remark that the United states are the great
doubt patriotic and honorable. although am
not sure that 1t is perfectly good taste: but II
Would @ like to @ ask Senators what % our nationa! @
greatness consists Of Some will say that. 1t
the and OF t
education. their enlightenment: In the extent
and resources Of their territory; and its unr-
its min erals. tts rivers. and it's lakes.
To all these titles to greatness will add an.
in tho eyes OF us who have a share in its gov
eminent and in the eyes OF every republican
Spn5n ws ws Tsh 05
asserted the most emphatic possible negative
power OF England. From the day when the
pilgrims founded Plymouth to the day when
the tea was thrown into Boston harbor to the
day when Washington was inauRurated Presi
embargo to the day whom the civil war ended.
under discussion. the chief interest OF our
history In the eyes OF America or Europe has
been its successful protest against the ideas
and interests OF the moneyed power Of Eng
land. whether that power was for the moment
embodied In church or king. in landed aris-
tocracy or In trading monopoly.
On this point imagine we are agreed.
will not argue IL. loll will ALL admit ira frufh
and am in haste to show its force. You know
that our stHtgte M boGks a, are erammed with leg
81 ] nn' Wss itse devised on our thosa Ns
tive system. down to minute details. in the
same spirit We have fostered and protected
here
we have protected our citizens and seamen:
we have. so far as we could. under any and ali
our methods. still preserved the radical policy
which. whether under Federalist or Republi-
maintain negative on what we thought. and
stu think: the mistakes OF the money power
want to say nothing harsh or offensive. but
here we are on delicate ground. and must. in
the least unpleasant way possible. explain why
course Americans are sensible race. and
far far. from yindetiXe %. or narrow: They have
for their attitude toward England is that, ever
been controlled by its moneyed interests; and
al At a periods Of their history
England were selfish. cruel. and aggressive.
as well as sordid; to a degree dangerous to all
the S THsld Land and 4 fatal to the @ MsaS ,n,,,.
revert to Mr.; Gladstone's speech OF Feb. ~.
in which y, he has laid down. ia its most explicit
terests Of England. Which was the same even
ing approved and adopted by large majority
q N % Ia N
the countries OF the world. could not be ex-
peoted to perform the supreme act Of self
ofiical avowed policy Of Enaiand Is to tor prevent
money because the moneyed interests OF Eng
land reg require; or think they require. mono-
have stated the case with great m federation.
and have cast not word OF blame on Mr. Glad
stone. Enn,. whS n merely represents policy which
hope that have carried every Senator with
me down to this. point. and. i 30, cannot see
step, Any further measure which tends to dis
credit silver Is. at least for the moment fur
pert the o @ sod RGGy
~ In Voting against such a measure @ stand.
therefore. on assured ground. The whole his;
and fifty years. every precedent Of every party
in American politics, the entire mass Of our
pSty SUPPORTS e me- MsSs My vote needs sI no dsiene
4 any one Is to- to oer or exGuss for
Hls Nole ~ 10 not lC lS tne SENATORS WHO NOte
on the other side. The burden OF proving
their case rests on them.
Here / would stop. confident that Sem
ators must all assent to tho force OF tho
reasoning. but many OF my friends who
agree that, as stated. my reason
ing is sound. and thar the burden OF
nre, on ths ground that It Is in reai hostile
to the British policy: that the further depre;,
England. especially in India. and will in the
end force her to unite with us in restoring sill
yer to it's function as money.
l cannot admit this argument as a proper
basis for our legislation The idea of iegisat-
ing for the purpose of embarrassing a foreign
Government is neither dignihed nor safe.
! DO not care TO embarrass Eng
land or any other Government. such mo-
tive Is not a. to be acted upon; still less to bSS
Ryowed Further. ] doubt its Succesa All
history proves that the moneyed interest OF
England never recoila before such diniculties
as are suggested by this line OF argument u
India suffers. India will have to submit. IL
the people are ruined. they wi have 10 die;
II tho lab0ring class in England ressts. II will
be starved out. or will be shot down. This has
been invarlable experience. The moneyed in
tereSt OF England will mover Yield until IL is