The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-17

/ We shall maintain the credit and honor
OF this country and pay our debts in the
I oest money in use2 1t does not involve
I the question whether the bonds are pay
able in gold or silver. 1t does not involve
! the question Of the opening of our mints
| TO the unlimited coinage of silver. 1t
avoids those questions. Ny resolution
Is safe prudent and proper at this
| time, when we are drifting apart.
| We are further apart than we were six
weeks or two months ago. The sugges-
! ton Of gold bond on one side is an
/ swered by the suggestion of the free
{ coinage of silver on the other. The prop
I osltion for the retirement of the green
/ backs is lost sight Of. The duty which
| confronts US, I think would be the retire
ment OF the greenbacks. There is the
danger There is the drain on the gold
of the country. But that, It seems, is
/ impossible. We can, however, at least,
/ take this step. We can, at least, assure
the people of this country, we can assure
those from whom we have borrowed
money in other countries that. although
we are so tied by disagreements that we
cannot pass the bills which are suggested,
| We can at least say to them: Take
| our coin bonds. We will pay them in the
best currency in the world.
! This resolution of mine viii do that. We
/ gain nothing by trying to wreck the gov
| ernment. Neither political party can gain
anything by bringing on a financial panic
and compelling US again in the summer
I months to come back here to resume
consideration of this question.
Il repeat that 1 believe it is the i'm
perative duty of congress to proceed to
take steps to retire the greenback cur
rency. Need 1 argue before this Senate
that that is one Of the principal difficult
| ties that now confronts us?
Need I remind you that it is because
OF the existence of this greenback cur
-ency that the gold is taken out of our
| treasury? The retirement of the green
backs is the step that we ought to take
but II is the step which, regret to say
II seems impossible to take, by reason of
differences here, difficulties in the other
house, and, possibly difficulties of both
| houses at the present moment But if
| that cannot be done we can at least do
these two things: We can declare that
congress is not committed to gold alone;
not committed to silver alone but that
| we stand where we stood when we re-
| pealed the purchasing clause of the Sher-
| man act; that we stand by bimetallism
and that we will take steady steps toward
the maintenance of that principle. Fur
I ther than that, we declare that IL our
efforts shall fail; if. by reason of any Of
these differences between the value Of
! gold and silver coins, we will pay the
debts of the government in the best money
we use"
Mr.. Wolcott, rep, of Colorado, replied
to the speech of Mr.. Hill, which he char
acterizes as "threshing old straw" The
/ House, he said, had on Thursday disposed
so far as this session was concernod-of
/ the subject of the issue or the indorse-
ment Of gold bonds. Notwithstanding the
frantic efforts Of an administration with
1 all its power and all its patronage; not
/ withstanding the efforts of the leaders of
both parties, the House of Representa-
/ tives had by a decisive vote refused TO
! sanction the policy outlined and approved
by the resolution offered by the senator
| from New York, so that the senator was
| quite out of date.
Mr.. Wolcott asserted that no genuine
| bimetallist had voted for the repeal of the
| purchasing clause of the Sherman act ex-
| cept, perhaps, two or three who had voted
| in the belief and in the shadow of the
hope that the promise given by the ad-
ministration would be carried out, that
/ the repeal would be followed by some
! fair measure for the recognition of silver
/ He felt no hesitation in stating that now
| not one of those senators, in view of the
| disasters of the last year and half
| would, if it were to be done again. vote
1 for the repeal of the Sherman act-bad as
| that act was, in principle and in practice
THE class of bimetallists," Mr.. Wolcott
added, in d sneering tone, ito which the
! senator from New York belongs, is bimet-
Z alAASAA OAA a SOlu bolrlS. ne WdulS 10 Use
| the two metals, but he wants them meas
ured by the value of gold. He is BIZ
metallist because he is a gold monometaI-
list Measured by gold, he Is willing that
silver shall be used to a limited extent in
place of paper
"The Presidents wanton attack upon
| the credit of the United States has been
the most disastrous occurrence of this
| generation. 1t has been the most wanton
and criminal and deliberate attack upon
! the credit of our country that could be
| INDUCED in. Our nest was befouled by
the man who should have stood for our
| credit. The President entered into a se-
cret negotiation with the Rothschilds Of
Europe whereby he shall give them long
! bonds at an excessive rate of interest
/ so that he can make an apparent show
/ ing, to the discredit of our country and
| its finances. But even before the bonds
/ are issued, the reaction has come The
| subscribers of this syndicate are called
| upon for only 10 per cent. of their sub
scriptions. The balance of it they win
never be called upon TO pay The syndi-
! cate has already offered 112Ib for these
! bonds, and the president of one of the lead
/ ing banks of New York says that within
ninety days they will rise to 120. If there
| ever was bond which ought to be paid
in silver or deprecated money-if IL can be
found-it is this issue of bonds which
! this syndicate has purchased at less than
| it's worth"
Mr.. Lodge held that the point of the
/ question is not bimetallism or parity
"The point is that every obligation of
/ the United States, where coin is nomi-
mated in the bond, is payable in the best
money, yes. in gold, if the holder so de-
mands That is the position which has
always been held by the party to which
| I belong. We have always held that
! coin meant gold, and declined to recog-
nize any distinction. 1t has been the ex-
press declaration of the congress Of the
United States.
know that the contract to which
the senator from Colorado refers has done
more injury than can be estimated to
what 1 believe to be the cause of sound
/ finance, It is on its face the blackest
public contract ever made by the govern
ment of the United States. But those
very facts, that our credit has been as
sailed by the President, that such a con-
Ia rrrffh z Z. "a.