The Portland daily press., 1896-09-07


howcvep-the fates SO deoreed. Was
a far off land whsn he was summenea
hence, but am sure my sorrow, from
across the seas, minglsd with you1s as
they laid TO rest one Of the greatest states-
men the. republic ever produced, and sne
kindest most generous and lovabie inen
1t has ever been my privilege to know.
Mr. Snowdsn thea took up the quesulon
of currency, one on which. as ioFnios
director of the mint, he is 80 well quar-
fled to speak. He scathingly reviewed
the financial fallaciss OF Mr.. Bryan.
pointing out that while now he 10 az
tributing all the evils of the country 10
the gold standard, four years ago, no
WAS laying all the ills OF the people, real
and fancied. t" the protective tariu.
Said Mr.. Snowden:
by reading his speeches made some
years since, when there was general
prosperity throughout the land. you Will
find he drew the same picture of poverty
and distress that he now does, with this
l QIAGIGuCo 6s W CduScs ! uSu u0 6VUAAO~A'
it to our protective tariff, now to the de-
monetization Of silver. There is about
| a much truth In one position as in the
other"
In the course Of his clear and convinc-
ingl arguments, Mr.. Snowden said furth-
err:
II tell you, my oountrymen. the man
who offers to the unemployed-to those
needing broad
| A DECEASED CURRENCY
as remedy for the evils from which
they are suffering, gives stone where
bread is needed, and a serpent to In
fict deadly wound. We are advised
through the literary bureau of the mine
owners, whose selfishness would destroy
our monetary system or their profit, and
by their candidate. as well as by that
great apostle of silver-6enator Stewart,
recently converted from the gold stand
ard, that all our present ills come from
the demonstration of silver in 1878, and
farther that che act was 'surreptitiously
and secretly passed and that 1t was a
crime. Senator Stewart speaks OF 1t
with tears In his voioe-if not in his
eyes. My sympathies are with him
for having examined the bill for three
years-having spoken in its favor and
voted for it on every possible OCCASION
having seen 1T reported without dol
lar of our fathers and. reported with
q subsidiary dollar of 1884 grains, and
theu with it omitted, and trade dollar
inserted, with 400 grains 1t is difficult
to comprehend how this friend lof the
ancient dollar could have voted for it,
demonetiz ation without at any time ap
preoiating or being conscious of thu
crime he WAS committing.
The attempt of Senator Stewart tx
evade responsibility in the passage O
this act is simply puerile. The public
records abundantly prove that he wa
familiar with every provision Of the bill
as personally know he was, through DR.
Lindeman, before and after that time di
rector of the United States mint, and VIII
was largely instrumental IN having
the bill passed aud who had frequent con
ldGoACCb Will 0101 VA Vic OAAAs 1u6V IL
was heartily in favor of emitting from
ths bill the dollar of Az 10 grains /
abundantlY evidenced from his votes an,
speeches. The truth Of the matter is b
, was then for gold standard, as was als
i his distinguished colleague, Senate
Jones, who made one of the most DON
vinoing speeches ever delivered in tn
Senate or elsewhere in favor of the Rol
, standard. Against this superb argumen
q which stands like column of polishe
STEEL he has since hurled many sllve
7 shaft, only to see them glance of or fal
l broken at the base.
~ vas officially connected with tn
mint service at the time that act wa
r being prepared and assisted in it's prepa
r ration, / watched iss pendancy In an
: passage by Congress. and here declaE
9 that no bill ever presented to the Amer
d can Congress received as much oarefr
consideration in its preparation, who
K extended over year, and NO bill eve
Il received more thoughtful oonsidsratio
/; in Congress rs tue
. OFFICIAL RECORDS ATT EST.
"The purpose of the act was to oodif
i and simplify all the acts of Congress o
: coins and coinage, from 1902 to thu
:. period, and to omit such coins as wei
useless or did not form any part Of th
;, metallic circulation of the country.
= was much interested IN the substitutin
l. a uniform minor coinage Of nickel COZ
per, with uniform alloy and deyice
with proportionate weights andsdiam
ters to take the place Of the mixed alloy
- of bronze and nickel then oonstitutin
= our base coin. This provision W as stricl
: en- out by the House on the groun
: that it would confer some benefit on a
American producer Of nickel
"The silver dollar of 412 10 grair
and the two-oent bronze piece wei
omitted. The two-ccnt piece served Z
I f,&-~ be- 81