The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-08-16
Senator Wolcott Advocates
White Metal in the Senate.
1 MAGNIFICENT ADDRESS.
The Sherman Act, He Says. Has Not
Caused the Present Trouble.
Prosperous Days Win Come Back to This
Country When We Open Our
DIints to the Free Coin
age of Silver.

platform by presenting measure to sus-
pend for ninety days the law imposing
the ten per cent. tax on state bank Issues
He declared it would give relief to the
country in fifteen days, and make it pos
sible to move the cotton crop in the south.
The proposition was not received with
any particular warmth by the Senate, and
it was referred to the finance committee.
Senator Voorhees, reported back
from that committee the bill intro
duced by him yesterday as a meas
ure of relief. 1t had, he said, the
approval OF the committee and secretary
of the treasury and he hoped the Senate
would take the matter up. National
banks were no favorites of has, but that
was no reason why they should not be
used to bring about measure of relief II
they were capable.
Senator CockreIl OF Missouri, objected,
saying that several bankers desired to be
heard on the proposition, SO the bill went
over and Mr.. CockreIl then asked the
Senate to pass the House joint resolution
for the payment OF mileage to senator's
and represen tatives for the present ses-
| sion.
Senator Grey of Maine, ridiculed the
idea OF public duty which would post
pone relief for the people and make haste
| TO provide relief for senators and mem
| bers. The resolution then went to the
calander.
| The Lee Mantle case, involving the
right of governors or states to appoint
senators (under certain circumstances
was taken up, and Mr.. Hunton of Vir-
ginia spoke briefly in support of Mantle's
right to seat.
Senator VOORHEES, introduced a joint
! tyiv hfa
bonded period for whislzey in govern
ment warehouses.
| Senator Lodge then made an address in
advocacy OF his resolution offer d Tuesday
last directing the Committee on Finance
to report at once bill to repeal the pur-
chasing clause of the Sherman act. What
the people wanted, he said, was prompt
action, He had no mind for parity
policy or delay.
Senator Wolcott of Colorado replied at
length. ''He had yet to hear any intelli-
gent man state that he firmly believed
| the Sherman act had wrought the injury
under which the country now suffers.
The Sherman act was illogical and vicious,
in that it made of silver a commodity and
left silver bullion In the treasury I'M
coined. 1t had some advantages, how
ever. It's quasi recognition Of silver had
| been of infinite value, as it had inspired
bimetailism, and in fact it haG afforded
an enlarged currency from month to
month for the past three years. 1t had
given the country a currency backed by
| the credit of the government and by sill
yer at its bullion value. That was
pretty good currency-better than thirty
seven millions of clearing house certifi-
Gates now in circulation in New York.
''The only tangible statement he cou Id
| get as to the injury wrought by the Sher-
man act was that there was lack of con-
| tidence in Europe, but he did not find
! that statement borne out by the facts.
American securities had been held euor-
| mously by Great Britain. That country
had suffered seriously in Argentine and
her own colonies and been forced to sell
| her securities. Great liquidation had
come not because there was lack of con-
fidence in American finances in G2eat
Britain, but because the holders of Amer
can securities were compelled to sell.
stThe Sherman act was not responsible
for the Reading fiasco or the Whisky
trust troubles, or the Cordage trust
trouble, and yet New York papers were
striking balance between the quotations
of now and year ago, and argGed that
silver and the Sherman act were IeSponsi-
bic for all those disasters. The real cause
OF the present financial panic WIS to be
looked for elsewhere. 1t came partly be :
cause OF European losses in South Aiuer-
and Austria were buying gold, and
partly because the United States had pur-
chased more goods abroad than 1t had
lsold abroad. All these causes were ut
terly independent of and irrespective OF
silver and the Sherman act. All legisla-
ton that might be enacted would not
bring back confidence to the men who
have Withdrawn their money from the
banks.''
Mr.. WOlcott expressed the conviction
ssthat when pros porous days come back
to this country it would be after il had
announced to the wor d that this was a
nation of bi-metallists, believing in hard
money, both gold and silver, and that it
proposed TO have its share of the gold OF
the world, was'rich enough to hold it and
was entitled by it's resources and condi-
ton to have it. That at the same time
it proposed to open its mints to the free
and unlimited coinage OF silver, and that
we had returned TO the paths Of the
founders of the republic. -
/ The Lodge resolution was then laid
aside without action and Senator Hoal
addressed the Senate on MT. Vest 5 Tesolu-
ton as TO the bi-metalliSm. 1.-The Re-
pu blicans,' he said, stood ready to hole
up the hands of the president and restore
that prosperity which the country
enjoyed down to March A.
He dwelt upon the long discussion
concerning the production OF gold anC
silver, during which he announced HIM
self in favor of both these metals as n cur,
rency on q parity. He had always been
bi-metallist, but it was the bi-metallisn
of Washington and Jefferson which rec
ogni2ed gold as the finer metal and neces
sarily the standard of value. The pur
chase of silver under the act of 1890, was
wasteful and extravagant expenditure o
} public money. 1t could never have beer
excused but as an escape from the fla
money of the Bland bill, and from thi
threat of the absolute free coinage o
silver
Republicans are told duly that it j
: their duty to forget party and co-operatl
) with the president in renewing publi
; confidence and restoring a sound cur
: rency. The Republicans will do this
now let uhe Democrats deal with them ii
the same way. No candid advocate o
silver currency can affirm that the peopl
: OF the United States have not gone to til
r extreme limit of public safety in thei
, struggle TO maintain silver in connection
with gold as a monetary standard. w
nave purchased it, coined it and given
2 legal tender power beyond its value TO
} fifteen years. During all the time it ha
been constantly on the decline, and evel
India has abandoned it.
r II look still for an international agree
: ment, and If that shall come the relation
J | Of the two metals to each other will b
] carefully reconsidered. i do not believ
that the policy. of eternal mono-metal
lism adopted In time of panic coul
stand. 1t is enough for the present occa