The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-07-24


this country. They have had trouble to
do 1t ever since 1776 Gaughter.) They
would experience as much difficulty now
as they did then. If they would attempt it.
Inc law or 1873 had it's origin, as all
such laws have, in the brains Of experts.
The question OF coinage, mintage, is g.
most intricate one; it is one of the most
complicated problems with which philo-
sophical men have ever grappled. It has
been process of DEVELOPMENT from the
earliest stages of humanity down to the
present time, which has given us the per-
feet system OF money, though not perfect,
as perfect as 1t has come to be, at his
time. If anybody will read the reports
| or the confederate congress OF the United
| States. the one that came Immediately
after the colonial congress, they will find
| that all the men who even assumed to be
able to discuss the matter intelligently
could be counted on the fingers of my
two hands"
Mr.. Harvey-Mr. Horn says that 1 have
| no proof of the scheme concocted in Lon
don to demonetize silver in. the United
| States. When / was boy I went into a
courthouse one day to hear a criminal
trial and 1 heard a lawyer say, when a.
| crime is committed and you want to de-
tect the criminal. look for the man that
is benefited by the crime" (Applause.)
Reasoning by induction more invariably
locates the criminal than any uncertain
human testimony. Silver was demone-
tized in England, and in England only,
prior to the day it was demonetized in
this country. That was where the move
| ment started-that is another evidence.
London bankers initiated the Paris con-
| ference of 1867, at which John Sherman
was present, therefore I have the right
to say the conspiracy originated in Lon
| don.
Mr.. Horn says that the science of money
is hard to understand. Ever since the
money lenders of the world shackled the
people Of the world they have taught the
people that money was hard to under
stand (applause); that it Is one of those
difficult things as Mr.. Horn once said in
his speech, 1T gives me a headache to
think Of it" Qaughter); and you are not
competent to study it or understand it,
and as long as they can make you be-
| lieve that, they have you in their power.
You who study chemistry and can UNI
derstand the most difficult problems OF
science-chemistry and other sciences
| that would make a bankers head dizzy
to contemplate-we are told you can
not understand the simple proposition Of
money, that which you come into the use
of every day.
Mr.. Horn has only brought into this
debate proposition that it is the inter-
est Of every selfish money lender in the
world to advocate that he is here advo-
| eating it (applause) In 1873, when this
| treacherous act was passed, there was
no specie currency in this country. Dur
ing all the years from 1892 to 1861, when
it was actually in use and being tested
| for its merit, no one proposed to demOne-
tie either of the metals except some
| money lenders from Europe who propos-
ed it in 1854 (applause). But at that time,
1873, when 1t was not in circulation and
was not needed. the movement was be-
gun and contaminated. And as one
| congressman said when the bill was Of
fered in congress. I'VE are not using gold
and silver as money, have not yet con-
| sidered an act for the redemption of this
| specie payment, and the Introduction of
| this bill at the time either means a trick
or is farce worthy of being caricatured
by Thomas MAST
This closed the debate and questions
being in order. the first was by H. L..
Bliss to Mr.. Harvey: 1.-THE total coinage
| of the Philadelphia mint up to 1873
amounted in round numbers to sos, OOO,-
600; that Of all the minis to S14S 00O OO0
You said that the treasury had changed
it's figures and that you compelled it to
do SO. Did you not make the blunder of
taking the coinage Of the Philadelphia
mint for the total coinage? Is it true
that the treasury has changed it's fig
ures?"
Mr.. Harvey-My answer is: First.
that did not say that had forced them
| to change it, or to correct any mistake;
and next, that the list, table of coins, for
which the 100000 was figured when
| Coins School, was written, was before
me in report of the director of the mint
1 don't know whether there were separ-
| ate tables or not. Since then, in their lat
err books, the one last out. it is all in one
| table, and my impression was that the
| one the School was calculated from
was in one table. So that 1 cannot tell,
Mr.. Bliss, whether the mistake was made
by taking the Philadelphia mint or not,
but I did state the amount at $37, 900, 900
less silver coined before 1873 than was
| really coined, and, if at the same time
it was to the interest Of my argument to
| state it at all it would stand.
The next question is by O. B. Gum, of
Kansas City, "Mr. Harvey asserts that
the minis were open to the free and
unlimited coinage of silver from 1892 to
1878. Jefferson closed the minis in
1906 to the coinage Of the silver dollar,
or unit of value, were coined up to 1910,
a period Of "a years. Was this free and
unlimited coinage of silver?'
Mr.. Harvey-Mr. Jefferson did not close
the minis, that could only be done by an
| act of congress. Mr.. Jefferson directed
the minis being open to the free coinage
of all kinds of silver coin) the mint direc-
tors to coin the silver that came, at the
option of the people, in 50-cent pieces and
less. 1t made no difference to the people
who brought 1t whether they coined it in
5O-cent pieces or dollars, it was all money.
The minis were open to the free and I'M
limited coinage Of silver, but the director
OF the mint, or president, might direct
what kinds of coins should be coined
| without interfering with the principle of
law that the minis were open to free and
unlimited coinage. (Applause.) The
number Of units coined in no way affects
the substance of the unit being the meas
ure Of value. You need not coin a single
unit and yet by law the 81 grains Of
silver could be the unit Of value regulat-
ing all other coins, all compared to it in
legal and commercial ratio. The act Of
1873 made the gold dollar the unit; and
now by act of Sept. Is. 1889, it is unlawful
to coin gold dollar. So that we now
have unit Of 1872 grains of gold, and con-
gress has said that the minis shall not
coin any Of them. But, nevertheless, we
have gold standard because the IS gold
pieces and SO gold pieces arc coined with
reference to 1872 grains Of gold being the
unit Of value. (Applause)
Mr.. Horr-The next question I have Is
by James Bollinger. I see he asks us
both to answer it. 1 will answer it, then
pass it to Mr.. Harvey: why is it have
had so little silver or gold since the pas
1t is impossible for me to tell unless
know how you have been behaving since
1873. (Applause)
Mr.. Harvey-My answer to it Is: Be-
cause we have been on a gold standard.
dong and continued applause)
Mr.. Horrible next question is from
Mr.. Motsinger, of Sholes, Ind: "Was it
not right that under the socalled bimetal-
lie laws which existed previous to 1873,
when one precious metal increased in eX-
change value, that the debtor had.
| through the legal tender provision, the
option of paying in the metal which had
not increased in exchange value?" It
was not only proper but perfectly natur-
al, and the only way that a man who had
any sense would pay. It was legal
| ,-{<~1k &r.4k I,;0 4