Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-01-22
Congress and Gold Contracts.

| Congress and Gold Contracts.
The monometsllists threaten that I'M
less the SHERMAN silver law be repealed,
as we concede it ought to be, gold con-
tracts will be resorted to by oil capital
lists in order to protect themselves from
the operation of that law. Mr.. HAL
STEAD says:
"There would be millions Of gold contracts by
that time and gold bonds. and no Pop law would
| or could Interfere, any more than IL might With
the atmosphere. Capital would be fortified In
| gold"
Capital would not be fortified in
gold" Indeed, it could not be, seeing
that Congress has full power to make
silver legal tender. Nay, more; If
Judge HUGHEs, of the United States
District Court for the Eastern District OF
Virginia, is not mistaken all sound con-
stitutional lawyers hold that Congress
can take hold OF these gold contracts
and convert them into silver contracts.
Once more, we give his words namely {;
| lido no, suppose that any lawyer conversant
with constitutional principles will contend for
the validity Of gold contracts made In contraven-
ton or clrcumventon Of express laws Of Congress
defining legal tender"
The New York Commercial and FL
nanciaE Chronicle quotes from the
| SHERMAN silver law the following:
"And such Treasury notes shall be illegal ten
dor In payment Of debts public and private, OK
cept where otherwise expressly stipulated in the
! contract
Here Congress claims and exercises
the power to legislate on the subject.
aud tells us that for the present We may
make gold contracts. In other words
Congress has full power over the matter
and will not allow any contract to stand
good which undertakes to " circumvent
the government in its effort to make silver
a legal tender whenever it shall choose to
do so. Power is delegated to Congress
in the Federal Constitution, first, "to
coin money and regulate the value there
of and OF foreign coin, and secondly, "to
make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution
the power granted to that body OF "regu-
lating the value of money, whether
silver money or gold money or foreign
coins. Clearly the attempt OF the mo-
nometalist to make gold the only legal
tender would be an attempt to " circum-
vent" or, as the word imports etymOlo-
gically, an attempt to "get around
an act OF Congress. or around Congress
itself. The law would provide that sill
yer coins should be legal tender for
all debts-whereas the circumvent-
ers would provide in their gold notes
and their other gold contracts that sill
yer should not be a legal tender. This
would lie spectacle for Europe to con-
templates contest between a few
money-kings on the one hand, and the
Constitution and the Congress OF the
United States on the other.
No wonder Mr.. CLEVELAND desires
the silver question settled before his
accession to the presidency. The repeal
of the SHERMAN law is as much, how
ever, as can be expected at the hands Of
the present Congress, and much more
than we expect. Under the operation
of that law silver is a mere commodity,
and can never be anything else. All
true bimetallists desire the white metal
to besomething more than commodity.
------------
Elections of Senators by the People.
As our kilograms have stated, the
House OF Representatives passed on
Monday last bill to propose a constitu-
tional amendment providing for the
election of United States senators by
the people instead OF as now by the
State legislatures. The bill passed al
most without opposition-a fact which,
If we guess Alright, indicates that the
members of the House Of Representa-
tives expect the bill to meet good deal
of opposition in the Senate. 1t looks as
if the House were disposed to leave it
to the Senate itself to decide whether
the amendment under consideration
should or should not be pro-
posed for ratification. We are ex-
ceedingly conservative and were not
at all sorry when the House last week
voted down the amendment proposing to
provide for change in the day OF
meeting of Congress, or rather in the
time for the terms OF Congress and the
President to commence. We are, how
ever, more inclined to favor the amend
ment first above mentioned than the
other one. The intention Of the fathers
has been lost sight of everywhere, and
too many United States senators are
chosen for no other reason than that
they are men of great wealth. If all the
United States senators were such men
as DANIEL and HUTTON we should say
let the Constitution alone so far as the
election OF senators is concerned