Year: 1879

After the passage of the bill allowing
expenditures for the purchase OF sites
in connection with the improvement OF
the Kentucky and Great Kanawha
rivers, and of the bill for permis-
sion to lease a building for the Wash


ington City pOstOffiCe, Mr.. Warner at
tempted to have his silver bill consider
ed but failed to obtain the necessary
two-thirds vote.


The business OF the morning hour
was then taken up the bill in regard
to the transfer of cases from State to


Federal Courts.


The morning hour was occupied in
the discussion of the bill by Messrs.
Townshend, of Illinois, and Orth, after
which the Senate bill removing the po-
litical disabilities of John :. Saunders,
OF Baltimore, was passed.


The House then resumed COnsidera-
ton of the bill to amend the laws re-
lating 10 coinage and to coin and bull
lion certificates.


Mr.. Ewing SAID that the first and most
serious objection TO the bill was that the
government would lose the difference
between the present bullion value and
the coin value of silver. lie understood
that an amendment was being consid-
cred by the friends OF the bill which


would meet this objection. That
amendment provided for an issue of
certificates for bullion. They should be
issued only for the market price OF bull
lion, leaving coinage free and unlimited.
He should be quite satisfied to have
that amendment adopted, provided it
left TO silver its full character of money
metal. Another objection made was, if
the bill passed there would be an enor-
nous flow of silver into the United
States. lie argued to show that if
all the silver in the world were
dumped into the mints of the
United States it would not amount
To SlOO,000,000. He opposed
the amendment offered by Mr. Kimmel
increasing the standard dollar TO ago
grains. 1t was not the time to change
the value OF gold or silver. Let Con-
gress remonetize silver, and if large
difference remained between the gold
and silver dollar then it would be time
to determine by what method they
should be equalzed. lie admitted that
it was desirable to equalize the gold and
silver dollar, and let them float here and
abroad with the same value. In order to
make them equal it was not necessary 10 !
increase the silver dollar. The gold dol |
lar might be brought down some and !
the silver dollar brought up some,
though a more just plan would be |
that adopted in 1884, which !
had brought higher priced coin down in
.f
The United States was the great silver !
producing country OF the world, and adj !
vocates of this bill were appealing to |
the representatives OF the people to let !
the great American money product be |
money instead of letting it be demOne-
tized. Applause on the Democratic |
side. If he were the strongest advocate |
of resumption he would say, reinforce |
your gold with all the silver !
money YOU can at the old ratio |
of Is to !, lthe highest rate |
ever established between silver and !
gold, and when foreign trade turns |
against YOU If it should turn and |
when YOU have got to send your bonds |
or gold to Europe, ii you have S2OOOOO,- |
600 or S3O0,0O0000 in silver coin be- |
hind your gold you can send your coin |
and not subject yourself TO the humilia- |
ton and shock of the suspension of !
specie payments. Applause on the !
Democratic side Referring to the |
demOnetization OF silver by the nations !
Of the world, he said the reason for it !
was that the usurers of the world had |
combined To double their wealth, to
double private and public debts and to !
double private expenditures on the |
shoulders ofthe labOring people. 1t was
gigantic and mOnstrOus conspiracy
against the people of the world. He
referred to the demonetzation act OF
1873 as a damned fraud. 1t would be
rs we'll to search for the murderer OF
Nathan as to search for man who put
upon that law the demOnetiZatiOn OF the
silver dollar Applause on the Demo
cratic side. OF course he said irCnical-
lv) il was a mistake ltOnly added five
billions to the wealth of the creditor
class. Ii was a miStUke, but men did not |
often make so much money by mistake.


Mr.. kelly-Was it not more OF an ac-
cident than mistake?


Mr. Ewing replied that he did not be-
lieve that it was. 1t was an ingenious,
we'll devised, secretly executed fraud on
the American people. Applause on the
Democratic side. The stealth with which
it was done only illustrates the saying
in Merry Wives OF Windsor, "where
money goes before all ways lie open.
The people of Europe and the United
States were laboring under a heavy
weight OF public and private debts and
taxation There must come some relief.
l. e.
from the enforced gold level, and 1t
could only come by restoring silver
and gold to an equal, free unlimited
coinage. Whatever tended to degrade
and impoverish the laboring masses OF !
the country tended inevitably and swift
" To the establishment of a class rule,
which mad always and everywhere only
cursed humanity. Here was a money
metal which was before Abraham, be-
fore Troy, which had remained pre-emi-
nently the money of civilized men. 1t
had been the torch of civilization; it had
lighted Rome into imperial splendor.
When II had been eXtinguished, the
world had sunk for thousand years
into darkness. When it had been re-
kindled, it had lighted the civiliza-
ton OF the two continents. In
conclusion, he said: Shall We use
il? Shall We open our mints
to its unlimited coinage? Shall we
use it to pay and discharge the enOr-
nous burden of the public and private
debt under which the energies OF our
people are sinking, TO tighten the tre-
mendous taxes which so oppress the
people? Shall we Use it to send through
all the arteries of our industries the
thrOb of renewed and vigorous lite?