The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1893-08-23
DEFINES HIS POSITION
DEFENDING THE PRESIDENT
He Appears a. q Mouthpieoe for
the ADMINISTRATOR Caller
les Crowded to Suffocation-
Dubois Replies to Him.

"ASHiNCTON, aug. x5.-lntereet IN the
financial discussion In congress was
transferred to the senate to-day when
Senator voorhees, made great speech
justifying his position in voting for the
unconditional repeal Of the Sherman act.
Nearly oneIhir,l OF the entire member.
ship Of the house gathered in the rear
seats, and the galleries above were packed
TO suffocation. The speech of Senator
voorhees, was one Of his greatest effotts,
and while the senator did not abate one
jot his past bimetallic record, tho burden
OF his argument was directed to proving
that the repeal Of the Sherman act was
proposition which, rs necessity, could
have no material effect on the merits of
bimetallsm as q public policy.
Allen gave notice o: an amendm ,nt he
would offer to the Voorhees, bill. II pro-
poses to add to the repeating clause OF
that bill q provision that hereafter stand.
ard silver shall bo coined into dollars,
halves, quarters and dimes ut the present
ratio of 16 to under the same conditions,
as to mintage and other charges, enforced
In relation to the coinage of gold, and
that tho secretary Of the treasury shall,
without unnecessary delay, cause all sill.
yer bullion owned by the government to
bc coined into standard silver dollars,
which are TO bo legal tender.
Voorhees, thcn took the floor and ad-
dressed the senate In advocacy of tho
bill reported by him disseminating
the purchase of silver bullion. He
explained that the action OF the president
In convening the extra session was owing
to lost confidence in the financial world.
This lost confidence, he said, was not in
the credit of the government, which was
better to-day than that OF any other ma
tion on the globe. He praised the admin
istration for its refusal to crafty the de-
mand of capitalists for the issue Of $780,
100000 more bonds. He summarized tho
elements of the nations financial strength
within its own borders and regretted that
legislation had checked our foreign trade
and had left us to-day without COM
mcrcial friend in the world. lie had
faith that the giant evil which
crippled the commerce of the country
would be removed with tho other evil
which challenged attention and action.
II the true grca of the country was
studied Il would be seen that financial
panics and alarms could have no founda-
ton here. There was another exceedingly
powerful test OF the governments credit.
Money was simply q medium for ex-
change of values; money was q creature,
congress its creator. Gold aud its alleged
intrinsic value went for naught as o circu-
lating medium unless the coin bore the
stamp Of the government. The same Of
fetal stamp on silver or paper ut once en-.
mobiles them with the same quality with
gold, in purchasing power. no matter how
debased or valueless the material may
have become as commodity by sinister
..puisa 1G1iclafinn Thara usar nina
different currencics used IN transacting tho
business of this country, which should be
SO uniform in purchasing and debt-paying
power rs to make them interchangeable.
Never but once had those currcncies been
discreditcd by the goverpment and that
will never happen again. Il was tie duty
of the government to furnish sound,
reliable. constitutional money for the
people. We are now confronted by n law
without precedent or parallel in American
history, a law which had resulted In q
| financial panic, alarm and distress, and for
whose repeal congress had been convened.
He characterized 1t as a compromise,
born in an evil hour, the worst and dark
est that ever befell the cause OF bimeta-
lism or the honor and existence of silver
money.
The speaker characterized Il as . repub-
| lican measure to induce the producers OF
| silver to surrender their rights to free
| coinage. Its creators now stood ready to
leave their victims of misplaced conf
dence empty handed without tho privilege
of coming their silver or selling Il as q
mercantile commodity to the government.
Silver was degraded to q commodity and
could no longer hold It's place with gold as
a part of the specie basis of this country,
and was now reeling and staggering un.
der the blow until its enemies predicted
with Joy it's speedy destruction. He con.
graduated the democracy that not single
democratic vote had bcen cast in favor
Of tho act. As q b!mctallist he voted
against the passage of the Sherman
act, and for the same reason he would
now vote for its repeal. He avowed his
unshaken faith that silver would remain
forever ono OF tho worlds greet and po.
tent factors Of finance, commerce and
traffic in daily business transactions. AZ
would neither be dcmonetizcd nor driven
away from the habitAtions Of the great
masses OF mankind. The question had
been asked whether votes were TO be
given for the unconditional repeal Of the
law before . substitute had been agreed
upon. He was in favor OF eradicating this
confessed evil from the body Of our laws
with no other condition than his right and
| FREQ agency to support and secure In con
| ncction with it's repeal, or afterwards by
an independent measure, o sound fnan.
| cial system embracing the coinage OF sill
yer on an equality with gold, which had
been the declaration Of the Chicago demo
cratic platform.
Mr.. voorhees, defended the president
from the charge OF insincerity In eonnec'