Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-03-07
SOME SILVER HISTORY.
Tho Congregational Record of the Iaet
Eighteen Years.


Eighteen Years.
Richard p. Bland, of Missouri, from
the committee on coinage, moved, on
November 8, 1877, in the first extra ses-
sion of congress called by President
Hayes, to suspend the rules in the house
and pass bill directing the unrestrictA
ed coinage, on the same terms as gold,
of dollars of 412h grains of standard
silver. The motion was agreed to by n
vote of 1863 to "a. The next day the bill
went to the senate, and on November
Il it was reported to that body by Will
liam B. Allison, from the committee on
finance. The bill was changed, how
ever, in several important particulars.
1t was a free coinage bill when it left
the house, but when it was reported to
the senate it provided for the coinage
of not less than $2000,000 of bullion
each month and not more than $4,000,-
900, the gain arising from the purchase
to go to the treasury, and not to the
owners of the bullion, as in the Bland
plan. The bill in this form passed the
senate January 30, 1878, by AZ to 81.
was accepted by the house February
| 81 by 203 to 72, was vetoed by President
Hayes February 2s, and was passed
| over the veto by a vote of more than
the required two-thirds in each branch.
That was the record which congress
made 1s years ago on it's first de-
cisive vote on silver since the demoneti
zation of 1873. Let us compare that
record with the one just made in
congress on the same issue. We will
take up the senate first, as the free
coinage measure originated in the SEN
ate in 1896, taking the form of n sub
stitute for the house bond bill. Eight
cen years ago the limited coinage bill,
| the measure which became the Bland
Allison law, passed the senate by
majority of 81, while this year free
silver obtained only seven majority in
the senate. Eighteen years ago q ma
iority of 129 was cast in the house in
favor of free silver, while this year the
same body rolled up a majority of 125
against free silver. This change by
congress in the direction of financial
sanity has been accomplished i'll n
comparatively few years. Free coin
age received a majority of II in the
senate in 1890, or more than twice as
great as that obtained recently, while
the division between the sound and un-
sound money men was SO close in the
house that the bullion deposit law
known as the Sherman act was forced
as a compromise to head off free coin
age.
Here are comparisons which ought to
give encouragement to the people. Not
withstanding the creation of seven new
states, all in the silver region, since the
Bland-Allison act was passed in 1878,
the silver cause is distinctively weaker
than it was at that time. The honest
money hosts have gained immensely in
numbers and confidence even since the
summer of 1890, when a congress in
which the republicans were in slight
preponderance was stampeded by the
fear of free coinage and made the con-
cession to silver which the party took
the leading part in revolting in the fall
of 1898 in the extra session called by
Cleveland. These comparisons are OF
the highest significance. In the early
stages of the dishonest-money craze the
senate was the conservative branch ot
congress, but now it is the radical and
destructive body. But even in the SEN
ate the days of silverite supremacy are
probably near an end. in the next
senate sound-money man will take the
seat of Cameron, and probably Black
burn and Vest will be similarly dis
placed. The present house and the
president will guard the country
against attack from the inflationista
and fiatists until 1897, and the house
and president which take up the worl
at that time are likely to have senate
on their side.-St. Louis Globe-Demo
GRAFT