The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-08-12
And Then a Vote Will Be- Taken
in the House on
Silver
This Agreement Reached by the
Leaders and Approved by
the House.
Bills for Unconditional Repeal and FREQ
Coinage Are Intrnd uced~B II and
and Others Speak,

|
will lay a confscatinR hand upon Anne lea
in the interest Of England and of Europe.
and demonstizs silver In this countrs. and.
my friends of the caste democtao We
bid You farewell when you do it,
| Those were the words OF Richard p. Bland
IN the great financial contest that opened
in the house Of Representatives to-day and
the applause that followed the determined
utterance demonstrated that the great silver
| leader had with him a material element
OF the democratic party. 1t brought every
member of the house 10 realization that
the most serioua crisis in the democratic
party since the dissension Of slavery was
at hand. and that the division Of 1893 like
| the division of 1861, would be largely on
! sectional lines.
In accordance with the programme last
night ag sed upon Wilson, Immediately af-
| ter the meeting of the house, introduced q
bill Internationally repeating tho Sherman
purchasing Law OF 1890, and Bland. on be
half of the free coinage men, followed with
resolution providing for the immediate
consideration of the bill and allotting four
teen days for general debate before a vote
should be taken. It limits tho talk to to-
l. As
p. M. with night sessions for debate only.
| if desired. Bland also presented ths reso-
luton of the free coinage caucus and de-
manded the previous question on his der.
but it WAS antagonized by the republicans
under the leadership of Cannon, who
wanted to debate tho question. Finally q
vote was taken. resulting. yeas PIT. nays
100. So the previous question was ordered.
The republicans gene ally voted with the
democrats in support Of the motion. The
resolution WAS then adopted.
| Bland ths n presented the following bill
of the silver rnsn. which provides for free
coinage and the repeal Of the silver pur-
chasing law:
"Be II enacted. ETC.. That from and after
the passage of this act ali holders Of silver
| bullion to tho amount of 800 or more,
standard weight and fineness, shall be en-
titled to have the same coined at the mints
Of the United States into silver dollars of
| tbs " light and fnsness provided for in
section two of this act
''6ection 2. That the silver dollar rro-
| vided for in this act shall consist of 41216
grains Of standard silver. said dollar to b.
legal tender for all debts. dues and de-
mands, both public and private.
"Section 3. The holder of silver dollars
herein provided for shall be entitled to de-
| posit the same and receive silver certificates
in the manner provided by law for stan
dard silver dollars.
"Seotion I. So much of the act of July
IA, 1890, as requires the monthly purchase
OF 4, 500, 600 ounces Of silver be and the
same 10 hereby repealed"
Raynor, democrat. Of Maryland, began
the debate in support of the Wilson bill for
unconditional repeal of the silver pu chase
clause of the Sherman act. Raynor said
the advocates of fres silver coinage would
| Aio tat tN ha tai Of
bankrupt nation Of the world. The open
ing Of the mints to silver might, for
time. maintain 4 fictitious value of the
coin, but the value of bullion would always
be regulated by tho market price. As long
as the She man silver act remains on the
statute books so long will it be i'm apostolic
to effect international arrangements; so
long will monetary conferences result in
| failure.
While referring TO the dsmoc'at plat
form RaynoS said, inclosin0: II know the
declarations OF that document have besn
diff rently construed according to the
views of gentlemen e1poundinR them. As
| for me. in this supreme hour of my country's
need. I am not blinded nor intlmidated by
the giitts' ing words OF aeonvsnsion deolara-
| tiop.'
Brown, democrat, Of Indiana, followed
Raynor. He would favor the coinage of
silver, but in view Of the havoc wrought by
| the Sherman law, and tho demands of the
dsmocratic plasfot IN, he would vote for re-
peal with or without conditions.
Bland. rising to opsn for free coinage,
expressed regret that number of gentle
men, Of whom the speaker who just sat
down was one Of the the most capable. had
| seen fit to change position upon this Ques-
tion; to abandon = large portion of the
voters who aided in giving them the Sc ats
they occupy; to turn their faces to the east
and their backs to the west. AS to the de-
clarations in the democratic platform,
Bland asserted 1t was the understanding
| that free coinage OF silver was necessarily
monnt by the repeal of the sherman law;
the two are so antRRonistic that they can
NOT exist at the same time.
| But We a,e met now with the suggestion
that va legislats piecs-msai; repeal the
! Sherman law and take our chances on So
! curing any thing in its place. which shall
meet tho pledge of the platform to coin
both silver and gold. This is because a
panic 10 upon US. The voting masses OF
the country may become panic stricken on
election day. If they do, Pm afraid those
gentlemen from Indiana will feel the foroo
| of that panio.'
Bland sketohed briefly tho history of
| financial legislation Of recent years, and
assorted that the same cry OF going to
silver bnsis' had been raised against the
bill Of 1873 with which his name had been
connected. He sent 90 the Clerks desk and
had read an extract from the report Of the
British parliamentary committee on Indian
currency, to tho otfect that In its opinion
the repeal OF the sherman purchasing act
would be followed by further depreciation
in the price of silver.
And we are deliberately asked hers"
continued Bland. "to vote to bring about
All increase of Is cents an ounce In the
price of silver before providing for its res
toration to coinage. No man can defend
that before his constituency who Ia In favor
OF free coinage"
Ugon the question OF ratio Bland argued
IN favor OF sixteen to one. HN said II ths
United States would maintain tho parity
Of gold aad silver on that ratio tho world
would buy our products. I'VE have prop
ersy TO sell and should induce purchase 8
10 come. France maintained gold and sil-
yer on parity on = ratio OF l5ia to one for
seventy years. because she had property TO
sell Al that ratio France has bean able TO
maintain The pa-ity OF the two metals all
over the world. That was proof that tho
government OF the United States could do
SO at ratio Of sixteen to one. II Europe
refused to accept that ratio the effect
would be to dive ! from Eu ore all the
the world.
'Coald England" he asked. withstand
this withdrawal of trader Certainly NOT"
IL was bimetallism that made ths manu-
1facturs's OF England 50 strong and prosper