The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-08-31
THE HOUSE VOTES.
The Wilson Repeal Bill Passes by .
Majority of 100.

MONDAY was the Gay set apart tOr
Congress to vote on Me silver question
the repeal of the Sherman act. The
bill introduced by Hon. VIM. L. Will
son, of West Virginia, for the repeal
of the act of July 14th, 1890, known
as the Sherman law, was first read.
This having been done, Mr.. Bland Of
fered his first amendment-that of
free coinage at the ratio of 16 to I. 1t
was defeated by vote OF yeas, 1874
nays, 226.
The II to I amendment was de-
feated-yeas, 100; 239.
The IS to I amendment was re-
jected-yeas, 1o2 nays, 239.
The 10 to I amendment was re-
jected-yeas, los nays, 237.
The 20 to I amendment was like
wise rejected-yeas, 119; nays, 222.
The amendment to re-enact the
Bland-Allison act defeated-yeas, I SO !;
nays, 213.
The Wilson repeal bill was passed
by vote of 239 to 100. ..r
That our readers may the better
understand the purport of the Wilson
bill, we give below an extract from
his closing speech made in the House
Saturday, as we find it in the Balti-
more Sun.
MIR. WILSON'S CLOSING SPEECH.
Mr.. Wilson, the author of the bill,
closed the debate with a speech in sup
port of the measure. 1t seemed impossi-
BILE, he said, after the able speeches made
on each side of the question, for him, on
whom the details OF management had
been so much thrown, to lend force or
novelty to the discussion. 1t had been
inevitable that the debate should range
freely over the whole fed of financial
theory and financial experience. They
had all felt when they had listened to the
speeches on each side that the American
people were getting an education, and
that their minds were being cleared on
that infinitely important subject. He
should not attempt to follow that line
of discussion. He should attempt moth
ing more than a plain conversational
statement of the nature of the bill, it's
purpose and the imperative reasons
which, in his Judgment, called now for it's
unconditional repeal. By universal
consent the so-calIed Sherman act
had failed to justify the expectations of
those who framed it. It had been ex-
pected to raise the value OF silver bullion
in this country and, consequently,
throughout the world. 1t had been
believed by wise men in the United States
and abroad, by those familiar with
financial subjects, that when the United
States went into the market and
purchased every month at the market
price virtually the entire product of
silver VIRTUALLY one-third of the whole
worlds product of silver) that the price
of that metal must be raised everywhere
and that that fact would go toward
restoring its before-time parity with
gold. That expectation had proved to
be false one. Almost from the first
enactment of the Sherman law, from the
very ending of the first period of specu-
lation which followed it's enactment,
the price had fallen lower and lower,
until finally it had reached such a
depth in the market that the people of
the whole world we're being kept in an
agony of financial suspense and distress,
and some victims had been obliged to
close their mines to the free coinage of
silver. 1t had been expected that when
the United States poured into the chan
nels of trade nearly four millions OF its
legal-tender notes every month there
would be an expansion of the currency
of the country, and that from that ex-
pansion there would be renewed pros
perity in trade and business. That
expectation had been equally falsifed.
Instead of producing an expansion OF
the currency it had produced contrac-
ton of it, because for every million of
treasury notes that had been paid out a
million of gold had disappeared. No
one could doubt, whatever of philosophy
there might be in the remarks of the
gentleman from Maine this morning that
one of the secondary causes (if not of
itself an efficient primary cause) OF the
distress in the country to-day was the
Sherman law. No one could doubt that
that law was largely responsible for the
panic that had suddenly overspread the
country.
1t had been argued from the first
speech to the last made against the
pending bill that it would, while stop
ping the purchase of silver, throw the
country upon gold basis. The country
man on the plains who was astonished
to learn that he he had been speaking
prose all his life was not more surprised
than certain gentlemen would be to find
out that this country had been upon a
gold basis since 1884 under economic
laws which the laws OF Congress could
not override. We have been on a gold
standard since 1884 under economic law;
since 1873 it had been on a gold basis
by the express statute of Congress. The
trouble was that as silver had gone
down the greater stress and test was
put upon the government. Gentlemen
had said that if we would stop now the
purchase of silver under the Sherman
act we would demonetize silver. The bill
proposed here would not demonetize a
single silver dollar to-day circulating in
any part of the country. The bill had
come, not to destroy, but to save.
[Applause.] 1t had come, not to strike
down silver, but to place it at once and
forever Ou du lIupTeSudDIe DdSlS Win
gold in the circulation of the country.
| [Applause.]
Mr.. Martin, democrat of Indiana
inquired whether the passage of the bill
would necessitate the sale of bonds in
| order to secure gold.
Mr.. Wilson said that a question Of
| that kind must be answered in the light
| of experience, not in the light of pro.
phecy. In the light of the experience OF
France, of the Scandinavian nations, OF
Canada, of Holland and OF Java, he
could merely repeat his remark that the
passage of this bill would at once and
forever restore silver to a parity with
gold, and there would be no necessity for
the Government to issue bonds for any
purpose. [Applause.] It carried with
it not only promise OF maintenance ol
parity between gold and silver, but ii
carried a parity. [Applause.]
| Mr.. McMillin inquired whether the
gentleman proposed to follow this bill
up with a proposition for free coinage
Mr.. Wilson reioined that he was salts.