Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-09-17

diana desired, later on, the opinion OF
Senator's opposed TO the bill, they would
give Il 10 him.
ALLIsoN'S ADDRESS.
sfr. Allison then addressed the Senate.
The FIRST portion OF his speech was de-
voted to a review Of the history OF legis-
lation on the subject OF silver coinage
in tho course of which he said that IL was
not In 1873 that the silver dollar was de-
monetlzed; because by the law OF 1876 the
trade dollar (of 42O gralns) was author
izedNand that dollar was on the principle OF
free coinage, because, although the trade
dollar was only a legal tender Tor -.
the owner OF silver bullion could take II
10 the mint and have It coined. But IL
was the law OF 1876 which took away that
right, and thus struck down free COM
age.
lie agreed with the Senator from Nir-
linia (Mr. DanleD that silver was the
money OF the people. He knew That IL
had been frequently said that from lis2
20 1873 the coinage OF silver dollars mad
only aggregated eight millions. But up
20 1853 lines were a legal tender. y man
might have gathered up dimes, quarters
and halves, and made payment OF
million dollars up 20 1853. And or those
coins there had been nearly ninety mill
ioEs in circulation. The final outcome or
all the legislation as TO silver was tne
striking down Of the legal tender quaiily
Of silver in 1876.
SINGLE SILVER STANDARD
And now. he continued, we are asked
| % sustain measures and to sustain poh-
cies that will bring this country TN my
rninion) 10 the single standard OF silver.
| G'hls law OF 1890 was a temporary law
q yns an experimental law also, in one
sense. Nobody believed. at the time
FIAT It would stand long upon our stat
rte books. ] certainly did not
1olieva so. I do not believe
n the policy Of pling up
bullion In the Treasury OF the United
States and holding 1t there coinedF be
li.ve that policy f. the most dangerous
fcr silver itself 1t is this minute
menace TO the price Of silver. IN my
Judgment. 1t has something TO 90 WIN
| the depression in that metal. What
would be the effect In Europe il 1t were
/ known that we were going TO sell the
silver I'm the Treasury? We have there
nov 122.OC0.OoO ounces. and a proposition
| to sell IT would carry down the price more
| rapidly than It was carried down Whch
/ the action OF India became known
FOR COMING THE BULLION
! Tor myself. I am in favor OF coming
| every dollar OF silver bullion in the treas
ury. II ought to be coined. ] 90 not
mean nOw-presently. But 1t should be
understood TO be the policy OF the Govern
( ment that We shall not have this silver
/ bullion stored away in the treasury. IL
must be done Not dollar OF the silver
/ bullion can be sold without the sanction
! of Congress. and that sanction, / am sure.
| will never be given. The piling UP Of that
! silver "a a menace 10 the price of silver
| otr.~ au1 thara-lr II GlOIiII he
! coined. I undertake 10 say that we can
not continue this purchase OF silver with
! out endangerlnS the standard which we
| have had since 1873, and without bringing
| this great nation. with all its opportuni-
ties. with all It's wealth. with all It's in
| dustries and labor, TO a silver standard
| from a gold standard. when the disparity
/ between these values now is well-nigh
! % uor cent. II IL just as plain as the
MONDAY sun that II we 20 on purchasing
/ sllver and putting It in the treasury aS
/ bullion. It IS only a question or few
months (or few years at mosO when
/ we will fail to redeem our obligations in
god. and then we will be at silver
| standard"
! Il believe that Just as much as 7 believe
/ that | am at this moment addressing the
/ Senate | have studied that question for
| Ell these years. and have brought TO
J the study my best industry, and ! have
never changed my mind from 1873 till
/ this moment that we cannot Of ourselves
restore the parity in value between gold
| and silver ct the ratio Of 10 to L.
Mr. Allison digressed from the course
! of his argument 10 reply 10 questions
/ from different Senators upon collateral
| ssbiects.
THE MATTER or RATIO
rtHi1g 90 q. be SAID: y want 20
repeat my belief now-that all history
+ clec'oacs the fao1 that when you make
( even q small divergence between the es-
tablished ratio and the true commercial
ratio the result IS disastrous. / under
take to say that II is utterly impossible
for MS to deal with this question Of ratio
at this time. We have known the price
OF silver to change by ~ per cent. in a
! s!nCle-day. The moment the action of the
India Council became known, silver went
| down 20 per cent In the next week 1t
went up u per cent. How, then. can we
mako a ratio that VIII measure the value
/ OF all debts on the basis Of the bullion
: value OF silver? The situation in India
/ has changed the situation here. We are
/ trying now to keep up the price Of thing
that will 80 down below the cost Of pro-
! duction. whatever that maybe. y Sena-
| tor tells me that it IS below it now. l
! have no doubt that il Is"
But what as a matter Of fact arc
we buying the silver for? We are buy
Ing It for the people who consume-thc
world--over 100000. We are buying It
from Mexico. from Australia. and from
every place whore they produce it-there-
by keeping up their price as well rs cur
( own. We are buying II in the face OF the
fact that England has come now into the
market as an active competitor with
the producers in the selling Of silver.
BRITAIN'S INDIAN POLICY.
After a further elaboration OF this
point. Mr.. Allison continued: Therefore.
believing as l do. I am in favor OF the
repeal OF the purchasing clause OF the
Sherman act. l have no more idea that
they can maintain the gold standard IN
India than I have that I can fly from this
| chamber to my home under present con-
ditions. But we help them TO do II. What
we are doing now. in the purchase of sill
yer. will have the effect 0t may be but a
straw. OF helping England TO carry out
her present Indian policy. They have un-
/ dertaken TO sell Council rupees at one
/ shilling four pence. That they cannot
do or. at least. they have never been
/ able to do IT, II we help them TO hold
up the price OF silver bullion, they can
carry out their policy as respects India.
/ Therefore. II we continue these silver
/ purchases we uphold the British policy
in India. The inevitable effect OF what
we are doing here is either 10 uphold or
10 destroy or TO impair the ability OF
England TO maintain It's policy In india
IL We cease 20 purchase silver it VIII be
( impossible. In my opinion. for England
to carry out that policy, and 1t Will be-
come an utter failure. I am as sure OF
that as / am that l stand here In my
opnlon. silver will be re-established by the
/ passage OF this bill"
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT.
After a discussion OF the Brussels con-
I ference. Mr.. Allison said: IF this gov
ernment will undertake the policy OF an
. international agreement as TO the ratio
between silver and gold, l believe that
that policy viii be accomplished, and
that within a brief period we will be
able to restore the parity between the
metals and practically TO rehabilitate sli-
yer. That Is my belief. and that is the
solution OF this question. In the mean
time. we have 10 drift along as best We
/ can"
Mr.. Hill-"Would the passage Of the re-
! peal bill facilitate H. or would II hinder