The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, July 9, 1890, Page 2

Naina car, ba wesc ; ‘7 :-§ i i 2 THE COMING BATILE-CRY. Free-Trade and Free Coinage. Speech of Hon. William J. Stone, of Missouri,in the House of Represen- tatives Saturday. June 9. 1890. Washington, June 7.—The house having under cousideration the bill H.R. 5381, authorizing the issue of treasury notes on deposits of silver bullion, Mr. Stone of Missouri said: Mr. Speaker: Until 1873 we had free coinage of both gold und silver Both were mouey metals, and the silver dollar was worth as much as a gold dollar. The money power, so-called, and properly so called, with a view to curtailing and de- creasing the volume of money circu- lation, in 1883 secured tha passage ofan act which forbade any future coinage of standard silver dollars, and which further provided that the silver already coined should not be legal tender for any sum in excess of $5. By oue quick, sharp, desperate blow, surreptitiously dealt, more than one-half the money producing metal of the country was, for mone- tary purposes, destroyed; and silver dollars already coined, and which had been in circulation for decades, and which was recognized as money in the constitution of the country, were deprived of their legal tender quality. All this done in a single day, without debate, without warn- ing or preparation. It was a dan- gerous and wicked thing to do, and could not have been done in any other country under heaven without bloodshed and revolution, nor prob- ably in this at any other period of its history. So it remained until 1878. Dur- ing that period, from 1873 to 1878, gold was the only money coined at our mints, and was our sole stand- ard of value. In 1878 the house of representives passed a bill repealing the demonetization act of 1873, and restoring to silver its legal tender quality and providing for its free coinage on apar with gold, ac- cording to the law as it stood prior to the act of 1873. The senate re fused to agree to this bill. The sen- ate would not agree to free coinage of silver again; instead it insisted on a limited coinage. of the two houses resulted finally in the passage of an act restoring to silver its legal-tender quality and providing that the secretary of the treasury should purchase and coin not less than $2,000,000 and not more than $4000,000 worth of silver per month. That law requires him to purchase and coin not less than $2,000,000 worth per month; he may in his discretion purchase and coin as muchas $4,000,000 worth per month. That is the law now and has been since 1878. For some years there hus been a growing demand for larger circula- tion. The hoarding of the immense sums of money in the treasury as re- serve funds; the collection by taxa- tion of vast sums over and above the public needs of the government, and the necessary detention of the surplus from active use, together with the rapid retirement of the na- tional bank circulation, have so con- tracted the volume'of money in act- ual circulation as to greatly embar- rass the business of the ‘country, to depress values, to cripple enterprise to add new burdens to labor, to cre- ate the necessity, while it increases the difficulty {of borrowing, and to heap hardships on the shoulders of our people who are unfortunately in debt. This condition of things has originated a wide-spread popular demand for more money. This bill pretends to meet that requirement. Is it properly met, fairiy and satis- factorially met? Is it such a meas- ure as the people of the country and the business of the country demand? Is it an honest, manly, straightfor- ward response to the public demand? Or is it a snare, a deception, a piece of financial juggling? Let us see. Under the law as it is already, un- The conflict do that. He can do it, but he does !not. What he does do is to buy the east amount of bullion the law al- lows him to buy for coinage, name- '1y, $2,000,000 per month. He could | now do twice as much as he does in | this behalf for the relief of the peo- [ple Ifhe did all in his power it would not be enough; but it would |be asource of great relief. If he \earried out the law as it is, to the fullextent of his power, he could add more than $62,000,000 annually to our circulation. I say that be- cause under the law the seigniorage goes to the government. The seig- niorage amounts to about $300,000 on every $1,900,000 worth of bullion On $4,000,000 worth of bullion per month,or $48,000,000 worthiper year seigniorage would amount to $14,- 000,000 per year. So that under the present law, the secretary of the treasury could add $62,000,000 to the sum of our money volume. However, instead of doing that, this bill is proposed. | What wiil it do if it becomes a law? In the first place it will repeal the law of 1878. It will put an end to the coinage of the $2,000,000 being coined, or the mandatory coinage of any sum. It will again close the doors of the mints against silver. Silver will cease to be coined as money. It will in effect, demonetize silver again. That is one thing it will do,and that will be another triumph of the sin- gie gold-standard people over silver, another triumph of the magnates of Wall street. What next? The bill directs the secretary of the treasury “to pur- chase from time to time silver bul- lion to the aggregate amount of $4,500,000 worth in each month, at the market price thereof, not ex- ceeding $1 for 371.25 grains of pure