The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-12
CURRENCY DEBATE OPENS.
OvERsTREET AND DOLLIvER SUP
PORT THE MEAsURE.
Oppose It-small Crowd I'm The
Gallery witnesses Resumption
of the old Battle of Standards.

Of the old Battle Of Standards.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1.-The feature Of
the opening day Of the debate on the cur
rcncy bill in the house was the speech OF
Mr.. Dolliver, of Iowa. II was character
fsed by all the wit and eloquence for which
the IowaI Is noted and held the members
without regard to party for more than an
hour. Dolliver declared that the last doubt
In the Republican party as to the wisdom
of enacting the gold standard law had been
removed by the experience Of the business
world during the past three years. He
scored Bryan and generally ridiculed the
alleged false prophesies Of the Democrats
in 1896
De Almond was the heavy gun on the
Democratic SIDE He warned the Republic
ans from tho West that they could not
deceive their constituents in the coming
congressional elections by claiming that
they had yielded to the wisdom OF their
colleagues In caucus.
overstreet, opened the debate In support
Of the bill and Maddox, of Georgia, replied
to him.
Mcclellan. Of New York. was the only
other speaker today. He announced hfs op
position to the bill on the ground that 1t
would contract the currency. extinguish
the bank notes and enhance the value Of
coin bonds. He appealed to those OF his
Democratic colleagues from New York,
who 1t Is reported, intend to vote for the
bill, not to do so.
Few People Present.
There was only fair attendance in the
galleries OF the house to witness the OPEN
ing of the debate on the currency BILL Inn
mediately after the reading Of the journal
the house, under the special order, went
into committee Of the whole, Hepburn In
the chair and entered upon tho considera-
ton of the BILL Overstreet, in charge OF
the measure on the floor. opened the gen.
eral debate with set speech.
Overstreet Supports the Bill.
Overstreet, in opening. said:
"Mr Speaker: This country presents the
anomalous situation of being the absolute
and unchallenged leader In almost every
field OF advanced thought. whether In
science or literature; certainly the most
advanced In material development and the
control OF trade;. by far the superior IN
manufactures and growth of markets and
yet 1t s the field of great controversy upon
the subject of standard Of value, and the
proper medium of exchange.
why Legislation Is Necessary.
mo nation has devoted more time to pub
lie discussion and legislative consideration
of the question of finance than the United
States. Notwithstanding there have been
occasions when serious doubt clouded the
sun and produced grave fears lest the entire
fabric of our monetary system might be
seriously shaken, yet It Is to the great credt
of the government that every dollar Of our
money in circulation Is absolutely sound
and unquestioned. This condition has led
many people into the erroneous belief that
there was no need for legislation and that
the best the government could do would
be to let the subject alone. Such people are
now familiar with the frequent pledges Of
our money. declaring by congressional acts
the honest purpose Of the government to
faithfully and surely guarantee the full
PARTY Of AZ money doneyd IN srs s nm
declaration and guarantees, but fts main
tenance and enforcement rests with the
who by single ode he
use of silver in the discharge Of our OBJ
legations may completely destroy the pari-
ty and shift the standard to the metal 80
used. 1t seems far better to attempt a
proper regulation Of the question tS
clear and permanent statute, rather than
depend upon occasional declarations by the
government of its intention. 1t is far bet
ter to end the matter by a public law
which shall be plain and unequivocal rath-
err than rely upon proposals of what may
leave SO dangerous an option within the
control of one man, whether he be the
president or his financial adviser
Legal Tender Laws Failures.
After describing the various kinds of
money in use in the United States, Mr..
Overstreet said:
"The history of the government efforts
to force legal tender money into circula-
ton, irrespective of its intrinsic value and
without the government pledge, Is record
of failures, without single exception. All
of the various kinds of money in the Unit
ed States are based upon common stand.
ard of value, in which each. can be meas
ured The present standard of value in
this country is gold, and has been 81 recog-
nized in practice for more than half a GEN.
tury."
Argument Against Free Silver.
He then proceeded with an elaborate
argument against double standard and
general review of our monetary legis,a-
| ton.
"The tremendous increase of silver coin
| under the operation of the laws of 1878 and
| $780," he continued, "created a. doubt as to
| the ability of the government to maintain
| when the gold standard was adopted, there
| had been issued by the government only
| s0s1, 29S silver dollars From February IL,
| 1875 when the recoinage OF the silver dollar
| was authorized, to November 1, 1893. when
| such coinage was discontinued. there were
| coined by the government 1872 357,376 silver
dollars Upon this last date, there was not
| a silver dollar in circulation whose face
| value equaled its intrinsic value. The diff
| ference between the intrinsic value and
| face value was government obligation. 50
established by congressional act. The abil-
| ity of the government to bear this burden.
| was never questioned The mere money
obligations imposed by the Jaw created no
| serious embarrassment. 1t was the prin-
| ciple involved coupled with the repeated
| efforts by very considerable number of
| the people Of the country to establish abb
| solute free coinage of silver. which shook
| public confidence and produced the fear
| that a change Of the monetary standard
would result
| "If the legal standard TODAY is the gold
| standard under the act OF 1873. positive
| statute to that effect can do no harm. If,
| on the other hand, there Is any reasonable
| doubt, 1T should be dspelled by statute
| plain and clear in its terms.
No Uncertainty Should BE Left.
| when certainty shall take the place of
| doubt and the integrity of our credit be as
| fixed as the honor OF the nation, the ma
obi ba rao1i1y al