The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-27

bushel.
Mr.. Horr-No, not per busheI, per
quarter, but it shows that wheat had
been steadily advancing instead of go
ing down as you claim. Now proceed
The next thing desire to call your at
tention to, is the matter we were talk
ing about when we closed last night
the question whether the trainers of
the bill of 1872 intended to establish
two measures of value.
Unit of Value
Now have before me a letter of Mr..
Leach, who was for many years the
director of the mint, a man whom
know well, and who is considered
authority on all the money matters in
the United States. He was one of the
commissioners, appointed, I think, by
PRESIDENT Cleveland, to go abroad upon
this subject. He takes precisely the
same view that Judge Vincent took.
He tells US. eff as Mr.. Turck says, the
silver dollar was the unit which meas
ured the value of the gold coins from
1892 to 1873, what becomes of the act of
January 10, 1887, supplementary to
the act OF 1884, which changed the
ratio in coinage to 1898 to u, in which
acts no reference whatever is made to
units, but in prescribing the silver coin
says: The dollar shall be the weight of
4l21s grains" Nothing about unit.
And the gold coin of the weight for
the eagle shall be 258 grains, and that
Tor all sums whatever the eagle shall
be legal tender of payment for SO.
The true reason that the gold dollar
was reduced in weight in 1884 to con-
form to the new ratio, rather than the
silver dollar, was that gold,
being under-valued by the ratio
of Is to 1, gold coins con-
stituted no material part of our cir
culation." Just as I stated last night
exactly. 1.-THE bulk of the circulation
in 1884 consisted of silver CONS and it
was easier, practically, to change the
gold dollar than the silver dollar.
Does not Mr.. Turck perceive that this
claim that the silver dollar was the
unit of value is inconsistent with the
bimetallic system? The timetable sys-
TEN presumes a unit of account, a unit
OF name or number to be represented in
| coinage by a given quantity of gold and
given quantity of silver If either is
the sole measure, the system is not
bimetallic. So, if the silver dollar was
the unit of value in this country from
1892 to 1873, we did not have a bimetal-
lie but silver metallic system This
is signed by E. o. Leach, ex-director of
the mint
1 submit that that decision was ex-
actly in accordance with the facts, but
find in the report of the mint for
! 1864, the document submitted by
Mr.. Knox, who was the deputy comp
| troller of the currency, a report in
which he stated: "By the act of April 2,
| 1892, BIN grains of pure silver and
| 2434 grains of pure gold were declared
to be equivalent one with the other and
| To the dollar of account
Harvey Charges Evasion.
Mr.. Harvey@Yesterd at the close
| after had quoted as authority for sill
| yer being the unit, the statute itself, the
! Utterances of Secretary Gallatin, a de-
! cision by Chief Justice Chase of the
| supreme court of the United States, and
| other numerous authorities, including
| Roswell G. Horr, of New York, Mr..
Horn then admitted that the silver dol
| lar was the unit of value and the record
| of yesterday shows that. Now in view
| Of his attempt to try to twist something
| back into the discussion by which we
are to believe him as saying one thing
| yesterday and something else to-day,
leave him to such fate as the readers of
this debate think is proper. (Appiause)
Mr.. HORT beg pardon, you misquote
me. I stated last night, that I had not
got through with the unit of value
~ 7 -, - !,
Ia so many words, and we did not agree
to take up any one subject at any par
t!cular session, only that we would take
them in a certain order and let them
run until we had finished them.
Mr.. Harvey-And the order was that
the crime of 1873, as we call it, came
next after the discussion of the unit.
Mr.. Horr-I am not through with that
ret.
Mr.. Harvey-Well, I am, and will go
on. Oaughter) Words are our am
munition in this debate, $4,000 words
| apiece being allowed to US, and if the
readers think that I have neglected
some side issues that Mr.. Horn has in
| troduced. 1 want to tell them now that
I do it in order to devote my part of the
| words in this debate to that which will
do them more good than following Mr..
Horr off on side tracks. (Applause.)
To understand how silver could be
| demonetized in this Republic, the
reader should understand that we then
| had paper money and no silver or gold
| was in circulation except in California.
The same situation existed in England
following the French wars in 1916, when
| silver was dropped from the minis
there. The conspiracy to demonetize
silver was regarded by those engaged in
it as business transaction, just as
those who visit Washington and other
capitals to accomplish by legislation a
sugar trust or a trust on school-books,