The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1902-06-07
HOSTILITY OF REPUBLICANS
How That Party Would Defeat
the Friends of Silver.
Special to the Reno Journal.

special 70 the Reno Journ&l
WASHINGTON, d. c., May 29.-The ac-
ton of the House of Representatives in
passing the Hill bill with only two hours
general debate emphasizes hostility oi
the Republican party to silver, and its
insincerity in dealing with the money
question. Not daring to make the silver
dollar specifically redeemable in gold that
provision OF the original bill was taken
out.
The bill provides for coinage Of bullion
now in the treasury into subsidiary pieces
instead Of dollars, and then as public ne
cessities may demand silver dollars the
Secretary of the Treasury is to determine
when such necessity exists and the ma
ture of the necessity. Thus the extent
to which the volume of standard dollars
may be reduced is to depend entirely
upon the judgment Of the Secretary Of
the Treasury.
Then by the practice of the Treasury
Department all of this fractional coin
will be redeemable in gold.
The pet hobby of Mr.. Hill, who is
pressing the bill, is the total elimination
OF the silver dollar, and this is merely a
step intended to secure the desired end.
A Secretary regarding the silver dollars as
a menace to our financial system would
aim 10 get rid Of them as rapidly as pos
sible by converting them into smaller
coin, if these latter became superabund-
ant. The next step would be to melt
them and sell them as bullion.
The speeches in favor OF the bill, all
made by Republicans, breathed spirit
Of intense hostility to silver, and the
Newlands amendment was offered. 1t
was to the Republicans like red flag in
the face of bull. Mr.. Grow offered an
amendment providing that the subsid-
iary coins should be half-dollars, quar-
ters, ten and five-cent pieces and that
they should be of the same proportionate
weight as the dollar. No Republican op-
position was manifested to this, but when
Mr.. Newlands proposed an amendment
to the amendment making such coins full
legal tender it was at once met by a
point OF order that it was not germane.
Mr.. Hill attacked it, while Mr.. New
lands. Shafroth and others on the Demo
cratic side defended it.
The fight was sharp and pretty one,
but it was made SO clear that the amend
ment was germane that it was impossi-
BILE for the chairman OF the Committee
Of the Whole to rule it out. Then amid
derisive shouts on the Democratic side Of
"too late." Mr.. Grow attempted to with
draw his amendment in order to cut out
the Newlands amendment. OF course he
was too late, and the chair was obliged
to so hold.
When the vote was taken on the New
lands amendment the division was on
straight party lines, every Republican
voting against it, thus placing the party
on record in favor Of measure which, if
it becomes law, will destroy the market
for silver in this country for subsidiary
coinage as long as there is silver dollar
in the Treasury. and gradually reduce
six hundred millions of full legal tender
now existing to the grade of token money,
having a debt paying function only in
sums Of not more than five dollars in one
payment.
As last effort Mr.. Shairoth moved to
recommit the bill to the committee with
instructions to report a bill simply for
the coinage of the bullion now in the
Treasury into subsidiary coin, this would
provide for more than sixty millions dol
lars of additional coin of smaller denomi-
nations, but it left the standard dollar un-
affected and every Republican, except
Sutherland of Utah and Mondell OF Wy
ming voted against the motion.
A rather curious incident connected
with the final action Of the House was
the circumstance that Senator Stewart
sat upon the floor and saw his Republi-
can friends vote as unit in favor of clos
ing the debate in ten minutes upon bill
which is intended as the initial move for
the utter destruction of the silver dollars
now coined. H. F. BARTrNE.