Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-12-27

assistant. and when one considers the
great reputation of the senator from
Ohio, for the laying of plots aud in
ductiOns dangerous, it becomes an open
question whether the appointment of
Gov. Boutwell, as secretary of the treas
ury wasn't secured through his means ,
to assist In the matter. One thing is GER
tain; he was AN assistant of the best sort.
especially careful not to kick the dish
over by exposing its character.
But let us examine these different re-
ports little more specifically and study
4 the righteousness of them. The first
report reads:
81 respectfully ask the attention of
congress to the bill, prepared in his de-
P0rtment, and submitted at the last ses-
sion and to the accompanying report
relative to the minis and the coinage
system of the country. The bill was
prepared with care and it has since been
submitted, etc.
Now MIR. Boutwell, claims to me. and
the records of congress sustain that
fact, that the bill as originally drawn
dropped the silver dollar from the coin.
age and thus demonetized silver, and
that he knew it and everybody else con-
cerned ought to. but in the report of
1872 he says. after giving his opinion
about the use of silver: Wherefore. in
renewing the recommendations hereto
fore made for the passage of the mint
bill, suggest such alterations as will
prohibit the coinage of silver for crcu-
ation il this country. etc"
Why suggest alteration to do thing
already done? Certainly the governors
vision seemed to be little mixed as to
the nature of the bill that he had re.
peatedy so earnestly recommended, and
that was prepared with so much care in
his department.
1t is true that the bill was several
years in getting through congress and
that In that time it underwent consider.
able discussion, and was printed num-
Der of times. But in the discussions the
fact of its changing the standard was
not mentioned at all in the senate, and
only casually once in the house, as fol-
lows, by Mr.. Potter, of New York.
"rhen, in the next place. this hill pro.
Vldes for the making of changes in the
legal tender coin of the country and for
substituting for legal tender coin of
only one metal instead as heretofore of
two. think myself this would be a
wise provision, and that legal tender
coins. except subsidiary coin. should be
of gold alone. But why should we leo.
iSlate on this now when we are NOT using
either OF these metals as Il circulating
medium
Unfortunately Mr.. Potter had been
persuaded that this change was desirable
But suppose that he had opened the ar
gumsnt. Suppose that he had produced,
or the committee had produced, the let
ter of Ernest Seyd, written TO them and
that appears on pages l0-l2 of this
pamphlet. The bill would have been
doomed from that moment
1t is true. too, that the committee had
information in reports from several
sources, notably Comptroller Knox, of
the treasury, of the dropping of one met
al, and these reports were published
with their proceedings, but nobodv's
attention, so far as it appears, was called
to them. Then as the title Of the bill
did not suggest its purpose, as it Ger.
tainly should. as the secretary of the
treasury did not call the attention of
congress to its scope, as the committee
did not. and both congress and Presi-
dent Grant, who signed it, failed to
it, we will let the state
ment stand that 1t passed through CON
gress t,ficcly. And as not "A single cti-
zen of the United States publicly asked
for such law. or suggested its desra-
blity, and not single paper in the
United States proclaimed its nature, or
single individual, in any public man
ner. we believe the statement to be sub
stantially true that those who introduced
it did not take into their confidence a
single one of the honest ycomaCry of .
America.