Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-23
HE is. FOR SILVER
M. Hansbrough Il Opposed to the Repeal
of the Sherman Law.
HIS Argument 10 From an Agricul.
tersl Standpoint and Net Fsrsm
That Of the Mine Owner,

Senator Hansbrough addressed the Sen
ate yesterday against the repeal Of the pur.
chasing clause In the Sherman law Se
Mr.. Hansbrough said that ne spoke a. Q
man representing q state that did not pro-
duce an ounce Of silver or gold, and for
that reason he could not be charged with
being inspired BY selfish motives. His state
was essentially an agricultural state. and
his people were naturally interested In the
prices Of such commodities. They knew
that something was wrong. because the Az
srage annual yield during the last decade
had not kept pace with the increase Of the
worlds population and the large uses that
were being made Of wheat. ana yet In the
face Of these facts his people had seen farm
prices OF wheat steadily decline from ia
per bushsl In 1s7s to forty-two cents in -.
knowing this. they concluded that the nat
ural laws Of trade no longer governed and
the root Of evil was nurtured from . source
hidden from the common view.
Low prices were not an evidence Of over
production. AZ had been asserted. for the
n0ures of the Department OF Agriculture
showed that the worlds wheat crop this
year was about equal to Q ten years aver
age. and 100 100000 bushels less than the
average for the past two years. Nor was
It true that reduced transportation rates
Year,
no Improvement had been made in the
method Of handling it. And he could not
understand why the amount saved in rates
Should be subtracted from the price paid
fall In price in the face Of underproduction
and increased demands was attributable
to the increased purchasing power Of
money Il took more pounds Of wheat to
buy gold dollar than 1t did twenty years
ago. The ratio of wheat to gold had grown
larger year by year. just as the ratio Of
silver to gold had increased. It was q sta
tisticsl and historical truth that the worlds
had fallen with consistent regularity with
the decline In the price Of silver.
Congress Under Orders.
He continued: And here was q wise and
dignified Congress. hastily assembled, I'M
der orders to repeal q statute because some
designing individuals had said that some.
body in Europe was afraid that something
might happen In this country in the re-
mote future. A more ludicrous sight had
never presented itself to the gaze Of man.
How much more patriotic II would have
been for the chief executive, instead OF
Yielding to the pressure Of the money.
changers. to defend our currency. But he
man law and left no alternative but Re-.
peal. obligtng even the chairman Of the
committee on finance to abandon his for
mef CONVICTIONS IN order that he might
carry out the edict. Should the law-mak-
ing power become subservient 20 the ex-
scutivs? Only . few months ago the Pres
tdent had practically suspended q statute
enacted BY Congress In order that the Su-
prems Court might pass upon It. In q
country where such things could take place
II was only another and Q very short step
to the empire.
Europe produced no silver, therefore they
struck IL down. He would a. willingly vote
to forbid the production Of wheat In this
country a. to close the gold and silver
mines OF our great mountain region. After
repeal the government would be Obliged
to issue bonds; the gold thus secured would
soon be taken out and II would b neces-
Sary to repeat the process. wel-known
financ1er in London had assured him that
We could not buy nifty millions Of gold in
all EuroDs; the gold basis countries there
would not permit their gold to come here,
except 1t IN enormous premium. He wa1
satisfied now that an intsrnA tional agree
ment was impracticable. because Il de-
pended upon England. and disparagemsnt
Of silver would enhance the price OF Eold.
The wider the disparity between the metals
the greater the prosperity In England In
dia had been thus victimixed and her neople
were ssrfs. The American farmer had been
vfctfmised for twenty years. for he had
been obliged to meet the Indian asricultu-
ralists In Liverpool with their surplus pro-
ducts He did not want q single sfiyer
standard here and we were in no danrer
OF getting II. but he did contend for hmm
cial leadership for the United atates. He
wanted q new decla ra tion NJ ind>~,>nA>ooA