The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-15

JAMES l.. sPIERS
a railroad clerk. 6Ji7 Langley avenue.
Chicago. H.
The act of 1873 was a general coinage
law. II specified the list OF gold and
silver coins which would thereafter be
coined az the United States mints II
omitted from that list the standard"
dollar though Il included a trade"
dollar. which ontained more silver
than the standard dollar. and. by so
omittlng the standard dollar IL pre-
vented the coinage of any such coins at
our min,s 80 long as the act was In
force.
Il Ia alleged by the silver men
ul That this act was PASSED sur
rcpti,lously without proper discussion
or full UNDERSTANDING Of It's proyis-
ions. and
tst That by stopping colnage Of the
standard dollar deadly blow" was
s,ruIl. at the sacred rights Of silver as
a money metal
This IL the crime" of 1873.
And when any man calls ii crime
or makes either Qf the statements
quoted above he either Is deliberately
dishonest or does not know what he is
talking about
The facts are these:
~ Was the act of 1873 passed sur
rcptltiously and without full knowl-
edge and understanding OF It's provis-
ionse
The act of 1879 Was first drawn and
presented 80 congress In April. 1870.
II was pending In congress for nearly
three years and was under consider
alton during ave sessions OF that body;
IL was distinctly recommended In two
reports of the secretary OF the treas
ury and the director of the mint. and IL
was officially printed and laid on the
desks Of members Of the house and
of the senate thirteen different times I
before the final vote was taken on IT, |
II was read at length In the open SEN
ate several times, and In the house at I
least once, as shown by the record /
Il was reported from committees seven .
times. and the discussion upon II in .
the house hlls siNty-siX columns OF the .
Congressional Globe. and in the senate .
columns,
Mind. these are not merely our state !
ments They are matters OF official
record which anybody who chooses
may verify for himself and II he
wishes he can read all those la coll
umns Of discussion t66 and rs are l4D
In the senate and the house
Now, railway men. when anybody
tells you that that hill was passed
without proper discussion, laugh at
him II you think he is only ignorant,
but II he pretends to be informed and
to know what he is talking about, then
tell him frankly that-well, II he is a
big man, that he prevaricates.
When the above facts are quoted at
4 silver man, his usual way OF escap-
ing Is TO say;
Perhaps the bill as n whole was dis
,ussed. but the bill as discussed did
not omit the standard dollar The
name OF that coin was somehow drop
>ed after the discussion and before
he bill was signed That is where
he surreptitiousness and the crime
'ame in"
Now the answer to that assertion Is
he same as to the former statement,
rhe man who makes II is either igno-
ant or deliberately false,
The bill as first presented contained
10 provision for any silver dollar at
III, either In the senate or the house,
afterwards, in the senate the trade
lollar" was introduced into the bill
for trade purposes with China, Mex
co, etc) and remained there, But ev-
'rybody understood fully that no stand
Ird dollar was provided for, and no
proposition was ever made at any time
n any of the discussions, either in the
enate or the house, that such a dol
ar should be coined, and this was be-
ause everybody knew that the propo-
tion to continue to coin such a dollar
would be absurd.
Why?
70 answer this we win take up the
econd statement OF the silver men.
(9, Did the emitting OF the stand
Ird dollar strike deadly blow" at
he sacred right of silver as a money a
METAL?
Not precisely. The reason why 1t