Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-04-04
3LAND'S BILL VETOED.
CLEVELAND SAYS ITS ILL-AD-
VISED AND DANGEROUS.
The President DESTROYS to Avoid Disa-
greement With Congress but Declares
That stern Duty COmpeIs Him to Dis
approve the SelgnIoragc Measure.

approve the Selgniorage Measure.
! WASHINGTON, March 3O.-The presi-
| dent yesterday sent To the house of
representatives the following message
vetOing the Bland silver seigniora"e
bill:
To the House Of Repre- / return
without my approval house bill numbered 1895
| entitled An act directing the COMA C of the
silver bullion held in the treasury and for
other purposes"
My stronk desire to avoid disagreement with
those in both houses OF congre 3 who have
supported this bill would lead me- to approve
! II II could believe that the public GOOD would
not be thcreb' endangered and that such
action on my part would De "a proper disc scharse
| OF official duty. InaSmuch, however, as / am
unable TO sltisfy myself that the propos ed
le islation Is either wise or opportune nv
conception OF the obi cations and res ponsibiii.
ties attached to tho great Office hold orbds
me lndul lence OF my personal desire, and
inexorably confines me To that course which
Is dictated by my reason and jud ,ment and
pointed ous by Il sincere purpose to protect
ana promote the general interests OF our
This bill consists OF two sections, excludin
one which merely appropriates q sum sum-
Gent TO carry the a I int effect The first
section provides for the immediate coinage OF
the silver bullion in the tire lsuFy. which reD-
resents the socalled gain or seigniora (which
would arise from the conIn of all the bullion
ON hand, which gain or seignIora c this section
declares TO be 30. lJ6,6Sl. II directs that the
money so coined or the certificates issued
thereon shall be used in the payment OF public
expenditures. and provides that il the needs
or the treasury demands ii the secretary OF
the treasury may in his discretion is -ue silver
ccrtihcates in excess of such coinage not ex-
cecdinE the amount of seigniorage in said sec
tion authorized to be coined
The second section declares that as soon as
after coinage n
the remainder OF the bullion held by the gov
ernment shall lie coined into legal tender
standard silver dollars, and tn 1t they shall be
held IN the treasury for the redemption OF
treasury notes issued III The purchase or said
bullion IL provides that as fast bullion
shau be coined for the redemption of said
notes they shall be re.ssued but that they
shall be cancelled and dcstroyei III amounts
equal TO the coin held al any time in The treas
ury derived from the co mage provided for
and that silver certificates shall be issued on
such coin in the manner now provided ny law.
II is, however especially declared in said
section that the act shall not De constructed
10 change existing laws relating 10 the legal
tender character or mode of redemption OF the
| treasury notes issued for the purchase of the
| silver bullion to be coined
MOST UNFOKTC NATELY CONSTRUCTED.
The entire bill is most unfortunately CON
| structcd. Nearly every sentence presents un-
certainty and invites controversy as to its
meaning and intent The first section is
especially faulty in his respect and il is ex-
permit the cOnsummation of its supposed pur-
poses. am led TO .lieve that the promot rs
OF the bill intended in this section to
provide for the coinage OF the bullion consti-
tuting the gain or Seienoragc as il Is called,
into standard silver dollars AMI yet there is
positively nothing in the section TO prevent its
coinage into any description OF silver coins
now authorized under any e Xistiny law / sup.
pose thls section was also intended, in case
the needs of the treasury called for money
I lAlrf IN ifYslf fNttl1f lion,
could actually he coined, 10 present the issue
of certificates in advance of such cOinaye but
ITS ianguage would seem to permit the issu-
ancc of such certificates to double the amount
Cf sei2noraGe stated. one half of which
would not represent an ounce of silver in the
treasury The debate upon this section in
congress developed an earnest and positive
difference OF opinion as to its object and
meaning In anv event. am clear that the
present perplcXitieS and embarraSsments of
me secretary OF the treasury ought not 10 be
au mented by devolvinS upon him the cxecu-
! non OF II law so uncertain and confused
am not W!llin 2. however, TO rest nv objec-
! non TO this section solely on these grounds:
| IN my judgment sound finance does not com
mend further infusion OF silver into our cur.
rcncy at this time unaccompaned by further
adequate provision for the maintenance in our
treasury of n safe gold reserve.
THE SECOND SECTION DEFECTIVE.
Doubts also arise as to the meanin; and con-
struction Of the second section Of the bill II
the silver dollars therein directed to bc
coined are, as the section provides, to
| be held in the treasury for the re-
demption OF treasury notes. it is suggested
| that, strictly speaking, certificates cannot be
| issued on such coin in the manner now pr o
| vided by law" because these dollars are
money held in the treasury for the express
purpose of redeemns treasury notes on de-
mand, which would ordinarily mean that they
were set apart for the purpose of substituting
them for these treasury notes They are
not, therefore, held in such q way as 10 fur.
ntSh basis for certificates according 10 any
provision or existing law IT, however sill yer
certlncateS can be properly issued upon these
dollars, there is nothing in the section TO indi-
cate the charac teriSticS and functions OF these
certlhcates II they were to be OF the same
character as silver certificates in circul tion
under existing laws, they would at best be re-
celNaole only for customs, taxes and all public
dues; and under the language of the section it
Is, 10 say the lea,t extremely doubtful
whether the certificates IL contemplated would
be lawfully received even for such purposes.
Nhatever else may be said of the uncertain
ties OF expression in this bill they certainly
ouVht not 10 be found in 10 sislation affecting
SUBJECTS so important and far reaching Us our
| finances and currency
We have now Outst JndinS more than 1888
VpOO IN silver certificates issued under exist
ing laws they are serving the purpose o'
money uscfully and without que stIon Our
gold reserve amounting TO little more than
slOO, OJ00JO, is directly charged with the re.
GemDtion OF I6,UJI0J of United States notes
When Il is proposed to initiate our silver cur.
rcncy II Is a time for streugthenins our gold
reserve instead OF depicting it l cannot con
alllSm than we take when we spend our gold
10 buy silver certificates for circulation es-
pecially in view of the practical difficulties
surrounding the rep,enishme II OF our gold
BONDS FOR GOLD NECESSARY
This leads IN, TO earnestly preseat the de-
STABILITY OF granting TO the secretary OF the
treasury better power than now exists To Is.
sue bonds to protect our gold reserve when for
any reason IL should he necessary. Our eur.
rency is in such confused condition and our
financial affairs are apt 10 assume at any time
so critical position that II seems TO me such
course is dictated by ordinary prudence
am not insensibc 10 the arsuments in favor
OF coming the bullion seigniora se now IN the
treasury, and believe IL could be done safely
ana with advantage il the secretary OF the
treasury had the power To issue bonds ut
low rate of interest under authority in
substitution OF that now existing and better
suited TO the protection of the treasury.
hope Il way will present itself in the near
future Tor the adjustment OF our monetary af-
Ialrs In such comprehensive and conserya-
i've manner as Will afford to silver its proper
place in our currency, but in the meantime /
am extremely solicitous that whatever action
we take on this subject may be such as to
prevent loss and discourdg ement 10 our peo
pie at home and the des tructiOn OF confidence
IN financial abroad