Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-03-30
COULD NOT SIGN IT.
Cleveland Returns the Bland
Bill! to the House.
BELIEVES IT 4 NoXIOUs MEASURE,

Faulty In Construction, Vicions in rrinci-
pie, Tending To Revive the Uncertainty
and Lack Of Confidence from Which
We Are Just beginning to Eecover-A
Few Blind" Clauses Pointed Gut-Frec
silver Bill Promised Next.
WASHINGTON. March J0.-The expected
has happened again and with duh
thud' the executive veto has fallen upon
the Bland seigniorage bill leaving it in a
,ndtion of death that probably can
know no resurrection because oil the al
most impossibiiiy of obtaining the
necessary two-thirds vote in its favor in
tn house that would make Il law of it
",hc objections OF the president to the
contrary Notwithstanding. The president
tihcs the opportunity to express his
opinions ON the silver question generally
in a way that makes things look blue for
anything like free silver legislation under
present conditions unless the silver men
C IN muster the necessary vote to sit down
Oh veto.
Legislation Neither Wise Nor Spportune.
In the frs; of the message OF veto the
president says the legislation proposed is
neither wise nor oppor;uue; ii he could by
any means have convinced himself that it
was-so anxious was he to avoid anita goniZ-
ins congress on that subject-he would
have gladly done SO. Ii comes. he says
just at "a time when we are emerging slowly
ont Of an unprecedented depression caused
| Ivy lack Of confidence in our monetary in
stitutiouS, largely the result of the legis!a-
ton iOr silver. Less than five months have
elapsed since the repeal of the purchase
bill, but wholesome Improvement is vs,-
! BE, and Confidence in our absolute sol
veuCy i to such ~ extent reiustated and
! faith III our disposition to adhere TO sound
| financial! methods i 81 far restored ~ Ia
produce the most encouraging results both
I "a. home and abTnld.'
What the President Believes.
! He then says: i believe that if The bill
under consideration should become Il law
| it would be regarded as "A retrogression
| from the financial intentions indicated by
| our / c'nt repeal OF the provision forcing
silver bullion purchases; that it would
| weaken if it did not destroy returning
/ faith and confidence in -o0r sound iinau-
! cial tendencies. and THAT rs a consequence
| our progress To renewed business health
would he unfortunately checked and a re
d - q
ously threatened" He then gives a re-
/ view Of the situation that resulted in the
[ passage Of the Law, explaining TIE seign-
| forage and the objects of the bill under
/ consideration.
The Way to Maintain Parity.
Referring to the requirement of mainte-
nance of parity between gold and silver
| in the bill the president say: "Consid r.
! ing tbs present intrinsic relation between
/ gold anu silver the maintenance OF the
| parity between the two metals us men
/ toned in this law can mean nothing else
/ than the maintenance Of such parity in
| the estimation and confidence of the peo-
/ pie who use our money in their daily
| transactions. Maniiestly the maintenance
| OF this parity can only be ACCOMPLISHED
20 f;.r a. il = affected 10y these treasury
notes. and in tie estimation OF the holders
of the same by giving to such holder. on
/ their redemption the coin. whether il i
/ gold or silver which they prefer Il follows
that while in terms the law leaves the
choice of coin TO be paid on such redemp-
ton to the discretion of tie secretary of
/ the treasury the exercise of this di,cre-
ton, il opposed To the demands of the
. effective and beneficial maintenance of the
parity between the two metals
specific Objections to the Bill.
The presidents specific objections to the
bill are that it is not explicit and can b.
! construed more than one way He sqvs;
| THE entire bill Is most unfortunately
constructed. Nearly every sentence pre-
EMS uncertainty and invites controversy
- to its meaning and intent. The first
section is especially faulty in this respect
and it Is extremely doubtful whether it,
language viii permit the contamination
OF it, supposed purposes. There
j. positively nothing in the section to pre-
vent its tile seignioragel coinage into ally
description OF silver CON now authorized
under any existing laws. / suppose thi.
section was also intended, in case the
needs OF the treasury called for money
faster than the seigniCraEe bullion coulC
actually he coined, to permit the issue Of
silver certificates in advance of such com
age but its language would seem to per
mt the issuance of such certificates u
douDle the amount of seigniorage Il.
- at ID, one-half of which would not repre-
sent an ounce of silver in the treasury.
ON GCNCpfI pPINHIDI &c ttSO