Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-09-23
Proven by the Record.

>,ra,l'"tacyh, foIc the Republican par
= spid out t. the guldhug ring, under
tic I'm, editor who now controls it.
uttcran,,-. We find in 4 late issue an
.,t.. :. adopted 4, editorial from the
D.tt..in. in which the same old bald
h,al,, ;al~,h"ois regarding the man
u,r ii dvmonetiIin- silver bob NJ
-,r nely" to d. service in hiding the
truth
Thc article i. de>:.ncd to answer
and lctut, the assertion Of the Ellcns-
lmrg platform that the act OF 1913 de
monctizing silver was " surrcptitiou,ly
ra--,l. without approval or knowledge
81 the American people
The Or.g0nida asserts, and the
W.uapial. fcchly echoes. these words
Nearly three wears elapsed between the
submission OF the bill hy Secretary Bout
well, Of the Treasury Department, to
Hon. John Sherman, Chairman of the
senate Committee on Finance, and its
enactment into law. The bill, which had
I,ccn prepared under the supervision of
John Jay Knox, Deputy Controller of the
Currency, was transmitted to Senator
February II. 1873. Two years nine
months and twelve days interviewed from
the introduction of the bill to its becom-
1t may be- true that the advocates
al the crime for striking from the vol
umc of currency onc-half the circulat-
ing medium did hesitate and await
with rare discrimination the time
when suspicious surroundings and cir
cumstanccs might be employed to
secure favorable action, but that it
was surrcptitlously passed we propose
to prove as we have done before (and
a even oily aided in doing before he be-
came color blind) from the best OF au-
thority, the utterances of Congressman
as they appear in the Record.
Why this stealthy act was done is
shown by the logical sequence, the
same as the motive for any other
crime is established. Under the guise
Of an act to revise and amend the law
relative to minis, assay Offices and
coinage of the United States, the
standard silver dollar, which had been
in existence since 1892, was myster-
iously dropped. There was no discus
sion in Congress concerning the mo-
mentous change to be effected in our
financial system 10y the proposed act.
A lew desultOry remarks were made,
some in speeches which were not de-
livcrcd, but were afterwards printed in
the Record, and both branches of Con-
gress seemed to be in dense ignorance
OF the important provision contained
in the bill, by which silver was de-
stroyed as equal money metal with
gold. So adroitly was the whole
scheme managed that Senator Will
liam NJ. Stewart, the great silver advo.
cate, himself voted for the bill. He
afterwards declared that under no cir
cumstances would he have voted in
that manner had he been appraised OF
the provision respecting the disuse oil
silver as money. The mystery is only
decpened when we consider what othe,
persons, who were in Congress at tho
time, say about the passage of Til.
bill.
Senator Thurman, on the 18th OF
February, 1878, in debate said:
cannot say what took place in the
House. but know when the bill was pend
ing in the Senate we thought it was
simply Dill TO reform the mint, regulate
coinage, and fix up one thing and another
ana there is rot single man in the Sen
ate. think, unless u member of the CON
ihittee from which the bill came, who
had the slightest idea that il was even
squirt toward decentralization" - Con.
gressional Record, volume 7, part Q
Forty-ilfth Congress second session page
LOCI
Senator Conklin=, in the Senate, or
March 50, 1876, during the remarks O.
Senator Bogy on the bill Is. 263) to
amend the laws relating to legal ten
der of silver coin, in surprise inquired
will the Senate allow me to ask hin
or some other Senator a question? Is il
true that there is now by law no Ameri
can dollars? And, if so, it is true thai
t..e Effect of this bill is to make hal
dollars and quarter dollars the only sill
Yer coin which can be used as a lega
tencei! -CongreSsiOnal Record. volume
4. lar; 3. Foriy-iourth Congress, frs
session, page t62.
Senator Allison, on February Is
1878, when the bill (H. X. 1898 te
authorize the free coinage OF the
standard silver dollar and to restore
its legal tender character was under
consideration, observed:
But when the secret history of thi.
bill OF ls13 comes 10 be told, it will dis
close the fact that the House of Repre-.
sentatiyes intended to coin both gold anC
silver, and intended to place both metals
upon the French relation instead of or
our own, which was tie true scientific
position with reference to this subject in
1913, but that the bill afterwards was
doctored, if may use that term, and
uss it in no offensive sense, of course"
Mr.. Sargent interrupted him and
asked him what he meant by the wore
"dOctored." Mr.. Allison said:
81 said used the word in no offensiy,
sense. 1t was changed after discussion
and the dollar of 420 grains was substi
tuted for it, Congressional Record
volume z. part 2, Forty fifth Congress
second session, pages LOSS.
On February Is, 1878, during tn,
consideration of the bill above re
ferred to, the following colloquy be
tween Senator Blaine and Senate
VOORHEES, took place:
Mr.. Voorhees, II want to ask m,
friend from Maine, whom am glad d
designate i'll that way, whether NAV cal
him as one more witness to the fact tina
II was not generally known whether sill
yer was demOne' lied. Did he know. a
Speaker OF the House, presiding at tina
time. that the silver dollar was demOne
tlzed in the bill to which he alludes:"
ttat inc I "A ia 4.