The Irish standard., 1896-02-01
The Indiana Senator Champions The
Free Coinage Clause.

Free Coinage llauSe.g
B Washington, Jan. 29.-In the senate
yesterday afternoon, Mr.. Voorhees, Dem,
Ind moved for short talk. He has sell
dom spoken Of late and was given close
attention. He said the country was in the
midst OF revolution brought on by those
who plotted against silver. It was this
class which brought on panics destroy
ing the+parity of the metals. The men
who demonetized silver in 1873 We're.
said he, "revolutionists.' They sought
to overcome the constitution, the laws
and the policy Of century. After
tracing. the constant use of silver since
the government began the senator de-
clared that the token of sound money
applied ito gold was fraud. Silver
was as much sound money as gold. It
would effectually stop the raids on the
gold reserve IT. the demands on the
treasury were met by silver payments
as well as gold. Mr.. voorhees, sarcasti-
calIy reviewed Mr.. Shernlan's financial
record. Under his leadership, the sena-
tor declared, the Republican party had
broken faith with the soldiers, paying
them with ia deprecated money The
Ohio senator believed in sound money
for Wall street, but not for the soldiers.
Mr.. Voorhees, declared that the gold
Withdrawals of the last twelve months
were part of the conspiracy to compel
the issue of interest bearing bonds. Since
the demonstration of silver, pan1cs had
been frequent Ruin followed in the
train Of demonetizatton. To enrich cred
itors at the cost or debtors was the in
variable purpose OF the contraction OF the
currency.
Mr. Voorhees, referred ,derisively to the
anglo-mania which made England fore
most in certain frivolous. social affairs
and matrimonial bargains, and then con-
demned the prevailing tendency to bow
to England in all financial legislation.
The senator recited the. terms of the
act of 1893, repeating the purchasing
clause ofsthe Sherman act, passed at a
time when he was chairman Of the COM
,mittee on finance. That act, while re-
pealing the purchasing clause, explicitly
recited that the policy of the United
States was for the coinage of both sill
yer and gold without discrimination.
Mr.. Voorhees, said that for nineteen
years he had consistently maintained his
attitude in defense OF silver. He had
first come to congress on the issue of the
restoration of silver. The senator closed
with vigorous assertion of the capabili-
ty of the Democratic party to deal not
only with this great question, but also
with the tariff, foreign affairs and all
the important issues Of the day. Mr..
Gray DEM, Del.) spoke OF the advan~
tages of gold standard. It was the nat
ural standard of the world and mere leg
islative whim Or fiat could not change
the natural law The senator contro-
verified the assertion that cheap prices
had followed the. demonstration OF sill
yer. He asserted that invention and
modern methods had brough about this
reduction of prices. He contended also
that low prices were for the benefit of the
masses of the people. Mr.. Call gave no
tice of a speech tomorrow on the bond
bill Mr.. Palmer presented resolutions
of respect to the memory of the late Rep
resentative Mann, of Illinois, and as a
mark of respect the senate adjourned at
5:45 until tomorrow.