The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-09-03
COY. McCONNELL'S LETTER.
IDAHVS GOVERNOR SPEAKS OUT
UNDERSTANDINGLY.
He Tells Some Plain Truths to the Publish.
er Of the Silver Organ at Spokane, Which
May Be Beneficial to Them.

BOISE CITY. Aug. "A. 1ss6.-CPublishers
5pokesman-Review. Spokane. Wash. D
7 notice in your issue of
August 10 three questions proposed by Mr..
c. w. Simmons, of Kellogg, this state.
which you have undertaken to answer.
AS you have invited correspondence
In your columns on the political situation.
I would like to correct you in your
answer.
To the first question, "Does not the
United States government accept silver
In payment Of all customs. taxes and pub
lie dues?" you answer that ''The United
mept Of customs. taxes and all public
dues, It does not so accept silver dol
lars"
II this was true, 1t would be sur
prising condition Of affairs. A silver GER
tidcate Is merely promise to pay upon
certain number OF silver
dollars. Under your Interpretation. the
promise to pay would be accepted by the
customs officers. but the payment itself
would be rejected.
AS ! presume you intend to be fair,
and give correct answers to the questions
the act Of February q. 1878. you will find
its title to be, IAN Act to Authorize the
coinage of the Standard Silver Dollar and
to Restore Its Legal Tender Character"
After stating Its weight and flneness. the
language Is as follows:
saThey shall be legal tender at their
nominal value for all debts and dues,
public or private, except when otherwise
expressly stipulated in the contract
It Is well enough, perhaps. to say that
without the latter clause the act would
not be constitutional, because congress
has no right to deprive any citizen of his
constitutional right to enter into pri-
vate agreement or contract which Is not
in violation of law.
You wind up your answer as follows:
''Why juggle further with this point?
The facts could not be palmer. The gold
reserve is held In the treasury exclusively
for the redemption of United States and
treasury notes. It is never paid out in
exchange for silver dollars or silver GER
tificates. Silver certificates are redeemed
exclusively in silver dollars, and silver
dollars are redeemed in nothing. These
facts have been thoroughly established
in letters and kilograms from the highest
officials OF the treasury department. Any
one who questions their correctness can
inquire of the treasury for himself
This is not the first time such state
ment has appeared in your paper. The
intent of the answer appears to be to
lead the public to believe that the present
silver dollar is not good dollar because
sit Is redeemable In nothing.
OF course silver dollar is not redeem
able in gold; why should it be? It is a
money of final redemption, the same as
$40 gold piece. Would you pretend to
say that $40 gold piece is redeemahle in
any other money? Certainly not. Would
you pretend to say, If we restored the
free and Unlimited coinage of silver, that
the silver dollars would be redeemable in
gold? Please answer these questions
through the medium Of some of your
financial editors,
think the time has arrived when every
citizen has right to express himself on
this subject, and think the public has
right to expect fair and unequivocal state
ments from the newspapers 50 long as
they undertake to answer questions.
In my judgment when the bolters from
the republican party and the populists
and democrats claim to be the only silver
men in the country, they arrogate
good deal to themselves. Personally, /
have always been an advocate Of the
free and unlimited coinage of silver, and
am today. believe that this nation alone
might restore the white metal to its former
position, provided in doing so we enacted
protective and reciprocity laws. But I
am bimeta1ist, not a monometalist, and
I believe that monometalism in silver
would be even worse than monometalism
In gold. believe that under the demo-
cratic party no other increased use of sill
yer can be obtained than that of mono
metalisIn.
I do not agree with you or other So
called silver men, that the free coinage
Of silver is the paramount issue. I be-
lieve that the paramount issue in this ma
tion is, and always has been, the mainten-
ance of our national government, the en-
forcement Of its laws and wise admin
istratfon of Its business affairs. think
when the representatives of great po-
litical party. like that which convened
t. onI afrnk kaS
condemn the president OF the United
States, he being a member of their own
party, for suppressing the Chicago riots
In Chicago, when they condemn the high
est judicial tribunal for rendering decisions
not in conformity with their peculiar
ideas of political economy, it is time for
all thoughtful, loyal men to sever their re-
lations with that party.
An insult to the stars and stripes would
not be tolerated today by the humblest
plowboy that guides his plow through
American soil, and an insult to that flag
may be as directly offered by impeaching
the integrity of the president and the
supreme court as by firing upon 1t in
some foreign port.
When the governor Of a state, like the
state Of Illinois, falls or refuses to uphold
the laws. 1t Is the undoubted duty of the
president to interpose and protect the
lives and property of the citizens of that
state, and see to it that the mails are not
interrupted. When the officers whose duty
1t Is to enforce the laws in a county of
a state. fail in the performance of that
duty, should not then the governor then
exercise his right? And what better right
has he In county Of his state than the
the president in one Of the states of the
nation?
Then, who shall presume to say to me
because I will not unite with such an
aggregation Of Individuals in upholding
their vagaries by supporting Mr. Bryan,
that I am not In favor Of free coinage?
refuse to be weighed in the balance with
such people.
The so-calied "crime'' demonstration of
silver was enacted by a republican con-
gress in 1873. What was the condition of
your-now state-of Washington? You
and I know that it was a vast expanse
Of prairie, mountain and forest, but
sparsely settled. In all of its vast domain
there was not one town worthy to be called
city; there was not a mile of railroad,
except a tramway at the Cascades, and,
perhaps. the narrow gauge Of DIR. Baker
between Wallula and Walla Walla-and
am not certain that even that was con-
structed at that time.
Look again at yo1r beautiful state as