The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-03-22


your remedy.
I say that the remedy is easy.
We must have an Independent
financial policy for the United
States. We must furnish the peo-
pie of the United States with suf-
ficient circulating medium so that
business can be prosecuted, so that
individual prosperity may come
again, so that your factories and
your mines will be opened, so that
your fields will furnish return for
the labor of the farmer. This must
be done if our republic is to be
saved. There is no halfway work
about it. We must meet the sit
uation as it is.
The issuance of bonds without
authority of law to buy gold for a
reserve is not what the statute
says. 1t says you may buy coin to
redeem the greenbacks which were
outstanding on the LIST of January,
1S79-not gold, but coin; and there
is no authority to buy either gold
or silver while there is a sufficient
amount of silver available for that
purpose, for power to sell bonds is
only to be exercised to the extent
necessary to buy coin to redeem the
greenbacks: and while there is sill
yer in the Treasury which can be
made available there is no excuse
for buying either gold or silver.
There is no law for it.
How then with regard to silver!
I do not know exactly how much
silver is in the Treasury which is
not pledged for the redemption of
the silver certificates. 1t is 500,
OOO,OO0 or more. | believe there
were $3O,000,000 of silver coin
there or the list of the present
month. 1t is made the duty of the
Secretary of the Treasury to coin all
the silver that he has on hand to
provide for the redemption of the
Treasury notes issued under the
act of 1890. Congress passed a bill
requiring it to be coined and
authorizing the issue of silver GER
tiicates ON the seigniorage in the
Treasury, some fifty odd million
ounces, making some $4,000, 900,
and it was vetoed by the President.
The department has in every
way refused to use silver to carry
into effect the laws which would
give an abundance of silver with
which to redeem the Treasury notes
and all other obligations.
Now, the President says that we
must have gold In the Treasury;
and if the President cannot have
legislation he will contract with
foreign syndicates and pay a pre-
MUM for gold without the sanction
of Congress.
1t seems to me that it is time the
Senate should face this question
squarely. Shall this process go on;
shall this usurpation go on; shall
this refusal to comply with the
laws of Congress and use the silver
available go on? Both the Demo
cratic party and the Repub lean
party in their platforms solemnly
pledged themselves to use silver as
standard money.
Mr.. President, the remark has
been made that it was unfortunate
that the President did not offer
these bonds to the people. 1t was
certainly unusual. The contract
for the bonds before they were
issued to foreign syndicate was a
remarkable transaction. 1t was
said the other day by the Senator
from Ohio [Mr. Sherman] that the
people would readily take these
bonds; that they have in the saw
ings banks 81, 100000, 900 of gold
and want the bonds. l think it
would have been better to give the
people an opportunity to take the
bonds, but deny that the depos-
itors in savings banks have there
any 81 ,6OO,O00,OO0 of gold or any
81, 900, 100000 of money.
1t is true the savings banks owe
their depositors that amount, OF
about that amount, but l question
the ability of the banks to return
it under the gold standard. 1t is
impossible. Your savings banks
and your trust companies cannot
endure the gold standard and exist