The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-09-30
The GREAT CRIME OF 1873.


1t was evident from THESE declarations
that the house was led bfndfolded into the
passage of the bill, not 1Uhiy by the adroit
manner in which all mention of its main
purpose was avoided bot Wy Mr. Hooper's
misleading assurance tfiatnlt had been so
changed as to meet all objections that had
been made. .'f-iooai
In the senate the bill was taken up for
consideration on the 17th 81 January, 1875
and debated and passed on that day. All
the debate that was eVer had upon it in
that body took place on that date.
The bill. as it passed the senate, CONTRA
diets in plain terms some positive assertions
made by Mr.. Sherman during the debate
upon it as to the provisions it contained
concerning the standard silver dollar. 1t
demonetized silver. which he declared to
the senate it did not Mr.. Hooper had
misled the house by emissions. evasions.
and indirections; Mr.. Sherman deceived
the senate by direct Misrepresentation.
This was the "crime of 1873
The ineffaceable proof of this serious ac-
cusation is contained in the report of the
senate proceedings Of Jan. II, 1873, in the
Congressional Globe, from which 1 will
quote some passages. Congressional
Globe. parts l and 2. third session, Forty
second congress, pages 66S-64.),
There was no reference in lne debate to
the fact that the bill changed the weight
of the silver dollar. 4121a grains to Ss4
grains, and made it, like the small coins,
a legal tender for s. only. Mr.. Sherman
had reported an amendment to strike
this out, and insert instead trade dol
lar. to weigh APO grains. with the same linn
itation as to the legal tender quality. The
bill prohibited the issuance from the minis
Of any coins not named therein. This
was to make sure that the 41212-grain dol
lar would not survive by any implication.
The debate on the subject of the silver
dollar came up incidentally only on the I'M
important question of the provision to omit
the figure of the eagle from the silver
coins. Mr.. Casserly of California, object
ing to it.
Mr.. Sherman stated that the reason for
leaving off the eagle was to make room for
the words describing the weight and fine
ness of the coin. When pressed for a rea-
son for doing this he stated that it was
recommended by the officers of the mint.
He said: THE reason given to us is be-
terna tional coinage
Mr. Sherman went into the subject more
explicitly. He declared that the bill pro-
vided for an International silver dollar.
He referred Mr.. Casserly to the preceding
section 90, which, in the form in which
it passed the house provided for 3S4-Srain
dollar. which, as he explained was the
exact weight of the franc piece of GRANGE.
Here are Mr. Sherman words: If the
tNA .vrll ho
preceding section providesfOr coin which
is exactly interchangeable with the Eng
fish shilling and the fsve-franc piece of
France; that is. a 5-frane piece Of France
will be the exact equivalent of a dollar
Of the United States int our silver coinage,
and In order to show this wherever our
coin shall fioat-and weaIe providing that
it shall float all over she ewor1d-we pro-
pose to stamp upon it, instead OF lie eagle,
which foreigners may 'sanot understand,
and which they may not distinguish from
a buzzard or some other bird, the intrinsic
fineness and weight of the ooin.' =
The section to which Mr. Sherman refer
red Mr. Casserly to wa8 sention 10. which.
as it came from the house, did in truth
provide for silver dollar of the exact
weight of a French 5-franc piece, namely,
3S4 grains. But the record shows that
when Mr. Sherman uttered the above quot
ed words, section Is had just been amend
ed on his own motion by striking out the
sS4-grain dollar ard substituting the 400
grain trade dollar. And yet he told the
senate that the bill still provided for
silver dollar of the weight of the French
5-franc piece. This was palpable misrep-
resentatiOn.
HURRIED THE MEASURE THROUGH.
The question may now be asked. could
Mr. Sherman thus deceive the senate as to
it's own action Of few moments before?
The reply is that the bill was being hurried
through by him on his statement at the
outset that it's consideration would not
probably consume any more time than
the time consumed in reading 1T. That
meant that it's Il sections contained moth
ing of sufficient Importance to even require
explanation by him. much less to call for
debate 1t was represented by him to be
merely a bill to enact into law some
changes in the mintage laws, which the
mint officers deemed necessary. He evil
IDENTIFY satisfied senators that it was not
worth their serious consideration. Those
who have any acquaintance with the SEN
/ ate proceedings understand very we'll that
such mere routine legislation as this was
.eprescnted to be attracts no attention in
the senate chamber. The senator In
charge is trusted to truthfully state it's
objects, and no one thinks of doubling his
word. He goes through the form of MAX
ing the motions. which are often heard on
IL by t.. siding officer, who declares
them carried unless they are opposed.
Such was the case on this occasion.
Another misrepresentation of equal i'm
nortance was contained in the language in
which Mr. Sherman explained to the SEN
ate what kind of a dollar was being placed
in the law. He had assured the senate
that the bill provided for dollar which
would be good everywhere in the world.
It was to be a realization of the dream of
international money. And yet on this
vital point-that it was to be berett OF IT'S
legal tender quality-he was as silent as
a grave Our silver certainly could not
float all over the world if we deprived
it of the great money function of being
a legal tender in the payment Of debts.
Mr.. Casserly again pfesaed him as fol-
lows: eve cannot have ah international
coinage on the basis Of dur silver. coins
unless orr silver coin isctoF be the standard
of all nations with which we expect to have
relations. Now I ask the senator whether
this bill provides for silver coinage Of
that character
CALLED 1T INTERNATIONAL MONEY.
To this Mr.. Sherman replied: This bill
proposes a silver coinage exactly the same
as the French and what are called the as
sociated nations of Europe, who have
,ao,,+aa or, tn+erna IA Y let nfard of sill