The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-05-23
TeIler,s Contribution to History,

Senator Teller has made a contri-
button to history which deserves more
attention from the press than it has
thus far received. The general belief
has been that the silver bullion de-
post law of 1890, popularity called the
Sherman act. which received the sol
id support of the Republicans and the
solid support of the Democrats, was
forced on the Republicans as an es-
cape from free silver. The situation
was this: The Senate, on the motion
of Plumb, of Kansas. changed a
House conditional free silver bill to
an out-and-out free silver measure
but the House rejected the Senate
amendments, and a conference was
had which resulted in the framing and
enactment of the bill called the Sher-
man law.
The sponsor of that measure. John
Sherman, in his ''RecollectiOns of
Forty Years" thus tells why it was
brought forward: "A large majority
sof the Senate favored free silver, and
it was feared that the small majority
against it in the other house might
yield and agree to it. The silence of
the President or the matter gave rise
to an apprehension that if a free coin
age bill should pass both houses he
would not feel at liberty to veto it..
Hence the Sherman compromise meas
ure was put through. Senator Teller
puts an entirely different face upon
the matter. The silver Republicans,
according to the Colorado Senator,
determined to place a free silver rider
upon the Mckinley tariff bill, then be-
fore Congress. which measure would,
he said, have encountered President
Harison's veto, thus killing free silver
and the tariff together. This, and
not the fear that a free silver bill
might be signed, according to Teller,
is why the Senator from Ohio yielded
his Judgment" The anti-silver Re-
publicans, he. says, accepted what
they thought was a lesser evil than
free 'coinage-The Sherman law
which they thought would answer
the purpose of satisfying the silver
Republicans and secure their votes''
for the tariff.
There is a strong probability that
the Colorado Senator tells the plain
truth here. His assertions were not
challenged by any other Republican
in the chamber, which circumstance,
coupled with one or two others which
are easy to recall, will give them Gre
dence. Harrison was on record in
his first annual message to Congress,
seven months before the passage of
the Sherman law. with a strong dec
laration against free coinage, and
there was no reason why he should
have changed his mindin the interval.
He was on record on the same side
just as strongly a few months later.
Teller says in his speech that Harri-
son told many Senators he would veto
a free coinage bill if it was passed.
and he says Secretary of the Treas
ury Window told this to Senators and
Representatives ''again and again"
There is an air of truth about what
the Colorado statesman tells what will
impress intelligent, unpreiudiced per-
sons, The Senator deserves the
thanks of the country for throwing
light into this dark spotin recent his
tory. The Sherman law, which is the
Republican party's only blunder in
financial legislation, is now known to
been a part of a deal to secure
votes for the tariff, and was as need
less as it was disastrous.-Globe-