The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-02-20
BATTLING FOR SILVER.
THE COINAGE OF THE SEIGNOR4GE
DISCUSSED IN THE HOUSE.
A Number of Members Favor the Free Coin
age of silver While Others Oppose 1t.
The Conspiracy OF rs Reviewed.
Washington, February l3.-Immediately ar

ter the house journal had been read ana
approved today. the Hawaiian correspond
ence sent to the house yesterday alteihooii'
which arrived during the delivery OF euio-
giles upon the late Senator Stanford was
read, at the suggestion OF Mr.. burrows
and referred to the committee on foreign
affairs.
The seigniorage bill was taken up ana
Mr. Bland asked unanimous consent Nia'
general debate should close tomorrow af-
ternoon at 1 o'clock, but general objection
was made on the republican side, and there
was a demand for the regular order
Mr. Fell of Texas, spoke in favor OF the
bill. He compared the financial policy or
the present administration with that which
preceded it and held that the remarkable
extravagarce which prevailed prior to Mr.
Clevelards inauguration was responsible Tor
the depression which followed and now
rendered necessary the Issuance OF the
bonds or money with which to provide
funds for the payment of current expenses.
He thought it better to issue money than to
sell bonds. which would pass into the hands
of national banks and become an additional
drain on the gold reserve
He thought the issuance Of the paper
money in the shape of greenbacks prelera-
BILE TO silver certificates.
Mr. Johnson opposed the bill He favored
the coming of the seignorage and all bull
lion in the treasury, but he regarded the
pending measure as deceptive, misleading
and destructive IN It's elIeCtS. us real pul-
pose and result would be TO withdraw treas
ury notes and substitute for them silver GER
tifcates 1t would not only destroy the
parity between gold and silver, but would
disturb the parity between the different
kinds Of paper money now in circulation.
silver and J'nr,l Products.
MIR. Bankhead spoke in favor of the bill.
lie did not believe it possible that tn sec
rotary of the treasury could accumu ate and
maintain a sufticieAt volume of gold with
which to redeem currency and he tnouSht
+ at silver should also be made available for
proposes of redemption.
The price of commodities and silver, he
said, had gone hand in hand for twenty
years An ounce of silver today would
purchase just as many pounds of wheat or
corn as it would when the market price was
$l.29 per ounce. But an ounce Of gold would
now buy double the amount of the neces-
saries of life that it did twenty years ago.
The fact remained that either gold had adj
Vanced, or silver had been reduced in val
ne. If, under the conditions that now ez-
list. it became necessary for the United
Sattes to have a single standard he would
prefer silver to gold. He hoped that a free
coinage bill would be introduced and pass
ed. He considered sheer nonsense the as
sertion that foreign bullion would deluge
this country in the event of free coinage be-
Ing established. He did not believe that
there was any considerable amount of sur
plus bullion, but even If it existed, let it
come and be coined.
Capitalists Can stand Hard Times.
Mr.. benson favored the bill. He said thea
financial depression affected only the labor
ing man and industrial classes.
The rich were exempt from the evil eff
fectS of hard times. The repeal of the
Sherman act had brought no relief, but the
condition of the poor had steadily grown
worse.
Mr. Bland called attention to the fact that
all of the speakers had asked permission
to continue their remarks in the record and
he hCped that no further requests would be
made.
CuibersOn for Free Coinage.
Mr.. CuIberson favored the bill He favor
ed the free and unlimited coinage of silver
and never expected to see the time when
calculated to increase the coinage of sill
yer. He thought that she Sherman act
should be carried into this act to the extent
Oh saying that SILVER ceftlncaleS Shall be
redeemed as now provided for, He believed
that unless certain changes were made in
the pending bill the secretary of the treas
ury would find it beyond his power TO re-
deem any Sherman notes until alter the
coinage OF the seiSnioraSe had been COM
pleteG.
Mr. Bland stated that he had prepared
an amendment which would obViate the OBJ
lection made by Mr. Culberson.,
At the conclusion of Ar. Culberson re-
marks, Mr., Bland asked unanimous con-
sent that general debate shall close az .
O'Clock tomorrow afternoon, but obJectlon
was made, Mr. Warner, OF New 4oFh' OPP
posing the bill.
The Conspiracy of '73.
Washington, d. G., February 13.-LSpeciai'I
Mr.. Latimer supported the bill. He re-
viewed the characterization legislation Oh
1875, adduced evidence To prove mat IL was
the result OF a conspiracy against SANeI,
and reclted the evil consequences tnal mao
followed its enactment. lie peiieVea ttldt
the secretary of the treasury had USED tne
latitude given him TO disseminate asain5t
silver. IL the secretary had used the same
ingenuity to interpret the laws so e,,ILIa5
the SelgnIofdSe, dis he had lle StAtu'eo
bearing upon the issuance of bonaS, there
would have been no necessity Tor the IN
PRODUCTION OF the pending bill.
Mr. Hendricks said that the impression
prevailing throughout the world was mat
the United States had gone out of the pusi-
ness of giving a fictitious value TO deplG-
ciated money. The demonetzauon Oh ST.
yer, like an evil genius, was now haunting
the English house of parliament. me Sit
uation iii India mad reached an acute stage.
The question of silver affected the entire
world and was now awaiting settlement
somewhere, in some way. The whole world
is now in u listening attitude waiting Tor
England TO do something. Speaking OF the
pending bill, Mr. Hendricks said that l(5
Yer purchased by this government had been
paid for in hard gold doilars-the best
heretofore coined seisniorage. lie had new
er come to congress to do what he was ali-
thorized to do by the Sherman act. But he
had no legal or moral right to take an
imaginary portion of the bullion deposited
in the treasury and designate it as seignior-
age The secretary of the treasury had al
ready coined $27,000000 of silver bullion ana
had made a seigniorage profit of $6ooo,000,
which had been coined Let him continue
to coin seigniorage from time to time in
reasonable amounts, but not select an
ina ginary portion of bullion and designate
it as seigniorage. He believed that the sec
rotary of the treasury could SATISFACTORILY
handle the financial question at this time.
He believed that the people of all sections
could trust to his wisdom and discretion and
leave the matter to mis- Judgment without
the enactment of mandatory instructions.
If a bill was now passed which required the
secretary of the treasury to issue what is
practically fiat money, it would add to the
already great anxiety of the people and
gold would walk out Of the treasury at an