The herald., 1898-02-01


md Democrats as at present consti-
tuted." He said time would be equally
divided between those for and those
against the resolution.
THE BALL STARTED
Mr.. Dingley then opened the debate
a. oppostion to the resolution. The
vending resolution, he said, was not one
which. il passed by both Houses, would
hove force. If passed, it would only be
an expression of opinion.
..Its importance, therefore," continued
Mr.. Dingley, lies in the fact that if con-
CURED in by the House it would leg1ti-
mately and inevitably be regarded, not
only here, but by the world, as the ex-
preston of the deliberate opinion of the
majority of the American people as to
their standard of honor and good faith
in the discharge, not only of national
but also of private, obligations
"This resolution is presented for the
purpose of securing an expression by
Congress as to the power of the govern
ment, either as to the payment of its
obligations or as to what may be de-
clared legal tender. No one denies that
this or any other nation has the power
to pay in gold or silver or paper or cop
per, according to its pleasure. Payment
nation. Its obligations are measured
by its own sense of honor and good faith.
The intelligent selfishness of nation,
which is to live, not simply for a genera
ton. but for centuries, ought TO lead it
and whenever a nation is wisely gov
erned, does lead ito so scrupuously
maintain it's pledges, in both letter and
spirit. as to preserve it's credit unfair
nished, and thereby not only make 1t
possible to borrow at the lowest rates
of interest but also make it 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 dis
honor of the pending resolution is in its
tail. That sting, well-nlgh harmless
twenty years ago under conditions then
existing. is doubly harmful under the
conditions of today. The tail of this
resolution is as follows:
"'Silver coins are tenderable in pay
ment of the bonds of the United States
and this is not in violation of our faith
or in derogaton of the rights of the
public creditor.
THE declarations of the movers and
supporters of this resolution in the Sem
ate during its recent consideration in
that body throw a flood of light on what
is meant now by the craze to restore
the free coinage of silver"
ON MORAL GROUNDS
"This brings me, proceeded Mr. Ding
lev, "to the considerat ton of the vital
question as to whether the government
has the moral right, in other words,
whether it would be an act which the
moral sense Of the world would regard
as in accordance with honor and good
faith for the United States to pay its
outstanding bonded Indebtedness in dol
lars so materially less in value than the
dollar which has been the practical
standard of value since 1884, barring the
war and reconstruction period, and
which has been the legal and practical
standard Of value since 1879, and the
dollar in which our bonded indebtedness
has been paid thus far, paid by every ad-
ministration from Lincoln to Mckinley,
to-wt the dollar equal in value to 25S
grains of standard gold. (Applause)
Bear in mind that we are discussing
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 government
can do as it pleases. More than three
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 facts. would it be good faith for
congress, now that silver has so greatly
deprecated, to restore its free and un-
limited coinage at the ratio of 16 to l by
this country alone when the market
ratio is SO to l. and then use such dol
lars to pay the bonds which we had sold
for gold under such circumstances? l
do not think it would. / fear that many
of you are resting on the expectation
which you have that nothing OF this kind
will be done, and are eXcuslng your vote
for 1t on the unworthy idea that you
are playing politics If so l beg of you
not to trife with the honor and good
faith of the nation for any such misera-
BILE end, for rest assured such an eX-
preston of opinion as to the sense of
honor of the people Of this country con-
templated by this resolution, under eX-
listing conditions would seriously injure
the credit of the country and tend to
weaken reviving confidence. Itf~ be-
1ieye. as does every scientific b.. st
in the world outside of politic,
to 1, free and unlimited silves IS
country would make the Unit IS
a silver mOnOmetalic country <
ico and China, and would give IL
yer basis that would obstruct o de
with gold standard countries THAI now
take 80 per cent of our exports, and
prove a serious menace to our progress,
and because / believe that it would Sc
riously injure our credit and standing as
nation | 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 preserve 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 siXty-four years age, and the honor
and good faith Of the nation so care
fully preserved by the father of the
Democratic party. and to take the op-
portunity offered by the resolution now
before the house to show the country
and the world that the good name of the
nation is safe in our hands, prolonged
Republican applausc(
TIE OTHER SIDE
After the burst OF applause which
greeted the close Of Dng!cys speech had
subsidized Bailey was recognized for an