The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-10-12

Of the purchase clause of the Sherman
act at the last session of the present
Congress. which had not passed the
Senate when he wrote, Mr.. Horn quotes
Mr.. Reed, of Maine, who, he declares,
knew better for what purpose the
Sherman act was passed than did the
Speaker of the 51st Congress" Mr..
Reed said, February Z, 1894:
1.-THE so-called Sherman act was
compromise measure, intended to
|stay for the time being a strong feeling
which existed on the part of a good
many citizens of this country in favor
OF the free coinage of silver"
He also quotes Mr.. Sherman on July
Is as follows:
There never has been time since
the law of 1890, known as the Sherman
|act," was passed, that / would not
have voted for its repeal. The Sherman
act was a compromise measure, and 1t
was passed to save the country from
free-coinage bill that had been passed
by the Senate by an overwhelming ma
Ijority."
Now as to the endeavors of Democrats
at the last session of Congress in favor
lof free silver Mr.. Horn goes over the
whole ground of those attempts in the
House and thus describes the final eff
fort:
During the attempt in the House to
repeal the bullion purchase section"
of the Sherman act in the last Con-
gress, Mr.. Bland offered an amend
ment to the Sundry Civil bill providing
for the free coinage of silver.
1.-The chair ruled that the amendment
was not in order.
"Mr. Bland appealed from the deci-
sion of the chair.
THE decision was sustained by a
vote of 134 to 127, the free-coinage men
voting that the amendment was in or
der The votes to sustain the Speaker
with the exception of seven, were all
cast by Republicans. The votes that
the amendment was in order were cast
by Democrats, with the exception of
eleven which were cast by Republicans
That was the last attempt made by
that Congress in favor of the free COIN
age of silver"
The argument of Mr.. Horr who ia
lvoTed the repeal act and was opposed
to every movement of the Democrats
to restore silver. for he is a consistent
supporter of the financial policy of the
Republican party and has no excuse
for his colleagues who to placate the
West pretend to be in favor of free
coinage, is thus brought to its just con-
clusion:
ct will now leave it to any candid
man to say whether there can be any
doubt as to why the Sherman act was
passed. There is no chance even for
dispute. The bill was voted for by the
great majority of Republicans to avoid
some thing which they considered
worse. 1t was voted for by a few Re
publicans who believed in the free
coinage of silver, because they eonsid-
cred it the best that they could then do
for silver, and not because they liked
the bill. The Democratic party voted
solidly against the law, nearly all Of
them because they wanted the free, I'M
limited coinage of silver instead of that
law
In addition to the statements of
Messrs. Reed and Sherman as to the
motive for passing the Sherman law,
Mr.. Horn says:
"a singular condition now confronts
us. The vast majority of the members
of both the House and the Senate who
voted for that act now favor its re-
peal The vast majority of those who
voted against the bill and who de-
nounced it in unmeasured terms are
now opposed to the repeal, unless they
can have in its place 1.-The free and un-
limited coinage of silver" to prevent
which the bill was originally passed.
Very many people now doubt the VS.
dom of having made any compromise
at all. There are a large number Of
men who think that it would have been
better for the country to have permit
ted the passage of a free coinage bill
at that time. The bill would have been
vetoed by President Harrison without
doubt
Mr.. Horr criticizes President Cleve-
land for calling Congress to repeal the
bullion purchase clause. not for desir
ing its repeal, but he remarks:
president Cleveland has summoned
a Congress which has a majority of
eighty Democrats in the House and of
several Democrats in the Senate, for
the special purpose of repeating that
law. He has done this, well knowing
that the majority of his party, without
regard to their platform pledges, are
opposed to such repeal, unless they can
get something worse in its place. He
calls that Congress together, well know
ing that without the aid of the Repub-
licans he cannot secure the repeal of
single section of it,
That was true. The majority of the
Democratic party wanted the bill re-
pealed if free coinage could be substi-
tuted And it was repealed uncondi-
tionally because the Republicans in
great majority voted for its repeal and
against free coinage (Which Mr.. Horr
calls something worse'O and so if
there is anything tending to "smash
silver in the repeal law, it was largely
the work of Republicans, as demon
strated by one of their number who
claims credit for them in what they did
in the Smashing"
The hope for silver, then, logically
l. lies with the Democratic party, because
lit has a majority in favor of free coin
age, while the Republican party is
largely in the majority against free
coinage. One story for the East and
another for the West is Republican
politics. But the people of the silver
producing regions are beginning to see
through the deception, and when their
ewes are fully opened they will centre
their faith and hope on the real hard
money party of old time fame and pres
ent ascendancy, and a united West and
South will gain over enough from the
East to make free silver the winning
slogan of the Democracy in 1896.
BILL CHANDELIERS BLOODY SHIRT.
Senator Chandler don't command