Rocky Ford enterprise., 1896-09-24
GRANT AND SILVER.
Hss SPECIAL MES SAGE FAVOR
mo FREE COINAGE.
We Want All the silver In Circulation
That Can He Coined = Ordered Adj
ditionai Facilities for Mintags-Was
lKnorant Of Demonetization.

that the act demonetizing silver was
not sneaked through Congress In 1873.
Time and again the silver advocates
have given substantial evidence to the
contrary. The late James G. Blaine,
who was speaker of the house Of rep
resentatives in 1873, has been quoted
times without number. Other illustri-
ous statesmen of all parties have testi-
fed to the truth of Blaine's statement
that mot member of congress knew
at the time that the act Of '73 demone-
tized silver" Neither did President
Grant, who signed the bill. Here is his
special message to the senate on the
day he signed the resumption bill. No
sane man, after reading 1t, will dare to
say that President Grant knew that the
act OF 1873 debarred silver from the
mints. The message:
To the Senate of the United States:
Senate bill No. 1O44, ito provide for
the resumption of specie payments"
is before me. and this day receives
my signature of approval. I venture
upon this unusual method Of conveying
the notice OF approval to the house on
which the measure originated because
OF its great importance to the country
at large and in order to suggest further
Legislation. which seems to me essen
tial to make the law effective.
]
The provisions of the third section Of
the act will prevent combinations be-
ing made to exhaust the treasury. Of
coin. With such law 1t is presumable
that no gold could be called for not
required for legitimate business pur-
poses. When large amounts Of coin
should be drawn from the treasury.
correspondingly large amounts OF cur
rency would be withdrawn from cir
culatiou, thus causing suhcient strin-
gency in currency to stop the outward
flow Of coin.
The advantages Of q currency Of q
hxed, known value would also be
reached. In my opinion. by the enact
ment Of such law. business and Indus
tries would revive. and the beginning
Of prosperity on firm basis would be
reached.
Other means Of increasing revenue
than those suggested should probably
be devised, and also other legislation.
In fact, to carry out the hrst section
Of the act, another mint becomes nee
essary. With the present facilities for
coinage, II would take a period prob
ably beyond that fixed by law for inal
specie resumption to coin the silver
necessary to transact the business Of
the country.
There are now some smelling fur
naces for extracting silver and gold
from the ores brought from the noun
tainous territories. In Chicago. st.
Louis and Omaha-three in the former
city-and as much OF the change re-
quired will be wanted in the Mississippi
valley states. and as the metal to be
coined comes from west Of these states.
and as I understand the charge Of
transportation OF bullion from either
Of the cities named to the mint In
Philadelphia or to New York city.
amounts to "a for each $1,000 worth,
with an equal expense for transporta-
ton back, 1t would seem fair argu-
ment in favor OF adopting one or more
Of those cities as the place or places
for the establishment Of new coining
facilities.
have venturcd upon this subject
with great diHidence. because 1t Is SC
unusual to approve a measure-as
most heartily do this. even II no fur
ther legislation is attainable at this
time-and to announce the fact by mes
sage. But I do SO because I feel that
II is a subject OF such vital Importance
to the whole country. that It should re-
ceive the attention Of and be discussed
by congress and the people, through
the press and in every way. to the
end that the best and most satisfac-
tory course may be reached of execut-
ing what deem most beneficial legis-
lation on a most vital question to the
interests and prosperity OF the nation.
U. 8. GRANT.
Executive Mansion. Jan. IA. 1875.
On motion OF Mr.. Sherman. the mes
sage was referred to the committee on
finance and ordered to be printed
(see Congressional Record. volume 3,
part 1, Forty-third congress. second
session, Dec. Z. 1875. page 459).
Tho above is not the only substantial
evidence that General Grant was ig-
norant Of the whole proceeding. Fol-
lowing is one he wrote two years pre-
vious to his Secretary Of the Interior.
Believing that silver might still be
taken to the mints and coined free of
charge. he wrote:
II wonder that silver is not already
coming into the market to supply the
deficiency in the circulating medium
10 Experience has proved that
It takes about s4O.OOO.Ooo OF fractional
currency to make the small change nee
essary for the transaction OF the busi-
ness Of the country. Silver will grad
ually take the place Of this currency
and, further, will become the standard
of values, which will be boarded in a
small way. I estimate that this will
consume from 5000, 900 to 0,O00.-
900 IN time OF this species Of our cir
cuIating medium. confess
to n desire to see limited boarding of
money. But I want to see a limited
boarding of something tina. is a stand
ard of value the world over. Silver is
this,
Our mines are now pre61c-
ing almost unlimited amount of silver
and It 10 becoming a question, "rhat