The Southern herald., 1898-02-25

Afterwards appointed 'o MA 'ao'''
cy On the supreme bench.
If this resolution, which was
then indorsed BY a Republican
Cnngress. was in consonsnee with /
good morals aud sound political
( policy then, it must be now. The
conditions we're exactly the same.
The President and his Secretary |
took the same position that the
present Executive and his Secre'a
lry of the Treasury now take, /. E.,
that all these Government obhga-
tions were gold obligations, regard
less Oflhe language Of the contract
The coinage of silver had been
stopped and every effort was being
made to put the sOuntry absolutely
on gold basis.
The act Of 1869 made all Gov
ernment bonds payable in coin,
which was one step from lawful
money ts coin. Tie act OF 1878
closed the mints to the coinage OF
the silver dollar, which was another
step from coin to gold, and now ii
ris claimed by the Republicans in
this House that under the joint
operation of the acts Of 1859 and
1873, the former providing for pay
ment in coin, the latter prohibiting
! the minting of any but one kind Of
coin, gold" the many millions
Of bonds then outstanding and
since Issued are payable only in
gold.
Itmust be remembered that these
bonds were not Issued by authority
of the act of 1878, but under the
authority given by the act of 1870,
and each one carried on its face
y express notice Of the terms Of the
% contract. The very object and pur'
" pose of the stipulation to pay any
= money the standard Of a particu
' lar date was to guard against posi-
: BILE changes in our coinage system
II Two hundred million dollars Of tha
IT debt was contracted quite recently
4 and it is not only payable in silve
y by the text of the acts Of 1869, bu
J. expressly announced as payable il
T. silver by the contemporary actor
y of Congress at the time when tn
loan was made.
," There was a bill introduced il
j. Congress then to change the lay
T. and make these new issues of bonds
10 then about to be offered, and iuT
W ,her issues payable in gold. Thi
!" bill was defeated BY large major
:" ity. Then the President, backe
" by the Secretary of the Treasury
=" sent a special message to Congres
VI advising that these bonds shoul
u be made payable in gold; that
&C. given the authority to insert gold
W instead of "coin," he could neg'
~ tiate them in the market at a sa'
ing of SIG, 100000 This pr"pos
eS tion was also rejected.
'e ' The gentleman from Iowa NJ
VI Dolliverl has stated; "There
. no creditor OF the United State
y" and no creditor anywhere in Il
" world, public or private, who h
VI any objection to receiving the col
ed silver dollar Of the United Stat
'' .' of to day" Then why was it tn
!" Mr.. Cleveland made this appeal
~ Congress2 And why should the
10 twn hundred and sixty millions
III, bonds have been sold when at Il
e" time of their sale there were M
." lions of standard silver dollars
We the Treasury.
~ 1t may be said, however. .th
es' this surplus was not in silver NJ
NV could not be used in paying off Il
I'VE Governments obligations. T.
'"' books Of the Treasury Departme
nv show that more than half of Il
revenue that has been received
w the last five or six years has be
'"' paid in silver certificates, which C
be exchanged in that Departme
o. "' for silver dollars; besides at tn
time there was on hand a lar
- amount of silver bullion, the seig
49, forage on which, if it had be
=, coined, as was required by la
would have amounted to more tn
" $4,000.
- The law Of 1879, which provid
for the redemption Of United Stal
y legsl.tender notes (or greenback
~ authorizes the Secretary of I
'UV Treasury to use any surplus rt
'0' enue from time to time in the Ire
''! ury not otherwise appropriate