silver.” That is the specified sum he is required to purchase. That amounts to $54,000,000 worth per year. How is this bullion to be paid for? The bill provides that the sec retary of the treasury shall “issue in payment for such purchases of silver bullion treasury notes of the United States to be prepared by the secretary of the treasury, in such form and in such denomination, not less than $1 nor more than $1,000, as he may prescribe.” That is to say, the secretary shall buy silver bullion from the produc- er, the mine owner, to the extent of $4,500,000 worth per month,or $54,- 000,000 per year, paying therefor the market price for bullion, with this limitation—that he shall never buy less than 371 25 grains of pure silver for $1. To pay for it he is re- quired to prepare certificates or treasury notes to the amount of $4;- 500,000 per montb,and deliver them to the owner and _ seller of the;bul- lion in payment therefor. Now, what about these treasury notes? They are to be legal-tender for all debts, public and private, ex- espt when otherwise stipulated in the contract, and shall be receivable for, customs, taxes and all public dues. So far so good. What next? They are made redeemable in two ways. First, they are redeemable on demand in coin, at the treasury of the United States or at the office of any assistant treasurer of the United States; second, the holder of the treasury notes may, at the dis- cretion of the secretary, exchange them for the bullion on which they were issued, receiving therefor an amount of bullion equal thereto in value at the market price of bullion on the day of exvhange. Now, if this proposed bill should be honestly executed according to its apparent purpose, it would result in adding annually $54,000,000 of these treasury notes to the sum of our money circulation. There is no provision in the bill, however,which will require the secretary to buy in one month a different lot of bullion from that which he had the month before. Inother words if the sec- retary should be se disposed he could conspire with the banks of New York. so that the banks could at the beginning of any month pre- sent and sell to him the $4,500,000 of bullion, and at the end of the month take back the treasury notes to him, or such part as they may der the act of 1878, the president, | see fit, and exchange them for the through the secretary of the treasu- ry, can purchase and coin $4,000,. 00 of bullion into standard silver | day, or the next month. That oper- dollars per month. He has the right, the power, under the‘existing law to| to month indefinitely, same bullion, and thus have in readiness to sell again on the next ation could be repeated from month 80 that really | about the farmers of the West. The there would be no increase whatev- {farmer is the subject of much er in the actual circulation, or| hypocritical solicitude at this time. the amount of increase, if any,could 1 You think you can fool him, and I be controlled by the banks. It will | guess you can. You generally do. not doin the light of past experiences | But if you really wanted to kelp him that the secretary will not dojas you pretend to, why do not you that. Secretaries have conspired| passa simple bill for the free and | with banks in the past. The|unlimited coinage of silver? That that is present secretary is opposed to sil-| is what the farmer wants, ; jwhat he demands. That isa sim- ple proposition which he under- stands. Instead of that you bring in here this abominable monstrosity and call ita silver bill. You not only refuseto passa free coinage bill, but you refuse to let us have even a vote on the proposition of free coinage. You have brought in and forced througha special rule for the consideration of this bill. Under this rule the previous ques- tion is to be considered as ordered at 3 o'clock to day, at which hour the debate is to close. Only three amendments can be offered under this rule. The Speak- er has already recognized three Re- publican members to offer those amendments. They are pending now. It was all cocked and primed beforehand. Here my colleague, Mr. Bland, stood demanding and pleading to be permitted to offer an amendment ‘ providing for the free coinage of silver. Here the rest of us stood at his back joining in that demaud. The Speaker deliberately turned his back upon this side of the House, and recognized the three ;entlemen on his own side who had been selected and designated to of- fer all amendments permitted by the rule. Thus we are arbitrarily and insolently refused the bare right to submit and have voted upon the proposition to enact a law for the free and unlimited coinage of silver. Why is this? How does this hap- pen? With a possible half-dozen exceptions this side of the House is ready and anxious, every man of us, pacity.” By that I mean that the/|to vote fora bill re-establishing the treasury notes provided for in the|free coinage of silver; and there are pill can not be used, as silver dollars |a number of gentlemen on that side may, in the payment of our nation-|from the Western State who fayor al bonds. The bonds now stipulate|the same thing. A majority of this for payment in coin. The standard | House is distinctly in favor of free silver dollar coined under the act of! coinage, though nota majority of 1878; und which act you now pro-| the Republican Representatives. A pose to repeal, is a coin which can | majority of the Republican Repre- be used in the payment of our na-|sentatives are against it. Hence tional debt, while the treasury note | that select company of statesmen you are now proposing to issue is] who parade as your leaders on that to be legal tender for all debts, pub-| side put their cunning heads togeth- lic and private, “except where other-|er to devise some plan to prevent a wise stipulated in the contract.”