Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-10-19


enormous profit to the silver bullion
4 dealers of New York. Let me show
You. The silver dollar required by
our laws is worth three and halt
cents more than cur gold dollar. and
is worth seven cents more than two
/ half dollars Now, sir, let us ret
/ back. as the gentleman desires, to
specie payments before we legislate
upon the mint laws, and you will
/ have aninterest of from one million
! to many million dollars a year here
with its lobby i'm and around the
House TO prevent the Government
from the possibility of losing few
dollars by substituting copper-nickel
for copper and bronze coinage Every
dollar we will then coin in silver viii
put from three and half To seven
cents in the pocket Of the individual
/ broker" &c. and in the course Of the
discussion. in reply to a suggestion
/ Of Mr.. Potter to the effect that no
stamp which could be put upon a
coin, could make it worth one cent
/ more than its real intrinsic value and
that, if il was the object of the bill
to attempt to do that it ought not to
pass, Mr. Kelley further said p.
2316) II wish to ask the gentleman
who has just spoken. (AIr. Potter if
he knows of any government in the
world which makes its subsidiary
coin Of full value? The silver coin Of
4 England is ten per cent below the
value of gold coin. And acting under
/ the advice Of experts in this country,
and Of England ana France. Japan
has made her silver coinage within
the last year twelve per cent below
the value of gold coin. and for this
reason. il i, impossible to retain the
/ double standard. The values Of gold
and silver continually huctuate You
cannot determine his year what will
be the relative values of gold and
silver next year. They were fifteen
to one a short time ago; they are sin
teen to one now. Hence all erperjerce
/ has Sb01cn that you must hare one
i standard coin, Wlitch shall BE- q legal
i tender for al others, md then gdu nlng
+ promote gO3r domestic c0nUenieuce bu
/ haCiHg subsidiary coinage Of Surer
chtch shall circulate ia all partS Of your
country as ltqal tender FOR q limited
amount and be redeema6ie at It's tace
Catue By the government Blt. sir, /
again call attention Of the House to
the fact that the gentlemen who
oppose this bin insist upon maintain
ING silver dollar worth three and a
half cents more than the gold dollar.
and worth seven cents more than two
half dollars, and that, 50 long as those
provisions remain. you cannot keep
silver coin in the country. Certain
silver bullion dealers in New York are
making from fifty thousand to one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars a
year out of Your Government. One
Of them admitted to my colleague on
the Committee and myself, that his
business averaged from one million
eight hundred thousand to two million
dollars a year, and that he put the
silver in the mint, and drew cut for
every two dollars four half-dollars and
one ten-cent piece.
Now whatever may be said or
thought of the reasons urged during
that debate, for and against the pas
sage Of the bin. it is absolutely certain
that on April 9th, 1872. considerable
number of highly respectable members
Of the House most Of whom have
been vehemently suspected of know
ing what they were doing and talking
about, as general thing, perfectly
understood thai the Treasury Depart
ment and the Committee on Coinage.
&c, desired the passage OF a bill
which should establish 3 single stand
ard Of value and that standard, gold:
diminish the weight and value Of the
silver dollar: take away from it its
full legal tender quality and reduce ii
to the rank 6f a mere subsidiary coin
such as the half dollar and smaller
silver coins had been for twenty years.
that the bin reported by Mr. Hooper
from that Committee was intended to
have THAT effect and would, if passed.
accomplish that result 1t is hardly
conceivable that all Of them could
have completely forgotten those facts
by May 27th. 1872. 50 that il can pos
9ibly be true. a. Mr. Mills asserts.
that no member of the House knew
anything ON that day when the bill
passed the House. what it's contents
were At least. the burden Of proving
that such an extraordinary state Of
things is true, rests upon those who
assert it. and certainly. the bare word