The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-08-20

Ii is strange that the men who sup
ported and urged this coinage law OF
1873 and demanded the exclusive coinage
Of gold ara the heavy men who demand
the free coinage Of silver and denounce
the ".ollireS" a : robbers" and all those
who don't believe in the free coinage Of
gold and silver. II has been said that
the coinage ACT Of 1873 was surrepti-
tiouSly done. This has been shown 10 be
false by the congressional record and the
action Of the men who now denOunce it,
Six months after the passage Of the
act. Senator Jones Of Nevada, in debate
in the senate. June II. 1874. said: i am
opposed To any proposition. come IN
whatever form il may. that attempts 10
override what God Himself has made for
money. | believe the sooner We come
down 10 q purely gold standard the bet
ter ii will be for the country. On April
l. 1874. he said: Does congress mean
70 leave out OF view and discussion any
standard Of value when gold
can be that standard: What on
earth possesses the requisite qualities:
Gold i the most potent agent Of civiliza-
ton. II is gold that has lifted the ma
tions from barbarism. II is the COM
mon dOminat0r OF values. II makes pos
Sible the classification Of labor and the
interchange u tblAlAUA4l4t>' Nip4A A"o
interviewed in bargains between men
since the dawn Of civilization and II mas
never failed TO faithfully fulfill its part
as the universal agent and servant Of
mankind. The value OF gold IL not
affected by the statement Of the govern
ment."
Senator Stewart Of Nevada. in the
same debate, on June II. 1914. said:
Sir. the labOrinG man and the producer
IS entitled 10 have his product and his
labor measured by the same standard
of the world that measures Your ma
tional debt Give him such standard.
give him money a. you require from him.
you require from the producer. You re-
quire from the laboring man. gold with
which 10 pay the interest on your national
debt. which j. right. which can not b.
avoided if you mean u save national
honor. but then give him the same money
with which 10 pay that debt. The qusS
ton will never be settled until you de-
termine the important question whether
the laboring man j entitled to have a
are going TO cheat him with something
else. That i the up>hot OF the whole
thing. Everybody has To say that the
labOring man has 10 have the money
they have fought over. They will fight
over it again and the same party will
win. There have been a great many
battles fought against gold. but gold mas
won every time. Gold has never COM
promised. Gold has made the world
respect il at every time. The English
people thought they could get along
without gold for time but they had TO
come back 10 il.
On June /, 1874. Senators Jones and
Stewart and the other senators of the
silver states We're honest and urgent in
saying that gold was the best as 4 stan
dard of value. but they changed their
mind with the ever-increaSing and over
production of silver in Nevada ana other
states reducing the market value Of Sil-
Yer below that of gold AT the established
ratio Of 16 10 !. Then they wanted Il
market for their silver. They wanted
10 pay existing debts and obligations
contracted upon the gold basis in silver.
late for the payment of gold in them.
and this has been the general practice
in the silver states. When the coinage
laws We're enacted in 1873 all the states.
except those on the Pacific coast. con-
tracted all their business in greenbacks
and United States notes. then AT a dis
count Of IS per cent. Neither gold nor
silver were used IN commercial tranSaC-
tons. but We collected our customs in
l.
that the first step was taken To resume
specie payments. and we dill not resume
until January /, 1878. During this
period the price Of silver fell below the
market value Of gold Al IL 10 /. Prior
and subsequent 10 1878 changes We're
made in the ratio in the leading coun-
tries of the world. Germany. in 1879.
changed its standard from silver to gold:
France. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium
had. in 1870, entered into a treaty called
the Latin union. to which other nations
tracts Of each of these countries
were received and paid out by
all Of them. This arrangement was
first modified and then abrogated and
gold became the standard of value in all
these countries. but silver was coined
and circulated as subsidiary coin pre-
cisely the same as in the United States
In reSuming specie payments the re-
sumption act provided silver coins of
dimes. quarters and half dollars for re-
demption of the fractional currency then
in circulation. These coins gave gen
eral satisfaction. They We're limited in
legal tender quantities TO SO. At this
time Mr.. Bland of Missouri introduced
a bill for the free coinage # silver ut
16 TO l on the demand of holders of sill
yer bullion. Silver had then declined
below that ratio. One ounce of gold
was worth more than sixteen ounces of
silver. The Bland bill. had it become a
law. had it passed the house. would have
demOnetiZed gold. Such Vas not the
purpose of congress. When the bill
came TO the senate an amendment was
adopted on the motion of Senator ALI
son. which changed the bill and directed
the secretary of the treasury TO purchase
from time TO time silver at the market
value of not less than 100000 and
not more than 81, 900 600 per month and
cause the same 10 be coined into silver
dollars. 1t also provided that any
holder of silver coin, authorized by that
act. might deposit with the secretary of
the treasury i'll sums of not less than
SO. and receive in payment thereof sill
yer certificates of not less than so. and
coin so paid in should be retained in the
treasury for the redemption of such
notes on demand. This bill so amended
passed both houses 1t was known as
he Bland-Allison act. 1t greatly him
Tered the process of redemption and was
'etoed by President Hayes. 1t was.
however, passed over his veto. Under
Is provisions the United States pur-
'hased over POI 100000 ounces of silver
It cost of S30S.219.2G0. 1t was hoped
hat this enormous purchase would ar
est the decline in the price If silver but
he price of silver constantly declined.
nd the loss to the government on silver
purchased under this act amounts to
Yer S1O0.UOOOO0. When congress met
Il