|vote on the proposition of free coin- The bonds come within the excep-|age. They know such a bill would tion. The bonds are fast maturing, | pass if we could get toa vote. So and this bill means that silver coin|they got you all into caucus. The isto be got out of the way, sothat|The free-silver Republicans, sent gold only cau be paid. Itis the bill|here by their constituents largely of the bond-holder and the money-| upon that issue, were whipped into changer. I know the third section | line. of the bill authorizes the secretary of the treasury to coin any part of the bullion in his possesion which he may find necessary to use in redeem- ing any of these treasury notes; but I would state my salvation withcut fear of loss that he will never find it “necessary” to coin a dollar. Such of these treasury notes as may get into circulation will stay in circula- tion until they are destroyed. They will not be presented for-redemp- tion at all, it will be for redemption in bullion by those who may have a purpose to serve. Atall events the secretary has at his command already millions of silver dollars, and he can easily manage it so as to use the coin on hand, if he should have occasion for it, and thus avoid the necessity of additional coinage. Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to this bill, becanse— 1. In effect it will demonetize sil- ver and make ita mere commodity. 2. It will not increase the circu- lation. 3. It would repeal a bill under which greater relief could be afford- ed, if relief was the thing really de- sired; and the tendency, therefore, will be tocontract, rather than to enlarge, the circulation. 4. It will prevent the use of sil- ver in the payment of our national bonded debt. 5. It will furnish a ready means for the expansion and contraction of the currency at the pleasure of the banks, with the concurrence of an accommodating Secretary, and will thus place the business of the coun- try more firmly in the grasp of the money power than ever before. Sir, I heara great deal of talk ver. He does not disguise his op- position to its further coinage. He boldly proclaims that any increase in the coinage of silver—that the continuance of its coinage—is un- wise and dangerous. The original bill which we are now considering came from him. He has instigated this movement with a view to put- ting an end to the further coinage of silver dollars. Is it vain, there- fore, to presume that he willso manipulate the law in its execution as to defeat the purpose for which it was proposed? But even if honestly administered | what then?. Is it better than the present law? Is it as good? Wiil it add as much to our circulation as might be added under the act of 1878, which is now the law? Cer- tainly not. I have already shown that if the administratien really de- sired to relieve the financial pressure on the country the secretary of the treasury, under the act of 1878, could increase the volume of money in circulation to the extent of more than $62,000,000 per year; while if you pass this bill, thereby repealing the act of 1878, you can not add to our circulation more than $54,000.- 000 annually. Under the pretense of increasing the circulation you propose to repeal a law under which you can coin 62,000,000 of your standard, legal tender silver dollars, in order to enact a law under which you cn add only $54,000,000 of treasury notes of an uncertain and fluctuating value, and with an inferi- or leyai tender capacity. I say ‘an inferior tegal-tender ca- We all heard the amusing and somewhat humiliating colloquy which took place here on the floor during the debate on yesterday, be- tween the gentleman from Massa- chusetts, Mr. Walker, and the gen- tleman from Illinois, Mr. Payson, both of whom are prominent Repub- lican members of this House. The gentleman from Massachusetts was endeavoring to convince himself or somebody else that silver as money isa bad thing. He had asserted that there is goldcoin enough in this country and in the world to answer the monetary needs of man- kind in carrying on the business and commerce of the world. He had accompanied that statement by the remarkable declaration that to in- crease our circulating medium would be to add to the burden of misery our people bear. Thereupon the gentleman from Illinois rose to his feet and asked if he might interrupt the gentleman from Massachusetts. “Oh, yes,” replied the gentleman from Massa- chusetts, “I heard jyour speech in the Republican caucus the other night, andI heard you say that your people would not send you back to the next Congress if vou voted against free coinage.” We were amused on this side at this in- discreet exposure of the secrets of the caucus. The gentleman from Illinois, however, was not amused. He replied petulantly that he rose to ask a question in good faith, and not to convert the proceedings into a circus. The gentleman from Massachusetts, stung by the words and manner of the gentleman from Illinois, without stopping to reflect, (comtznued on next page.) 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