The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-11-28
FREE COINAGE AGAIN.
THE SILVER FIGHT TO BE RE.
SUMED.

Congressman Bland Says that Event.
He Favors Applying the Crucial
Test in Congress and Will Again OF
Ter q Free Coinage Measure.
WASHINGTON, November 2O.-The
indications are that the free coinage
fight will be renewed with increased
ylgor at the opening of Congress.
The men who waged such stubborn
warfare for silver in the House during
the extra session, appear to have
gathered confidence by the events,
which have followed the repeal of the
silver purchase act, and an >organiza-
tion OF their forces is now being per-
fected. For the past two or three
weeks, the silver men have been
singularly quiet. The reason for this
has now become apparent. The silver
men were waiting for a sufficient period
to elapse after the repeal of the Sher-
man act in order to demonstrate to the
people that the silver purchase law
was not the cause Of the great financial
depression and that its repeal would
not prove panacea for all the COM
merclal evils, which have accompanied
the times. They think the demonstra-
tion of this fact is apparent to the
American people now, so the silver
men are preparing to say to the two
Houses OF Congress next month that
the legislation demanded by the ad-
ministration has been a faure in re-
storing commercial prosperity; that
the position of the silver men in urg-
| ing free coinage at the last session has
| been vindicated and that now the
| Democratic party in Congess should
devote itself to redeeming the remain
ing pledges of the last Democratic
national convention on the subject of
silver and financial legislation.
THEY WILL HAVE TO TOE THE MARK.
With this object in view Chairman
Bland, OF the committee on coinage,
| weights and measures, is preparing q
bill, which he, as the leader of the
opening of the free coinage men, will
Introduce at the next session 1t is
further declared by Mr.. Bland to be
his intention to afford no loophole of es-
cape for those Democratic Congressman
who: have talked for free coinage to
their constituents at home, but vote
against it on plausible pretext, when
the matter came up for consideration
in the House.
Scores of Democratic Congressman.
he says, declared themselves devotedly
attached to the free coinage cause dur
ing the recent session, but explained
that they thought the wiser course at
the time was to repeal the silver pur-
chase act and then to take up the free
coinage question, pure and simple, and
| consider 1t at the regular session. BY
reference to a carefully prepared list,
MIR. Bland declares that there is a
clear majority for free coinage in the
Hous OF Representatives if their priv
ate declarations to him during the
extra session are to be relied upon, and
he proposes now to bring these gentle
| men to the crucial test.
Tho measure which Chairman Bland
will introduce at the opening of the
session is substantially rc-cnactment
of the law OF January Is, 1887. 1t is
the opinion of the silver men that q
bill re-enacting this law will command
| greater strength and afford less op-
| portunity for evasion than any other
measure which could possibly be pre-
| Sented.
The act of 1897 was simple and brief.
1t provides for silver dollars of 412 1-2
grains and declared that the dollar,
half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes and
half dimes shall be legal tenders ac-
cording to their normal value for any
sums whatever"
PLANS OF FREE COINAGE MEN.
In regard to his position and the
plans of the silver men, Chairman
Bland says:
I" L do not see that the repeal of the
Sherman law has changed the situation
for the better-indeed, it appears to
have rather changed it for the worse.
The truth is, and the people now
thoroughly realize it, the silver pur-
chase law has had nothing to do with
the hard times. The hard times came
on and they are with us and they can
not be waved away by the wand of any
magician, however potent his charms,
or however reverential his personality.
We have simply got to go through a
process ofliquidation before good times
come again and that was necessary
whether we repealed the Sherman law
or not. This panic, like all other
panics, finally reached point where
the people got afraid of the banks and
afraid of each other and there has now
got to be a general liquidation and blot.
ting out and beginning anew. The re-
peal of the Sherman law will only tend
to make liquidations harder for the
debtor class of people, because it con
tracts the currency and leaves the
business in the country without a
sufficient volume of money to supply
the growing population and develop
ment of industries. One of the great
mistakes those people seem to have
made about repeal is that their plan
was to promote schemes in Wall street
bonds and mortgages and things oi
that kind. 1t was supposed that re.
peal would do this, because it was
thought that European capital would
be invested here more readily by the
repeal of the silver purchased act thar
by letting it stand. But it seems that
even in that they have been greatly
disappointed.
EUROPE STILL SUSPICIOUS.
There seems to be now less con
fidence in Europe in our financial con
ditiOn than there was before. They
are sending no money here and are
continuing to draw away ours. AS the
} gold basis which we now have here
tends to contract currency, it is max
ing tho times harder everywhere
The contraction of the currency and {
gold basis will tend to make q sharI
demand for gold in Europe as we'll a.
here and will injure our producers by
! causing low prices for everything we
send to Europe. This also makes
lower prices here, and hence, since
the passage of the repeal act whea
and cotton have gone down in tn,
market instead of going up.
s. 1t we can reduce the tariff YER,
largely so as to mako trade easier an
freer, the exchange OF our commoditie
for commodities abroad will ten
3 somewhat to relieve the farming In
| terests of this country. Hence, thin