Omaha daily bee., 1894-03-13
7HE WRONG or fr

by sgreement reached last week the final
vote in the United States senate on the
sclgniorage bill will be taken next Thursday.
The supporters Of this vicious and indefensi-
Bile measure have shown themselves to be
largely In the majority on every test vote
and there appears to be no doubt that it
will pass the senate as IL went from the
house. IN effort was made last week by
opponents Of the bill to get an opportunity
to amend It. but the advocates Of the
measure gave the effort no encouragement,
because they do not wish to have 1t sent
back to the house, where it may be further
delayed. Their plan appears to be to rush
1t to the president, and IL he vetoes 1t to
try to pass it over the veto. 1t is hardly
possible that this could be done in the house,
in view Of the close vote on the passage
of the bill. but 1t is said that its friends
claim that the republican members will not
be enthusiastic about sustaining the veto of
a democratic president, and that Mr.. Cleve.
land has a host of enemies in his own party
who will gladly vote to override the veto in
order to show their spite. This is un-
doubtedly a mistaken view, so far as the re-
publicans are concerned, with the excep-
ton, Of course, of those from the silver
states. All other republicans. there can be
no doubt, would vote to sustain a veto, and
these, with the eastern democrats, would
be sufficient to sustain IT.
Speaking on this measure in the senate.
Senator Sherman expressed the opinion that
the seigniorage bill is a violation Of the pub
lie faith contained in the act of July, 1890,
which pledged the entire silver purchased
to the redemption of treasury notes issued
in payment. He pointed out that the plain
meaning and intent of that act was that the
silver bullion purchased under 1t should
be only coined into dollars as needed to
redeem the treasury notes. The words
"seigniorage" and gain" used in the act of
1890 were copied from the old law Of 1873,
and clearly mean, said Senator Sherman,
that the difference between the cost of the
silver bullion and its coinage value should
be utilized from time to time; but under
this act That discretion was practically lin
tied. There is no authority" continued Mr..
Sherman, "and every lawyer here who ex-
amines this law will say that there is no au-
thority whatever to coin this silver bullion
except for the purpose of paying the notes
which may be presented" He went on to
say that what this bill proposes is a plain
and palpable violation of the public faith.
That proposition is to take $55, 900, 900 of the
coinage value of this bullion, every ounce of
which is pledged to the redemption of treas
ury notes. not for the purpose of redeeming
these notes nor to maintain the par value
of the notes with gold, but as an addition
IN thp aitrrannu vphyaJ, ,.,Il .I.s-t. =
the obligations of public faith. Nor is this
all, for the bill provides further that upon
the security of this $55, 900, 900 of bullion
taken out of the fund provided for the re-
demption of treasury notes the secretary
of the treasury shall issue silver certificates.
thus robbing the holders of the treasury
notes of the benefit of the stipulation
made by the government when those notes
were issued" BY the language of the bill
the secretary of the treasury may issue such
certificates to the full amount of the So
called seigniorage, so that this bill contem-
plates Il possible addition of s11O. 900. 900 TO
the currency, and this Is proposed notwith-
standing the fact that the silver bullion on
hand, which cost the government SIPS OOO.-
900. has a present market value of only
Po.,Voo,oVo, Il loss 10 the government of
SAB, 900, 900. Is it not manifestly absurd to
talk about seigniorage in view of these
figures, and equally obvious is the dishon-
esty of the proposition to coin any part of
this deprecated silver except to redeem
treasury notes as already authorized by law.
There can be no doubt that the success of
the Bland seigniorage bill would tend to de-
base the currency and impair the public
credit, because it would create an appre-
hension of further legislation, already
threatened. In the same direction. With
$956, OOO, 900 Of demand obligations now out
standing, every dollar of which must be kept
at parity with gold in order to maintain the
public credit, and with a gold reserve of
only about $107, 900, 900, the danger of largely
increasing the demand obligations without
at the same time increasing at least pro-
portionately the gold reserve must be an
parent to everybody who knows anything
about financial affairs. Senator Sherman
was correct in declaring that whether the
proposition before the senate Is intended to
Introduce irredeemable money or to force the
circulation of silver it is equally vicious.
and that II silver should be paid for the
certificates authorized by the bill then the
whole superstructure of our financial system
based upon gold and silver at par with each
other would fall and we should go down step
by step to the single silver standard