The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-30

ury department adverse 10 any special
legisla ton in regard to the penalties on
the whisky tax, Mr.. Hill addressed the
chair and was recognized. He yielded,
however, to Mr. Vest who sent to the
clerks desk and had read a communica-
ton from the director of the mint, giving
statistics as TO the purchase and coinage
of silver He said that considerable at
tention had been called in the public
press and in the senate to a letter adj
dressed by the secretary of the treasury
to the senator from Indiana (AIr. Voor-
heeS), in reference to the bill reported
from the minority of the committee on
finance, changing the ratio between gold
and silver from 16 to 1 to 20 to /. In
order to bring out all the information
on that subject he had addressed a ccm-
munication to the treasury department
and had received a reply from the di-
rector of the mint. When the reading
was ended he said that he assumed that
the great thing to be decided in the in
terest of the American people was par
ity between the twosmetals and that the
commercial ratio should be as far as
possible the same as the ratio estab-
lished by statute He took ii for granted
that If there was to be an honest at
tempt to bring the two metals together
in order to redeem the pledges of the
two great national parties and Of the
administration there should be coinage
of gold and silver on a parity. Now it
tone, that the question as to expense
was to be injected into the discussion
and that leaving the great and absolute
necessity Of parity, senator's were to en-
ter into an examination Of the number
of dollars that the change of ratio would
cost.
The Profit on Coinage.
He had made a short analytical state
ment Of accounts between silver and the
government at this time. 1t showed
the profit to the government under the
Bland-Allison act of 1878 as lin round
numbers) $40 900 900 and the profit under
the Sherman act of 1890 as SIS, 900, 600
the total profit being SIPS, 900, OOO The
uncoined silver in the treasury was 1884,
100000 ounces, and the profit on that was
S57OOOOOO The number Of ounces nee
essary to recon the silver dollar now
coined was s1,OOO.OOO and the number
necessary to recon the subsidiary sill
yer coins 10000. 000-in all 100, 000, 900. If
this quantity of silver bullion were taken
from the uncoined silver in the treasury
on Aug. 16 there would be still left of
uncoined silver in the treasury 80 600 900
ounces. His summing up Of the account
was, silver, debtor side. SIP, S65, 321;
credit side. SIPS S lS3' 5l4; balance in favor
of silver, S15,267,993 If the secretary of
the treasury, Mr.. Vest continued
meant to put the question fairly to
the American people why had he not
told the senate what he proposed to do
with the vast amount of silver now I'M
coined in the treasury when the purchas-
ing clauses of the Sherman act were re-
pealed? Was that silver to lie there a
menace to bimetallism for all time to
come? Or did the secretary propose to
coin ii and hold IL in the treasury as dol
lars? The secretary had assumed that
he ell
yer necessary to make good the ratio of
20 to ] and at the same time, logically,
to leave uncoined the silver bullion now
in the treasury" All that Mr.. Vest
proposed to do now was to put the facts
before congress and the people in order
that they might form a judgment upon
them.
Mr. Hill then resumed the floor. He
read his speech from printed slips. His
voice was strong and clear, and though
he INDUCED in no gesticulations, he used
much emphasis and turned his face al
ternately from one side of the chamber
10 the other. AS his desk is rather far
back on the democratic side of the cham
Der. the senators who had their seats in
turning their backs upon the presiding
officer, and the republican senators also
fix their gaze upon him. There was
perfect quiet and stiffness in the chamber
while he spoke and the closest attention
was paid to the speech both on the floor
and in crowded galleries.
There were those. Mr.. Hill said, who
did not wholly agree with the president
in his diagnosis of the malady now af-
fecting the body polite. and who did
not hastily join with him in the rosy
conclusion that the financial millennium
is to come the moment the Sherman law
is removed. There were some who had
given the subject attention who believed
the cause of the present depression was
deeper and beyond the Sherman bill and
that it's foundations were laid in the
evil hours of 1878, when the country un-
Willingly laid aside the financial policy
that had been its guide since the founda
ton of the government. The existing
financial disturbance, Mr. Hill found.
was attributable to three distinct causes:
!. 1t was the natural and inevitable
result of many years Of real or ficti-
tious prosperity.
@ Some portion of the present panic
could be traced to a concerted effort on
the part of the monometallists to pro-
duce II in order to discredit silver.
g. But no matter what else may have
contributed to the present financial con-
dition IL would not be denied that the
silver purchase law had been at least
in part and possibly the most largely
instrumental I'm producing existing COM
plications.
Repeal VIII Not DO All.
Mr.. Hill did not believe that simple
repeal of the Sherman law would at
opce restore n abundant prOsDerftV hut