The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-07-31

section provides for coin which is ex-
actly interchangeable with the English
shilling and the five-franc piece of
France; that is, the five-franc piece of
France will be the exact equivalent of a
dollar OF the United States in our silver
| coinage"
Mr.. Horr-That is right, Mr.. Harvey.
Inc Dill that was reported to the senate
and tDat they were then discussing had
in It provision for the coming of silver
dollars, the silver dollars about which
you talked at the last session of this de-
bate, containing 1854 grains, and they
were made with all the other silver coins
subsidiary coins. There was no proyi-
sion in the bill at that time, and do not
believe You dare claim there was, for the
free coinage of dollar of 1884 grains.
Nobody ever had the effrontery to claim
That the American congress would have
stult1fied itself in that way. That pro-
vision had been introduced into it in the
| mouse and 1t was part of it, provision
for coming dollar precisely ike the s.
| franc piece in use in France-nO doubt
about 1t. The senate struck that provi-
sion out and substituted the trade dollar
for the 1874 grain dollar.
Now, have you ever noticed that the
opposition to that bill in the house came
| from Clarkson M. Potter, from Mr..
Brooks
Mr.. Harvey-May interrupt you?
| Mr.. Horr-Certainly.
POINTED PROPOSITION.
| Mr.. Harvey-If you will show me from
| the record Of the proceedings in the SEN
ate on that day that the senate struck
out that dollar we will stop this debate
right here. cloud and enthusiastic ap-
plause)
Mr.. Horr-I have not the record, but I
can get it. The law when it was passed
had the trade dollar in it. Do you deny
| that?
| Mr.. Harvey-No, sir; I do not
Mr.. Horr-And don't that take the
place of th6other dollar?
Mr.. Harvey-No, sir. Uaughter.)
MR.. HORR RETREATS.
| Mr.. Harvey-The other day when Mr..
Horn said that the bill before the senate
--as shown by the Congressional Record
only had a trade dollar in it 1 replied
that when l got to the senate proceed
| 1ngs he would have to retreat from that
position (applause), and now he retreats
of his own accord. applause and laugh
teri
Again, Mr.. Sherman, in speaking of the
silver dollar on that day, said: 1--WE are
providing that it shall float all oyer the
world" Again he said (Forty-second
congress, vol. 1, p. 672): "This bill pro-
posed silver coinage exactly the same as
the French and what are called the as
ISOLATED nations of Europe (meaning the
Latin Union) who have adopted the in
| ternational standard of silver coinage;
that is, the dollar provided for by this
bill is the precise equivalent of the s.
franc piece It contains the same num-
Der of grams of silver; and we have
adopted the international gram instead
Of the grain for the standard of our silver
coinage. The trade dollar has been
adopted mainly for the people of Califor-
MIA and others engaged in trade with
China. That is the only coin measured
by the grain instead of by the gram. The
intrinsic value Of each is to be stamped
upon the COIN"
The idea conveyed was this: Our sill
yer dollar was above par with gold, be-
cause of the French ratio of 1917 to /.
while ours was 16 to 1. The Latin Union
alone had maintained the commercial
and coinage value Of silver and gold un-
disturbed at the ratio of 1914 to 1, and
| by reducing our silver dollar to 1884,
| grains, the same size as the French five
| franc piece, with our minis open to it..
as was that of France, a parity of the
two metals was assured and our "silver
dollar would float around the world ,,
| (Applause.)
The bill had now passed both houses
with a slight disagreement on two or
three minor points only, but it made a
necessity for 1t to go to conference COM
mittee. Here is where the dirty work
was done and the conspiracy eliminated.
1t was the duty Of the conference COM
mittee to settle the disputed points only.
and the Congressional Record shows
that the silver dollar clause was not one
of the contested points. If it were an
honest committee it would not have
tried to change what both houses had
already agreed on; it would simply try
to perform it's duty in disposing of the
disputed points. A conference commit
tee was appointed composed of Senators
Sherman, Scott Of Pennsylvania, and
Bayard of Delaware, on the part of the
Senate, and Hooper of Massachusetts,.
Stoughton of Michigan, and Medically of
Illinois, on the part of the House.
The committee either acted upon the
disputed points formally or left the mat
ter to Senator Sherman and Mr.. HOOPER.
the two who were taking the most active
interest in the bill, as is frequently done
in committees. At any rate those two.
Sherman and Hooper, are next found in
their respective houses with the bill in
| their hands, representing that the COM
mittee had agreed upon the points of
| difference, presented the report. and rec,
commended that the bill pass
The Congressional Record thereupon
says: "The report was concurred in"
| These five words and no more. No uues-
lions were asked; no debate took place.
The two houses, knowing that the points
of difference were immaterial, would ma
| turally pay no attention to it: the COM
| mittee was supposed to have performed
it's simple duty and not on any points
to have reversed the action of the two
houses. But they had. They had taken
out the 1884 gram dollar, the size of the
French five-franc piece, the dollar that
was to FLOAT around the world the dol
lar that would have put our system on
the same basic ratio with France and the
Latin Union.
II that dollar was only a subsidiary
dollar limited to the purchase of silver
by the Secretary of the Treasury and
that was it's only virtue in that bill, WHY
did it disappear from the bill? (Ap-
| plause)
Here Mr.. Horn introduced a letter
| from Jasper Packard, member of con-
| gress in 1872, and undertook to prove
| from that gentleman what occurred in
the debate. Thereupon Mr.. Horn tried
the dodge of jumping from that subject
to some other. but Harvey held him to
the point, as will be seen from what fol-
| lows:
Mr.. Harvey-When 1 read the printed
record of what Mr.. Horn has just now
| said it will be time enough for me to
take up new subject. am not done
| with the present subject yet.
| The act of 1853 served the purnose of the