Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-01-13
MlssTAIEMEnI OF LAM.
President Mckinley and the Redemp
tiOn OF Gotta Bonds i'm Gold.

tion Of Coin Bonds i'm Gold.
The president says:
The law which requires the government.
after having redeemed its United States
notes. to pay them out again as current
FUNDS. demands constant rep9enishmenf
OF the gold reserve.
1t was claimed by the gold contrac-
tionists in 1878 that the law required
redemption of United States notes In
gold, whereupon congress passed reso-
luton. known as the Matthews resolu-
ton. by an overwhelming majority, de-
claring that United States notes and all
other obligations of the United States
were payable in silver as wen as gold,
and that they were not gold obligations.
Mr.. Mckinley voted for this law, and no
lawyer of repute has questioned the
correctness of his vote. Is his memory
bad, or his message the work of an,
other?
Secretary Carlisle did not pretend
that the law required the redemption
of greenbacks in gold. On the con-
trary. he informed the public in treas
ury circular No. 123 that United States
notes are redeemable in COIN" but said
that s'coin obligations of the govern
ment are redeemed in gold coin when
gold is demanded, and in silver when
silver is demanded" thereby frankly
admitting that the option which be-
longed to the government was surren-
dered by the treasury department to
dealers in gold without consideration
This generosity to gold gamblers and
contempt for the rights of the people
was characteristic of Mr.. Carlisle, but
he never shielded himself from the re-
sponsibility as the president attempts
to do by declaring that the law re-
quired it.
Mr.. Cleveland himself lacked the eff
frontery to claim that United States
bonds are payable in gold. As proof of
this he had inserted in the Pierpont
Morgan agreement. whereby he sold a
little over S62, O00, 900 of four per cent.
bonds for four and one-hah per cent.
premium, a provision that three per
cent. gold bonds might be substituted
in lieu thereof, and asked congress TO
authorize the issuance OF the gold
bonds He said:
In the agreement just concluded, the an
nual saving in interest to the government.
if three per cent. gold bonds should be sub
Stitu1ed Tor four per cent coin DondS, I'M
der the privilege reserve, would be $3.50 .159.
amounting in 80 years, or at the maturity
of the coin bonds, 10 $16,174,77o.
The provision in Mr.. Cleveland's con-
tract to save $16,oOO,0o0 if congress
would authorize the issuance of gold
bonds instead of coin bonds, shows that
Mr.. Cleveland was selling coin" bonds
and not gold bonds, and that he could
get SIG. O0o, 900 more for S62,ooo,ooo of
gold bonds than he could for that
amount of coin bonds or silver bonds.
If the parties to that contract had
taken the same view of the question that
the president does in his message,
namely, that our obligations are gold
obligations, the provision providing for
saving S16.oOO,OOO by issuing gold bonds
would never have been inserted. We
think we may safely state that Mr.. Nc
Kinley is the first high official who has
announced that the law requires pay
ment of coin obligations in goldfish
yer Knight Waterman.