The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-06-20
LOGAN ON SILVER.
hhe soldier Senator Denounced Demoue-
t~ization as A Trick.

hhe Soldier Senator Denounced Demoue
tization as "A Trick.
Mr.. l.ogan--I do not desire to erte
into this discussion at thig late borr
certainly not to any great extent; hut
desire to say to rly friend from Yer
mont farthest from me. Mr.. Morrill,
that l was a little surprised at his re
marks, and l will not say why. Blu
his assault upon the silver of this coun
try is a little extraordinary. l do moi
understand why it is that such argu.
ments are usually made here in thi.
senate. If a bill does not exactly sui,
the disposition OF the temper of senators
some especially-some assault has goi
to be made upon some person, upon
some class or upon some section. The
senator said that this bill was for the
purpose of benefiting a few individuals
out west owning silver mines. That is
a very extraordinary statement. Sup
pose | was to say hat a tariff OH pins
and needles, or things produced in the
section the gentleman lives in, was a
bill for the benefit of a few individuals,
he would get wrathy in a moment.
That is not the way to argue a question.
l ask the senator who is III love with
gold, why it is that making gold the
only money in this country is not for
the benefit of the gold mines. The reas.
oning would be just as pertinent as to
say that a bill of this kind is for the
benefit of silver miners only. 1t is a
strange argument anyhow to me that
senators sometimes make, always against
their own country and against the pro-
auctions Of their wv country. If silver
is used in other countries and is one of
the great productions of our country, l
ask why it is not beneficial to our coun-
try to make it "A legal standard, as it is
made in other countries. If we are the
producers of it, the benefit is derived,
not by an individual merely, but by our
whole country. AS we are great silver
producers in this country, it seems to
me an argument Of the character Of that
made by the senator is a very strange
one.
l said here once that | was in favor of
making the silver dollar a legal tender
for any amount. So | am, but at the
same time l propose to stand and vote
with the finance committee in reference
to this bill. | am in favor of it for sew.
eral reasons-first, because it is the
money of the constitution, Just as much
as gold; second, it is money and can be
made so as well as gold third, because
it is II of the great productions of our
country, and. fourth, because it is Il
necessity to the people now.
Why is it that silver should not be a
legal tender? Because it is worth less
than gold? Is that the reason? That is
not the reason. If that is the reason, pa.
per would lot be made a legal tender
when it is less valuable than gold. 1t is
made a legal tender for the convenience
of the people and of the country when
you can bring it up to such a standard
as other countries have. But if my con-
stituents had all their wealth i'll railroad
bonds and in government bonds perhaps
there might be some reason then why l
should insist that the whole country
should be impoverished in order to ben
eft my particular constituents to the
disadvantage of everybody else. But,
sir, the argument i'll opposition to max
ing the silver dollar a legal tender when
you give it a certain value is an argu-
ment in opposition to ever paying GER
tain debts in this country in anything
but gold. whether we have the gold TO
pay them with or not. That is the reason
of it, and that is all there is in it. But
by a trick-and l use the word because
it is a proper one in this instance-by a
trick of legislation in 1878 the people of
this country were deprived of the right
of paying their debts in silver dollars.
The words ''gold dollar We're used in
an act passed in 1878 arranging for the
mintage of subsidiary coin, and the
words '~'silver dollar" We're left out, and
by that character of legislation the silver
dollar was demonetized in this country.
From the beginning of the government
up to 1878 any debt, bond OF note was
payable in silver dollars. -Congression,
al Record-Senate, June, 1879, Pages
42OS-9.