The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-02-13

I s''sps1''-t tAAs Laotrc.ats Sofo aSfxs.s
The o"aaisr snd taken the sane gold
back again, and th~r~fcr~ ha. no, \
sinxie dollar sDor>- of guild than IL had
b.for-. But IL la. .asn-thipx .I.- m
has : debt Of .orssa 0s and th- inter.
est commences from iha, hour sas
grows dayAnd might, Y~.. s;.aasn-
90 deb; and no, . single thing under
heaven To show for il That ;. auan-
ei~rinx. IL that - not incomp~,-noy
then. IN 'h- languag. oi The Tistin-
gnished Senator from colorado. tMr.
| Teller, IL must b- .atE~thIng wor.-
which he called 'di.hone,ty.-
| this - the endless chain, thi. l. the
iuiiy. ~ not the crime. that our govern
m-nt Is guilty OF: this !. the WAY y,hai
our debt Is piled up without receiving
| anS thing in return therefor. This /.
the way that the people arc robbed b,
| their own officers for the benefit of tn,
sP-cuiators and gold gamblers, In
| short, this Whole trouble, this whole
| cry abou, gold going ont of th. couu-
| try, this whole ciamor about bonds. !.
due almost entirely Ia the " ilful and
persistent violation Of Law 10y the OIL
GERS of thfs government. They act as
II they We're agents Tor the gold COM
bine :nstead of the trusted agents and
servants OF the people. Let the S-cre-
tary OF the Treasury commence to-day
and redeem the greenbacks and L niied
states notes And pay the principal and
interest on the coin obligations OF this
government according TO the letter
and spirit OF the law and all ~! these
dark troubles that are now lowering
over our government " III vanish as fog
before 4 rising sun.
|. fnasmuch A. the secretary Of the
Treasury has not obey ell the law ana
used the legal option of the govern
ment in the interests OF the people, I
have offered the amendment To the bill
which was read at tn. beginning OF
my remarks.
ask that the amendment be- read
again. and | call special attention To
the last division of il
The amendment was read, as fol-
lows:
SIC. 1. That the issuance of interest hearing
| bonds of the tnited States for any purpose
| whatever. without further authority o!
Congress, is hereby prohibited and that the
| Secretary of the Treasury when re,leeming
nifed States notes, commonly called green
| backs, and Treasury notes issued under the
provisions of the act of July Ia. lSo, and
when hquidating either the interest or prin-
ciPal OF any OF the government coin obi
cations is hereby directed to make such pay
ment in gold coin whenever the market
j value Of - grains of standard gold is less
/ than the market value at 4lol-2 grains of
standard silver, and to continue 10 pay in
such gold coin until the market value OF
25.S grains of standard gold shall be equal to
the market value of il2l-2 grains of stand
| ard silver; but when the market value OF
of 25.s grains of standard gold shall he
greater than the market value of il2l-2
| af esa larl oil, u. 4
interest and the principal of said coin obli-
cations as they become due in silver coin,
and continue to pay the same in silver coin
until the market value of il2l grains of
standard silver; shall he equal to the market
value of 25S grams of standard gold, and
said notes, commonly called greenbacks,
when so redeemed, shall he reissued as pro.
vided by the act of May 81, ISIS.
Mr.. BUTLER. The provisions of this
section are perfectly simply and plain
1t simply directs the Secretary Of the
Treasury, in express terms, with n.
option, to do what every body thought
he or any patriot would do in exercis.
ing the option OF the government in
paying our coin obligations. The Law
-. expressly declares that he shall use fhi.
option to keep gold and silver at a pa.
rity. If that law means anything il
means that whenever, for any cause
there is greater strain on gold-tha,
is, a greater demand for gold than fOl
silver-that then he shall use the gov
ernment's option to pay our coin obli-
cations in silver, and on the other hand
whenever silver is scarce, whenever
there is a greater demand for silver
and the price goes up, that then he
shall equaliZe the demand for the two
fol hv,yN obi
in gold and continue the strain on gold
until the two metals come back to q
parity.
i will answer here question asked
ME by a distinguished citizen a few
days ago. He asked why insisted or
putting this provision on the bond bill
along with provision reported by the
committee providing for the free ant
unlimited coinage of silver. That gen
tleman, whose name / shall not call
rather chided me, and said, "IOu anC
tevery other advocate of free silver al
over the world have been claiming tha
, the free and unlimited coinage of sill
yer on equal terms with gold woult
!. bring silver to parity with gold tina
is, have claimed that 4l2l-2 grains o
silver would always practically b,
g.. worth as much as 25.S grains of gold.
That is true provided that there are NJ
other laws, or conditions created b.
law, to artiiicially disturb this parity
| will illustrate. We can coin gOl'
and silver on equal terms, but the Sec
, retary of the Treasury can send silve
5 to premium or gold to premium
, just as he chooses, by an improper us
! of the option which is vested in him b.
Y law of paying out gold or silver on on
! coin obligations. This option wa
0 vested in him so that he could keep tn
' two metals to parity, but if he care
i nothing for his oath of office, or fO
0 the interests of the people, or the credi
: of this government, he can use this or
e tion to cause a disparity between th
Y two metals. SO far he has used his or
= tion for the profits of the gold trus
Y against the interests of the America
J. people, and to the detriment Of th
T. credit of our government.
Ol There is another reason, and | wis
# to call particular attention to it. I
e the Bland-AlllsOn Act of 1873 ther
It was inserted clause, known as the el
lceptiOn clause, making it lawful for
= private individual, corporation, {
n Company to take notes or mortgage
+ stipnlating payment in gold only. Th
It was a very unwise and unjutt prOvii
# ION. 1t was slipped into that act ]
e the interest of the mOnOpOlists, tt
n gold combine, and the creditor clas
% and was done to depreciate silver an
% to appreciate gold. Under this law
l. which, by the way, was inserted into
y bill which claimed to restore silver ,
le money-there have been thousand
, and millions Of dollars OF mortgage
Is and notes taken in this country requi
II ing paymentin gold. There is, pra
> ticaily, not town or hamlet in Il
/ whole United States to which Il
j. banks have not sent orders to the bl
,e siness men calling upon them to tai
D. gold mortgages and gold notes only.
,e That is the case in the State of Il
d, Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Walt
j. ally; 1T is SO in my State; it is SO a
oftoyer the country. There are probab
c. a thousand million dollars to-day d.
,e under mortgages containing this 60