The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1896-10-22
IN A CORNER.
How Senator John A. Logan Put Senator
Sherman in Corner and Gave Him
Some Good Advice.

oHeflhHn III OOfHeT anu uhf6 hin
Some Good Advice.
Mr.. Bogy-As have said already,
no law has ever passed demonetizing
silver, The revised statutes contain
law which, contend, is fraud, which
has no business there, because the act
authorizing the revision of our laws
provided that none should be revised |
but those in force on the 1st of Deem
Der, 1S13 yet here is law in the
revised statutes for which there is no
foundation whatever. There was no
law existing of that time saying that
silver should not be legal tender. There
was law saying that trade-dollars and
subsidiary coin of less value should be
legal tender not to exceed 50 but the
old coinage was not affected by the law
then existing. Yet the revised code
says, in section 1886:
The silver coins of the United States
shall be legal tender at their nominal
value for any amount not exceeding So
in any one payment.
This is fraud. There was no law of
that character existing at that day in
this country and to that extent there
vision is wrong. There was no right
to put it there. l think furthermore
that section 1925 is equally fraud,
wherein it is stated that no foreign
coin shall be q legal tender in payment
of debts. There may be such law ;
will not be positive so far as the
foreign coin question is concerned.
AS far as foreign coin is con-
cerned, I may be wrong, though L
think / am not but as to the silver
question, the provision in the revised
code is there without authority Of law,
and. in point of fact, congress has never
at any time passed any law demonetiz-
ing silver in this country.
Mr.. Logan-Except in the revised
| statutes.
Mr.. Bogy-Except this provision in
the revised code, which was passed un-
der peculiar circumstances.
Mr.. Sherman-The act of 1873 did
not affect it in the slightest degree, and
therefore the comments made by the
senator from Nevada rest on an error
in that particular The essential quail
ties of the act of 1878 are precisely like
the act of 1853. 1t provided for sub
sidiary coins. The substance of the
act of 1853 was to provide for a subsi
diary coinage of silver. But there il
another thing to be remembered. The
right to coin the silver dollar, which il
now proposed to be authorized again
has always existed in this country, has
, never been taken away.
The act of 1878 is before me. AS
said, it is one of the most carefully pre-
,, pared statutes that ever were passed IL
any country in the world. 1t under
! went the scrutiny of persons here anC
abroad and for four sessions of con
. gress it was here and discussed. Tha
act simply leaves the old dollar wher
the law of 1853 left it. It says nothing
about it.
! Mr.. Logan-The point was intend
ing to get at was this Inasmuch as til
country and the people have been de
prived of the right to pay in silver coli
by an act denying the right to coin tn
silver dollar, it being legal tender Q
> that time for all amounts, the countr
will expect that when you restore tina
), silver dollar you let it be legal tende
: for all amounts just as it was up to 1879
and it is just and proper that it should
When you restore the silver dollar il
this country and give it place and sa
its place shall only be for 800 or $40 o
So, you deprive the people of this coun
try of right which they enjoyed iron
1899 to 1878, and right of which the,
= have been deprived in q manner the.
know not how. If the silver dolla
was a good legal tender in 1873, it ough
to be good legal tender today for al
amounts in my Judgment. This bill a
reported limits the legal tender qualit,
), to $50. SO far as am concerned an
4 I speak for myself alone-I will vote t
q strike out the twenty-dollar limit an
a let the dollar stand as legal tender, a
it did up to 1878, for all amounts
. (See volume 1, part 8, Congressiona
Record, Forty-fourth congress, frs
session, page 2734, 2735 and S796, Apr
n l25, 1876.
The eagle the king of all birds Is noted II