Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-25
FOR FREE SILVER.
Senator Bates Speech on the Voor-
hees Bill.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CUR MONEY
He Simply Voiced the Desires of
His Constituents.
AN APOSTROPHE TO SILVER

Mr.. Bate began his speech by referring
to one of the contentious sentences usei
by Mr.. Cleveland a few years ago adapting
IL to the situation today and asserting that
the country was now confronted with both
q theory and condition which were
barring the way to a great and pressing
REFORM A congested condition of trade
demanded immediate relief. business conf
dence prayed for restoration; the one pre-
cious metal left to our currency by unwise
legislation came and went like the ebb ard
flow of the tide. Under the Constitution.
said Mr.. Bate. there was no discrimination
against either metal. and the Constitution
did not authorize Congress to hold one to
be precious and to make the other a mere
token. The sovereign power to coin these
metals into money resided in the inIepend-
ent states and was by them transferred by
specific grant to their agent-the Congress-;
and that power was not to coin money
from gold silver. but from gold and sill
yer. In regard to the legal tender quality
of coin, he said that the proposition that
Congress could deny to one metal a legal
tender quality. while the states. under the
Constitution. were required to recognize
both. was unwarrented-
Origin of Our Money.
Mr. Bate then took up the history Of the
origin of our money, holding to the funda-
mental proposition that the silver dollar
and not the gold coin mad been made the
unit of value. The silver dollar was the
dollar Of account. which the gold and sill,
yer coins were to represent He reciteu
the historical facts upon which the legisia-
ton of 1872 fixing the value of the dollar.
was passed. Having thus. ne sam oe-
fined the dollar of account ana bxed It's
weight, the value of the dollar OF money,
which. whether Of gold or silver. was to be
its representative. was easily ascertalned
The distinction between the dollar CT &C
count and the dollar Of money was Clearly
drawn; the dollar was to be the measure
of value. the pound the measure of weight
and the yard the measure of length 1t
was thus intended that the dollar should be
always 81 IA grains Of pure silver. just as
the yard stick was to he thirty sis inches
long. This measure OF value remained
whether the coin that represented 1t was of
silver or gold. greenback. national n.nk
note or individual check 1t was fixed. no
matter what the price, with no regard to
ratio. and remained until altered by IN
hallowed hands in 1874 Although the COIN
dollar varied with the rates. the dollar of
accounts remained fixed and permanent.
The legislation which repealed this wise
work of Hamilton and jefferson was OF
dark and devious character, and by circuit
Gus and suspicious proceedings No
greater crime. IL IL was designed. ard no
greater error. IL II was from ignorance. was
ever committed In Legislation MIR. Bate
then gave a history of the demonstration
of silver. which. he said, was first made
public through the resumption act of 1873.
The outcry against IL continued from that
day to the present. and found expression
IN the Bland bill in 1876 and the proposed re-
monetization of the silver dollar OF AZ l-2
grains in 1877. both of which measures pass
ed the House. but were lost in the Senate.
The agitation was kept up until the pas
sage OF the Bland-Ailison act. which, I'M
fortunately. did not restore the definition
of the dollar. but left II liable to contract
or expand with the rise fall OF the price
nF ell brIlli nd far
silver. he said. not less now than 1t
was twenty years ago. When Congress by
law made gold the single standard. was
contemplated by this repeal. il restricted
silver as debased token, which paid the
wages Of labor in a Deprecated currency.
while the profits Of capital were reaped IN
gold.
His People for Free Coinage.
Mr.. Bate believed that IT was because
Congress was bound by a consideration of
public equity as well as those of national
interest to restore the money measure to
what il was before 1873 that the platform of
the political parties declared emphatically
for the free coinage OF silver and the main
tenance Of the parity between gold and
silver. His people We're for free silver and
In voting and speaking as he did he be-
Heved he but voiced their sentiments. All
laws that demonetized silver or forbid its
coinage as freely as gold were. in his opin-
lon, unconstitutional 1t was not any par
ticular section of the Sherman law that had
been denounced by the democrats in con-
ventiOn as a 'makeshift." but the law in
Its entirety. and now II was proposed to
repeal the only section that in any way
commended ii to the people. There was no
warrant in the Chicago platform to COM
promise the question which would not Sc
cure to the people the power of free coinage
The only qualification in the platform of
either party which made compromise pos
sible with party honor was that which adj
dressed itself to the parity of the value OF
the two metals. and how could there be a
parity OF values unless there was more
than one metal?
Iast speeches Of Senators Voorhees, Car
Isle and Mills. the latter while he was a
member OF the lower house and with par
ticuiar reference to an amendment he made
to revenue bill that all taxes imposed
by this act shall be paid in standard silver
coin. an amendment which. Mr.. Bate ar
gued. practically demonetized both gold and
greenbacks. The general cause of the de-
preston and business stagnatfon Mr. Bate
found to be due to the appreciation of gold
consequent upon its inadequacy to do the
business of the world. The run on the
banks. In Europe. was in a great measure
an artincial movement on the part of the
creditor Class The present crisis here was
partly real and widespread and partlv ART
fetal and limited The assertion that n was
que 10 the Sherman law or that this conn
Try was drifting to silver basis was tba
shallow device of those who souobt ~
overthrow of silver and its annfhilation az
money There were now two leading oues
gold
ated. or had silver deprecated in its nur-
chasing power? Was there enough goI5 4,
tne world to answer the demands of the
internal and external trade of the great
commercial nations? He denied that silver
mad deprecated and pointed to the fact
mat its purchasing power had remained
the same except as to gold. The conse-
quences OF the rise of gold were thar
the weight OF permanent burdens had been
increased; the debtor paid more and the
creutor received more than they otherwise
N0uld IN answer to the second query he
eaid mat the product of the two metals had
tpr hundred years kept together in their
output ana II was manifest that gold alone
would be Inadequate e o-o"e
me Tariff md the Prices.
iouchins upon another branch of the SUBJ
Ject' MI Bate said the most potential factor
IN the real causes which brought about tho
present panic was the republican tarifr
TINS pernictous policy had finally come home
with all Its direful effects The reform, ~
that system of fiscal legislation was the real
Issue Of the last presidential election and
was the main subject settled in the last nm
ular triumph of the party 1t should Re
thoughI. have been taken I'D and nusbaS
with as much vigor in the House. az thaI-
nave manifested in pushing the repeal bfi
The republican tariff had been denounced on
the stump and in the press as the real
cause of the trouble and now IL had been rel
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