Evening journal., 1895-06-01
SENATOR HlLL'S REPLY.
He Picks Flaws In Mr.. Sher-
mans GAINESVILLE Speech.
TELLS now lie sTAEDs ON SILVER.

lisn, with Free Coinage at n Ratio 81
u ~ to Would discriminate the
Creenbacls Dollar Forever.
ALBANY, Juno l.--eonator Hill was
asked whether he had rai, Senator Sher
man sreoch on tho monetary question.
os, said the senator r have care
fully poruso1 Senator sherman Ianes
willie speech on silver Ii an Ohio Domo-
crat had maSo the spoaoh. there would
have been condemnation all along the Re
publican ranks
The Implication startled mo that there
are in o prosperous state like Ohio Repub-
lioan voters who wish to degrade ourd dol
lar standard. repudiato one-half our pub
lie dobt and pay thcir debt in cheaper
money than thoy promised TO pay
have not met such voters in New
York II IS difficult for mo to believe that
majority in any American state or in
any American congress will vote TO create
a now dollar merely in order that thereby
debtors may ovado the payment Of one
hali on one quarter or any percentage Of
what they owe and have promised. That
would DO worse and moro indefensible
than the creation in 1869 by Senator Sher-
man s party Of tho full legal tender groen-
back dollar Then the country was in tho
agony Of civil war; but now there Is pro
found peace
The Degradation of our Dollar.
Until read the latest Legal tender Go
cision in lsS3 by a Republican supreme
court in Juillard's case / did not think
that our highest judicial tribunal could
tolerate such q reputation of private con
tracts by degradation Of our legal tender
dollar IL Ind not boon attempted in our
history TIL 1869. Whether our standard
dollar was silver or gold or both, il was
from 1889 to 1859 an honest standard, an
undegraded standard. During those 20
years nobody loaning dollars felt it nocos-
sary in noto or bond as now to describe
the dollars OF payment as gold dollars Of
present weight and finenoss. Not till 1862
did congress begin to force the circulation
Of degraded dollars by imparting to them
full legal tender faculty.
Tho failure OF congress In 1884 to
/ adopt the European international coming
ratio of l5ls undervalued silver and ex-
/ PEELED it, SO that in order to keep in the
| country minor silver the law OF 1888 au-
| thorizod the coinage Of sinallhnderweight-
/ cd silver pieces hut they were not full
legal tender That Senator sherman do
scribes as proper and true himetallism /
deny it. 1t was compulsory treasury sill
yer purchasing and coming like tho Bland
Allison statute Of 1878 and his own stat
uto Of 1890. which differed in no substan-
tial aspect from the law of 1858 excepting
that those Of 1878 and 1890 coined dollars
| mot minor silver, as in 1859 ana made
them full legal tender.
Senator Sherman said at GAINESVILLE
what was news to me--that for 4 years aft
er the resumption Of specie payments,
while the Republican party was in power,
we had gold, silver and paper money pass
ing current in al parts of the commercial
world. l had never known that from 1850
| till 1884, when Cleveland came. our silver
dollars and greenback dollars were exporta-
BE like our gold dollars. One Of my OBJ
iections to our present government taking
| full legal silver and greenback dollars Is
that they are not exportable
Greenbacks Cause Our Currency Woes.
II would exterminate forever the green
back dollars which by the endless redenp-
tion chain make the chiefest Of our exist
ing currency woes. / would by interna-
tional bimetaliism, by free bimetallio
coinage on a ratio Of 1917, and not by Sem
ator Sherman S bastard bimetallism exem-
| plihed in his law Of $780, now repealed,
| lift our standard silver dollar into world
wide parity with our gold dollar.
II would thereby put an end to the
degradation Of any coined dollar Of ours.
/ would not have, as now, one ratio which
is Is for our silver dollars, and a higher
ratio as now, for our minor silver. OBJ
ject TO Senator Shermans misdesoription
Of the bimetallism Of 1899, which on an
international ratio Of 15j9 l advocated.
1--WE have suspended the compulsory
treasury purchasing Of silver and coming
OF silver dollars. / urged 1t in the inter
est Of international bimetallism. The sus-
pension is steadily working In Europe TO
that end It has pursuaded Bismarck. II
l could have my wish, ] would not have
the treasury purchase another ounce Of
silver or coin another silver dollar under
existing conditions till the possibility Of
international bimetallism on a ratio Of
1914 has been fairly tested by the whole
power Of the United States, exerted earnest
ly and in good faith by their congress,
their president and cabinet, their socre-
tary Of state and their diplomatic and con-
sular agents everywhere.