Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-04-12

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yer per month, to be coined, at the rate Oh
two million ounces per month into stah-
dard dollars, until July LIST. ls9l,. alter
which there should be coined only such
an amount as might be needed for the fe-
demption of the treasury notes.
The repeal of the purchasing clause OF
this act relieves us of the necessity OF coz
tinuiDg this suicidal policy. SO far as
monthly purchase goes. and leads us to
hope that the dearly bought lesson OF the
past may not soon be forgotten.
The law of today, then, requires the
treasurer to coin the silver bullion only
in such quantities as is required to re-
deem the treasury notes that may be pre-
| sented but in the distress of the recent
past the attempt was made to coin what
is called the seigniorage, that is the profit
which the government makes between
| what the silver costs and what it goes for
after it is coined.
To illustrate: an ounce of silver, or four
hundred and eighty grains, is worth say
fifty cents, the treasurer pays that for it, in
the coin certificates to which have re-
ferred. He proceeds to coin it, and press
ing three hundred and seventyone
grains with necessary alloy, into a con-
yenicnt shape. he stamps upon it the words,
''onc dollar, and the statute declares you
must accept, it as hundred cents.
| 1t is no better when you get it than
| it was when your neighbor sold it; it
simply bears the stamp of the government
| in attestation Of its weight and fineness;
and yet what costs but fifty cents is forced
upon the people as worth one dollar and
| twenty nine cents. This tribute to Caesar
is called seigniorage. The law provides
that when the bullion is coined this seig
niorage. or saving, or gain, or whatever
pleasing name may be given 1t, shall ac-
crue to the government and also be
coined. The seigniorage bill was an
attempt to coin this bookkeeper's gain
before the bullion was coined; an as
sumption that the bullion had been coined
and the profit made, although in fact the
actual loss on that very bullion had been
many millions of dollars; an attempt to
inject vast amount of cheap dollars into
an already distressed financial system,
| while the certificates issued in payment of
this deprecated bullion Stood as 1 have
said. at the door of the treasury, sword in
hand. demanding gold. Fortunately for
US, that monstrosity lies buried in the
ashes of the hopes of its progenitors,
stabbed to the death by the stiletto of a
courageous veto. An attempt has been
made to rosurrect il, but | hope and be-
| lieve it is buried beyond the reach even
of the last trump.
Temporizing with silver has cost this
nation untold millions Of dollars. Every
compromise has brought new dangers,
every concession has been followed by
new demands, yet more eXtortionate. But
the battle now is fairly on. l hope this
question may now cease to be the shuttle
cock of politics and that from this time
forth the friends Of honest money will be
found standing shoulder to shoulder,
neither faltering nor swerving, neither
buying nor selling. DO quarter and no
compromise the wttchword, the only terms
of settlement unconditional surrender. "
And now gentlemen, l come to the
question Of bank notes; and if, by way
of depression / reply to some of the unfair
criticisms that have been made upon ma
tional banks, it will be because | believe
their claim upon your gratitude and your
friendship warrants it,
presume no class of corporations has
been assailed with more bitterness, more
intense malice, or more unexplainable and
inexcusable stupidity than the national
banks.
Now the essential cause of the attack
upon national banks is because of their
authority to issue circulating notes based
upon government bonds.
But, gentlemen, whence came this
power, and why?
Whose plan was it in the beginning
and what was the situation which made
necessary the scheme:
Why, gentlemen, it originated in the
brain of Secretary Chase, ana its chief
purpose was to induce banks to purchase
the bonds of the government, and so furn-
ish means for carrying on the war. 1t was
not a creature of the banks. The tax upon
State issues was not levied for the pur-
pose Of preventing such issues because of
the evils inherent therein although that
would have been sutficient.causc) but to
make almost compulsory the issuing of ma
tional bank bills, and, as a prerequisite
thereto, the purchase CT government bonds
True, it became, for time, profit
able measure for the banks as of right it
should, but Of far greater benefit was it to
the government in it's day of peril, Banks
are not animate things. They are simply
voluntary associations of the people.
The 1856 national banks in operation rep
resent PSI, Si2 shareholders. Have not these
people the same interest in our common
welfare as have all the others? DO you
object to their making reasonable profit
in their business transactions?
Mr.. Chairman, l pay grateful homage
to the gallant army of noble men who
threw their lives into the hell of battle
that this government might endure
Theirs was the supreme sacrifice; theirs
be always the browning glory. But 1 re-
member also, those Others, who, if not
where the fight was thickcst, yet honorably
ard well performed glorious part in
that great struggle The oil upon the
axle Is as necessary to the tide of travel
as the steam within the engine; the
agencies of peace are needful also in time
of war. The action of the banks in
purchasing the bonds as they did, when
they did, was as patriotic as it was
financially wise. It furnished the sineN
of war; it aided in establishing national
credit; it supplanted wild cat currency
it rooted out the evils of irresponsible
issues and gave to our people the best
currency any country ever had. Aye, the
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