The McCook tribune., 1896-08-21
THE Ohio SENATOR DEN0UNCES
THE FREE COINAGE OF SILVER.
OPENS OHIO.S CAMPAIGN.
The Financial History of the United
States Discussed at Length-Declares
That Workingmen and Pension
ers Would BE Ruined IL the
Gold Standard Is Not
Maintained.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 1.-THE Re-
publican State campaign opened here
at o'clock this afternoon in a great
tent In the presence, 1t is estimated,
of 10, 900 people. At l:30 o'clock, after
the usual music and cheering of some
we'll known men, Governor Bushnell,
as chairman, formally opened the ex-
ercises with Il short speech, after
which he introduced United States
Senator John Sherman, who was re-
ceived with great cheering. AS soon
as order was restored, the veteran
tinancier spoke, in part. as follows:
Both the silver and tari # are vital questions
of domestic policy of equal Importance, but L
propose on this occa ion to coatin my remarks
mainly to what is k nown 3 the FIRE, 'oinage Of
silver at the ratio of sixteen p rts of silver to
one of gold. This issue Is thrust upon us by
the Democratic party. or. rather, by the Popu-
list br anch of the Demo ratio party.
Gold and silver coins are recognized by all
comme rcial nations of the world as the best
standards of value. as th, measure of every ar
ticl, of dssire, of evarythil that is bought or
sold. These two metals not only measure
all other things, but they measure ch
other. Their relative value coas family changes
Twenty-thrce years ago sixteen ounces of sill
were worth more than one ounce of gold
Now thirty-one ounces of silver can be bought
by ono ounce of gold
I'm 1884, during the administr ition of Pre-
ident Jackson and undar the leadership of
Da liel Webster and Thomls H. Benton, Con-
grcss adopted the ratio of is of silver to 1 Of
gold, by reducing the number of grams in the
gold coin. AS silver was thus slig Itly under
valued it was not largely coined Silver could
be coined in France at the ratio of 1, to l, and
the owner of silver bullion could send it to
France and have it conver ed into coin at that
ratio, thus receiving about per cant more for
his bullion than if coined at the American
ratio of 16 to :. Gold became the only Amer
ican coin in circulation, and the avowed pur-
pose of the pas sage of the law of 1884 was to
make gold the standard. This law. heartily
approved by Andrew JACKSON, would now be
called The Crime of 1881
THE ACTION TAKEN IN 1853.
In 1883. upon the re2ort of Sena tor Hunter.
when Pierce president and when all
branches of the COVER ment were under Demo-
cratic ontrol, Congress reduced the quan tity
of silver in the fractional coins (half dimes,
Dimes quarters and half doliars) more than 6
per cent. directed the purchase of tho silver for
their coinage on government account abolished
the law for their free co naga and made them
full legal tender for S. only, leaving gold still
practically the only full legal tender United
Sta tes coin At this time tho silver dollar had
disappeared from tn, current coinage of the
United States and was ra:ticaIly and pur-
posely demonetlzed. This l suppose, would
now be called the Crime of 1853. Silver was
practic ally demonetized by this act and the
act of 1884.
1T il certain that from 1871. when Mr. jeff
erson became president to- the close of Buchan-
ans admins ira ton in 1851, the Democratic
party was q gold party, oppo.ed to silver and
all forms of paper money
when the Republican party came into
power in 1861 by the election of Mr Lincoln it
had to face formid lble r. beIlion. Gold and
silver were alike banishod from circulation
and irredeemable paper money of ali denomi-
nations, from ten cents to S., 100 was substf-
tutod in place of coil. When he war was over
the Republican party sought to r,store specie
payment as soon as practicable. In March,
1859, it pledged the faith of the nation to pay
ment in coin or its equivalent of all bonds of
the United States and t o reieam the United
States notes at the earliest possible moment in
coin.
THE 1873 REVISION OF MINT LAWS.
I'm order to carry out this pledge it b &C anne
nece 'ary to revise tn. various coinag, laws of
the United States. This was promptly and
vary carefully done by bill framed IN the
Treasury department while MIR. Boutwell, was
Secretary. 1t was thoroughly considere by
the experts of that department ,nd was printed
and submitted to all persons in the United
States who wers suppos d to be familiar with
the coin age laws. The bill. containing sixty
seven sections, accompanied by a mass of infor-
nation that fills a volume, was sent to Con-
gress April 2, 1877, by Secretary Boutwell,
and its passage was strongly recommended by
him This bill omitted from the coins of the
United States the silver dollar. precisely as
was do &C in Is g. but provided for the coinage
of the fractional parts of the dollar in accord
ance with the act of that year. This bill was
pending in Congress for three years-was care
fully considered in both houses and special at
tention was called to the omission of the t1tx
grain silver do lar which WAS never in the bill |
at any stage, and the reasons for this omission |
given 1t was finally determine at the urgent |
request OF members from the Pdcific coast to |
insert among thu silver coin trade dollar |
~ grains of stand 'rd siIve- but |
this dollar made like the minor coins, n |
legal tender for SO only. Thera was but ono |
yea and nay vote on the bill, and that was on |
the proposition to repeal tn, charge made by |
the mint for tho coinage of gold l voted |
against its repeal
THE bill pass ID both houses and became a |
law February II. 1873. by prac tically unani-
nous vote of both plrti s. AMI was specially !
supp rrted and voted for by tho senators and |
IN mbc-s from the liver stasas
This has been called the crime of 1879 and |
n the bill was under my charge in the Senate
was ne!d to be the chief cri min al 1t was, in
fact w sc measure of public policy, carefully
discuss ID and considered during three years |
When we test the outcry against this act with
,ha soonr acts shown by official recor is it an
pears simply iudcrous. Tho total number of
silver dollars coine from 1892 to 1873 was OIL
<: while the number of trade dollars issued
Inder tn coinage act of 1918 containing seyan
md one-half grains more silver than the old
icllar was B IS % and the numbe of stand
'rl silver dollar; coined under The Bland-Alii-
in act of 1873 was 4n.79j.0u. fifty -four times J
he number issued before 1873.
1T is strange that tn, very men who sup-
'orted and u-gcd this coinage wv of Is and J
demanded the exclusive coinage OF gold are
he very mon who now demand the free coin |
se of silver and d,nnunce as "golditas" and |
ohbers all who telieve in tho c oinage of both !
old and silver.
1t has been said that the dropping of tho
liver dollar in the coilrgo act OF 1913 was sur
done This charge is shown to be
also by the debate in Congress and especially
" the declaration of ths men who now mako
he charge. Sixteen months afser the passare
4 tn act Senator Jones of Nevada, in a d.
NE IN the senate. Juns IL. 1-7l said: 4 am
ppoSed to any proposition. como in whatever
orn 1t may. that attempts to over rule what
IoI himself has made for money / be,iev.
no sooner we como down 70 a purely gold
tandard tie better It will be for the country"
Senator Stewart of Nevado i, tJo ,,,,. =,