Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1896-03-19
CoCkrell on Free Silver.
MISSOURI'S SENATOR ATTACKS
THE FINANCIAL POLICY OF
THE CLEVELAND AD-
MINISTRATION.
He Assails Carlisle's Record and Makes
Comparisons OF the Treasury Sec
retary's Past and Pres
ent Conduct.

WASHINGTON, March Ex-senator
Cockrell, of Missouri, spoke to-day in
the Senate in favor of the free coin
age substitute of the tariff bill.
The Senator had the proceedings of
the Senate practically to himself. He
spoke for four hours and fifteen min
utes. The speech had been expected
for some days, but scarcely anybody
believed that it would occupy so much
time in delivery.
He made an elaborate argument in
favor of the free coinage of silver at
the ratio OF 16 to /. He had the speech
written out and read it with great care
and force. His desk was covered with
books and pamphlets and reports and
newspaper extracts, all of which he
read or referred to from time to time.
The Senator had a splendid audience
in the galleries, the crowd having ex-
pected a continuation of the Cuban
debate. The Senator's speech was to
great extent history of financial
legislation in the United States. He
began at the beginning and devoted
good deal of time to the "crime of
49,
He criticised in unmeasured terms
the policy of the administration and
raked Secretary Carlisle fore and aft.
| AS historical review of the coinage
question from the standpoint of the
extreme silver men, the speech will
be useful and it is understood that no
time will be lost in sending it to Mis-
souri, in time to educate the masses
before the convening of the Sedalia
Convention.
Senator Cockrell devoted a great
deal of attention to a review of the
legislative career of Carlisle, Herbert
and Wilson of Mr.. Cleveland's Cabi-
net, and brought out into bold relief
the frequent votes of these gentlemen
as members of the House or Senate in
favor of the free coinage of silver.
Secretary of Agriculture Morton was
an interested listener during the last
hour of the speech.
Mr.. Cockrell called attention to the
balance in the Treasury, including
over s123, 900 gold coin and bullion,
over S24,0O0,O00 standard silver dol
lars, SLIT 100000 of silver bullion
Coinage value), on which the profit
or seigniorage had been 5000, 600;
S14, 600, 900 subsidiary silver coin, ,S106,
600, 900 of greenbacks and $4,000, 900
of Treasury notes of 1890.
Our bonds, the Senator maintained,
can be paid as we'll in silver as in gold,
and he called attention to the fact that
Secretary Carlisle and Secretary Her
bert had voted while in the House OF
Representatives for the Stanley Mat
thews resolution declaring bonds
payable in either coin.
The Senator referred also to Sena-
tor Sherman as "that distinguished
gold monometallist bimetallist," and
read from Mr. Sherman's utterances
!, in 1878, when he was Secretary of the
Treasury, that the Government re-
/ served the legal right to redeem Gov
ernment obligations in silver. If this
policy had been carried out there
would have been no raids on the
, Treasury. Exclusive gold payments
was as voluntary assumption Oh
the part of the Secretary Of
the Treasury. There had been Nc
gold raids prior to 1891, because the
silver dollar, up to that time, was the
watchdog of the Treasury"
, "And it was a more potent watct
dog than any of the Rothschilds Of
the Belmonts," added Mr.. Cockrell.
: The proposition of the President te
issue 5O-year bonds to retire notes
he said, was undemocratic. 1t wa
: the worst financial proposition tha
had ever emanated from an executive
. officer, and if adopted it would cos
the people s2,631,O 900. Secretary Car
isle had recently in speech pro
claimed himself for gold. There wa
no further effort to disguise the is
sue behind "sound money!" whicl
2. meant absolute gold monometallism
y At O'Clock the regular order wa
y laid aside in order to permit MI
Il Cockrell to proceed. The gallerie
g had wearied waiting for the Cubal
= debate and the crowd gradual
thinned out.
Mr.. Cockrell spoke of the timidit
of gold as money, and referred t
= . the agitation caused by Presiden
Cleveland's Venezuelan message wit
string tied to it. That messag
!. made the whole country tremble lik
- Jelly and the press of New York de
clared tnat $1oO, ,0OO, 900 had been los
in consequence.
Ia The Senator declared that tn
Democratic party could not be divid
ed by the silver question. 1t was tn
pillar of cloud by day and the pilla
: of fire by night, the great constitu
= tionaI beacon of the Democrat
y party, the one on which all its vic
?, tories had been won, and those VIII
'r oppose it would slough off from th
20 party, but would not divide it.
Igt Mr.. Cockrell was particularly ST
N we're on what he termed the "fiims
ii pretexts" and s'stuff" which Secre