The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-08-27

In this House. To strike down silver would
mean a political revolution. That would
strike down both the great political parties,
and for one he was willing to join the
people, even though the Democracy should
have TO go to the wall. [Appause.l
McMillin Of Tennessee was the next
speaker. He said there were three kinds
OF currency in the country-gDld, silver and
paper: and he would keep these three
Kinds OF currency each equal to the other.
lie would resist any effort to legislate for
the destruction Of either of these kinds Of
currency. He did not want monometal-
llsm in either silver or gold. He wanted
bimetallism. He intended to offer an
amendment to the silver coinage PROPOSE
tlon to the effect that there should be col
lected on all silver not minted and owned
In the United States the actual cost Of
coinage. and, in addition, the difference.
II any, between the face value of the coin
and the market value of the bullion. That
would cut off foreign silver. He was will
ing to vote for change in the ratio, and
he declared his belief that the Dem ocrats
had been sent to Congress to deal not
alone with the currency question but with
the tariff question and with the question
OF the force bill. They were called upon
to revise the pension roll, which had !, ,OOO,-
600 pensioners on it. They were called
upon to revise the tariff and they were
called upon to reform the currency. The
latter ought TO be done without unneces-
sary delay and then the others could be
taken up.
Geary said that in his Judgment the
Sherman law had been enacted to prevent
the enactment 10y the Democrats of free
coinage bin. He should vote for the re-
peal of the Sherman act. He conld not
vote for free coinage with a ratio of 16 to
/. A ratio of 90 tc l would be something
better. but even at that. in the markets of
the world, silver dollars would be 33 per
cent below par.
Wilson of West Virginia, author OF the
bill, closed the debate with a speech in
support of the measure. By universal
consent, he said. the s0-calied Sherman
act ad failed to justify the expectations
of those who framed it. 1t had been ex-
pected to raise the price Of silver bullion
throughout the world. That expectation
had proved false one It had been ex-
pecied that an expansion of the currency
and renewed prosperity would follow the
enactment of the law. and that expecta-
hon had been equally falsified. Instead of
producing an expansion of the currency it
had produced a contraction of it. No one
could doubt that the Sherman law was
largely responsible for the panic that had
suddenly oVerspread the country. T.
had been argued from the first
speech TO the last made against the peni-
ing bill that it would. while stopping the
purchase OF silver, throw the country upon
"A gold basis. The bill proposed here
would not demoDetize a single silver dol
lar now 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 on an impregnable basis
with gold in the circulation of the coun-
try. Applause.
Martin inquired whether the passage of
the bill would neeessitate the sale of bpnds
in order to secure gold. aud Wilson said be
would merely repeat his remark that the
massage of this bill would at once and for