The San Francisco call., 1898-02-01
REPUTATION IS PREVENTED


 leao 1t, and whenever a nation Is wisely governed does lead it to scrupulously maintain its pledges in both letter and spirit, so as to preserve its credit un- tarnlShed, and thereby not only to make It possible to borrow at the lowest rate or interest. but also to make 1t easy to obtain loans in exigencies which are, sooner or later, to come to every nation.
 Honor and credit are its title deeds to permanence and prosperity. The dlshonor Of the pending resolution is in its tail. And that string, well-nigh harmless twen- " years ago, under conditions then eXSt ing, is made doubly harmful by the condi- uons of to-day. The detail of this resolu- ton Is as follows: That to restore to US coinage such silver coins as legal ten der In the payment of said bonds lmean, ing practically all the bonds of the United states now outstanding) is not in viola ton of the public faith nor in derogation of the rights of the public creditor.
 The declarations of the movers ana supporters of this resolution in the Sen ate during it's recent consideration in that body throw a flood of light on what IS meant now by the craze to restore 10 1878, was with good reason interpreter oy many who supported similar resoluuon to mean something vitally different rom what it must mean now.
 This brings me- proceeded DlnSley' ito the consideration of the vital ques- ton as to whether the Government mas the moral right; in other words, whether 1t would be an act which the moral sense of the world would regard as in accord, ance with honor and faith for the United States to pay its outstanding bonded m debtedness in dollars of so materially less value than the dollar which has been the practical standard of value since 1854, barring the war and reconstruction perl, cd, and which has been the legal ana practical standard of value since 1879. and the dollar in which our bonded indebted ness has been paid thus far, pald by Kinley, to wit: The dollar equal in value to 25S grains of standard gold (Ap- plause.) Bear In mind that we are dis cussfng this question from the point of honor and good faith and not from the point of power or technical legal rights. for | have already said that the Govern three-fourths of the outstanding bonds were, as a matter of fact issued and sold after 1878. when the silver dollar was dropped from the list of coins. Now, in view of these acts would it be good faith for Congress, now that silver has so greatly Appreciated. to restore it's free and unlimited coinage ar the ratio of Is to l, by this country alone, when the market ratio is B to l. and then use such dollars to pay the bonds which we had sold for gold under such circumstances? I fear that many of you are resting on the ex- pectation which you have that nothing of this kind will be done and are excusing your vote for it on the unworthy idea that you are playing politics.
 If so, beg of you not to trif1e with the honor and good faith of the nation for any such miserable end; for rest as- Sur6Q Sucn an expression or opinion to the sense of honor of the people of this country, contemplated by this reso- lution, under existing conditions, would seriously injure the credit of the coun- try and tend to weaken reviving confi- dence. It is, l believe Gas does every scientific bfmetallist in the world outside of politics.. that the free and unlimited coinage of silver at 16 to 1 by this coun- try would make the United States a sil- yer monometallic country, like Mexico and China, and would give us a silver ha sic that would fraGa uyith gold standard countries that now take go per cent of our exports, and prove serious menace to our progress; and be- cause l believe that 1t would seriously 1njure our credit and standing as na- ton, I appeal to the gentlemen on this side of the House to maintain the pledge which the Republican party made at St. Louis to keep all our currency, whether silver or paper, as good as gold and pre- serve the public faith and credit. and to the gentlemen on the other side to maintain the standard of value which Jacksons administration gave the coun- try sfxty-four years ago, and the honor and faith of the nation carefully pre- served by the father of the Democratic party. and to take the opportunity of- fered by the resolution now before the House to show the country and the whole world that the good name of the nation is safe in our hands" Prolonged Re publican :appiause.)
 greeted the close of Dingley's speech had subsded, Bailey was recognized for an nOOE. lie UTSI YleIO6Q twenty IlIHulSS U Wheeler D) of Alabama, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, who sub- mitted an argument in support of the reso- lution Before closing Wheeler yielded a minute each to half a dozen members of the Democratic side, each of whom, as Cowherd D.) of Missouri said, erected hook on which to hang speech in the Congressional Record.
 Among others who made brief speeches were: Dockery, Bland, Hopkins, Clayton, GrosvenoP Wheeler eel io,Pea Pearcs sta.,e Gr8w f ans. Walker. Bartlett, Brucker, Norton, Cochran, Deliver Mcguire, Cannon, Hep burn. Rhea. Lacey, Swanson.
 Bailey, owing to the great pressure for time, had only four minutes in which to close the debate for his side. The reso- lution under consideration, he said, con- tained two propositions, one moral and the other legal. One asserts as a matter of law that the bonds of the United States are redeemable at the option of the Gov ernment in silver, and the other, as matter of morals, that to restore to it's coinage such silver coins as legal tender in payment of the bonds, principal and interest, is not in violation of the public faith nor in derogatton of the rights of the public creditors. He would not dwell, he said. Cn the legal aspect of the ques- tion There was not lawyer in the United States or in any other country who would venture on his professional reputation to deny that the bonds could be paid in silver. That went without saying. The Republicans in this matter must justify themselves, if at all. upon the proposition that in their conscience they believe that gold was the money of the contract.
 Henderson CR) of Iowa, the one-legged veteran, and Dalzell (R.) of Pennsyl- vania closed the debate with five-minute speeches in opposition to the resolution. The former created intense enthusiasm, as with the stump of his leg resting on a bench at the right of the Speakers chair and his crutches by his side, he rallied his followers. This resolution, he said reminded him of one of the mono grams he used to see on the Bryan ban ners.
 Bailey-You will see 1t again in 1906. Democratic applause)
 Henderson-Yes, and we will tear it down again. Republican applause) Tt was the three Rs,' continued Henderson. " 'Radicalism, Rascality and Repudia- tion.' This scene reminds me of a Popo- cratic convention. It is the old familiar howl against the bondholders. But, gen. tlemen, you must remember that they cannot cut down the money of the bond holders without cutting in half the money that goes to the old soldier or his widow or orphan; or the money of the men who toll"
 Simpson P.) of Kansas-How about the taxpayers?
 Henderson waved Simpsons interroga- tory aside. The resolution, he resumed, was in reality part of the programme that sought to commit the country to the single silver standard He recalled the