Year: 1879




proposed and, what is stranger, is that it
should be proposed as a. relief measure. It
provides that bullion may be sold to the gov
ernment at the price for which it was sold on
the market the week previous. Let US see
how this would work. A company of capital
lists buy up all the bullion that is on the mar
ket and then run its price up to the highest
figure. The next week it is sold to the gov
ernment, and by the terms of the bill it IS to
be sold at the market price of the week before
"a price which the company has forced on
the market. It is taken for granted that the
government will be forced to buy oven at these
outrageous terms. y It is no long
or debatable question as to which party is in
favor of national honesty-1l5 Republicans
voting against the bill, and 129 Democrats
voting for the bill:-From the st. Cloud Jour
June IL. g.. ..


It seems to us chat the above car.
ries the policy Of defending ones par
ty, right or wrong, little too far. In
the first place the Warner silver bill
does not provide "that bullion may be
sold Sto the government This is
the, way the part Of the bill bearing
upon that point reads: =


"Any owner of silver bullion may deposit
the same at any mint to be formed into bars
or into standard dollars of the weight of 4l2a
grains troy for his benefit, and no deposit of
ssl0er for other coinage shall be recetred."


There you have it. The Govern
ment is not only not authorized to buy,
but Is expressly prohibited from buy
ing. No silver is to be receiped. for
coinage unless some person brings it
to be coined for his own benefit. The
bill as originally drawn made no REFER
ence to the market price of silver.
The price of silver bullion is now con-
siderab]y lower than its legal tender
value after being coined, but unlimit>
ed coinage would necessarily raise the
market price to as high a figure as the
bullion would be worth for the pur~
pose of coinage. This is one of the
simplest laws of trade. Bullion and
coined metal were always about equal
in value under unlimited coinage laws.
But the Republicans thought they
saw where they could amend the bill
for the benefit of wealthy speculators,
and they never allow an opportunity
Of that kind to pass unimproved. They
raised the objection that there would
always be large difference between
the market price of silver and the VAL
ue Of the coin, and that the Govern
ment, instead Of the owner of the bull
lion, ought to have the benefit of this
difference. Accordingly on the 10th
of last month Mr.. Marsh, a Republic
Can from the Tenth district of Illinois,
offered an amendment to the 4th Sec
tion Of the bill, providing that the
Government should charge for coming
silver bullion sum equal to the diff
ference between the market value OF
bullion and the legal tender value Of
coin. By the aid of few Democrats
and Greenbackers who did not see the
true inwardness of the scheme, the Re-
publicans got this amendment adopted
and greeted its adoption with applause,
This amendment made it necessary tc
amend the 9th and 9th sections of the
bill to correspond with it. Under this
bill any depositor of bullion for coin
age would be entitled to certificates
showing how many coined dollars his
bullion would amount to after deduct
ing, as pay for coming the metal, the
difference between tho market price Of
the bullion 'sfor the week next preced>
Ing such deposit" and the legal tender
value of the coin. These certificates
merely show how much coin the bear.
er is entitled to, and are not considered
as pay. for the bullion any more than
hotel check is considered pay for the
satchel that a traveller has deposited
with the clerk. The bill makes the
certificates receivable for customs be-
cause the Government has the coin on
hand, and it is wholly ,mmateria]
| whether the depositor of bullion calls
for his coin at the treasury depart.
ment or through the custom house.


If the bill provided "that bullion
may be sold to the Government" at
the Journal Press says, the Govern.
ment would have full use and contro
of the coin made; but the bill ex'
pressly prohibits the Government from
using single dollar of it, Every dol
lar must be held until called for BY
the persons entitled to it. As tht
bill was originally drawn, the price O.
silver bullion would come up tt
the figure that it was actually wortl
for the purpose of coinage, and nj
company Of capitalists in the worle
could change that price to any grea
extent. It would be a permanen
thing, without chance for specula
ton. If 4123 grains of standard sll
yer were worth 80 cents for the pur
pose Of coinage, that. would be th,
permanent and Interchangeable marke
price, The amendments demanded
and secured by the Republicans Civ,
a chance for permanent aud system.
attic business Of speculating in silve,
bullion, because nobody can tell how
much, it is worth for the purpose o
coinage until he finds out what thi'
company of capitalists called i
worth the week before, and this is i,
exact harmony with the sRepublica,
legislation Of the last fourteen years
a law that gives no chance for capi,
talists to speculate is in direct violation
Of their code of morality. We thinl
it is. in decidedly bad taste for th,
journal Press to charge the Demo
Gratis with dishonesty because the,
were unable to defeat perniciou
measure that originated on the Re
publican side and was adopted By Re