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Silver.
SPEECH
OF
HON. J O H N S. W I L L I A M S ,
OF
IN THE HOUSE
MISSISSIPPI,
OF
EEPRESENTATIYES,
Tuesday, August 22, 1893.
The Hons© having under consideration the bill (H. R. 1) to repeal a part of an
act, approved July 14, 1890, entitled " A n act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes"—
Mr. WILLIAMS, of Mississippi, said:
Mr. SPEAKER : I feel keenly tho ridiculous attitude in which I am
placed of undertaking to speak here and now, and I feel, as other
gentlemen have perhaps felt before me upon their first plunge into
the political world at Washington, like rising in my seat simply to
thank the Speaker sincerely for the magnificent opportunity wliich
he has given to me, as sixth upon the night list, to speak to a lot of
pages and empty benches. [Laughter.] And I felt, in justice to
the dignity of the district I represent, the largest in the State of
Mississippi and the most Democratic, inclined to decline with
thanks the honor. But, sir, upon second thought, it occurred to
me that iill of us were very small people in the city of Washington,
and that it was best to he submissive to the will of the House; and
besides that there was a duty due to the people X have the honor to
represent; that it was due them not alone to publish in the RECORD,
but to stand on the floor of this House and to voice the eternal warfare which they now inaugurate and will never end against a policy
the ultimate result of which would be to reduce tho free farmers
who constitute nine-tenths of the population of that district to the
condition of German Bauern, of Scottish crofters, or of Irish tenant
farmers.
It struck me that I would not be doing my duty to them to allow
even the ridiculous situation which surrounds me to prevent me
from expressing their voice and views. Therefore, without apology,
which will necessarily consume time, and with the modesty which
is becoming in one who has had no legislative experience here or
elsewhere, who, furthermore, has had no official experience of any
sort, never having held or sought aji office in my life, coming here
from the people, fresh from the agricultural people of the country,
voicing the wishes of the great agricultural Democracy, which, I
submit, is as respectable and just as much entitled to weight as are
boards of trade or the commercial exchanges in this broad land,
having no vantage ground at all, unless it be one (and I hope for
the sake of the American people and the honor of Congress that it
is not)—unless it be one to occupy the ground of entire sincerity of
conviction, and honesty of purpose, I shall undertake tophmgeinto
this great debate.
The first step that I shall take will be to request the Clerk to read
an extract from a paper which I now send up—the Boston Traveller..
The Clerk read as follows:
[Special Dispatch to the Traveller.]
"WASHINGTON, D. C., AU^. 14—President Cleveland has determined to apply his
most heroic influence to bring about the speedy adoption of the silver repeal bill.
He has issued instructions to all of his Cabinet officers that there shall be no
more appointments made upon the recommendation of men in Congress about
whose .vote upon the silver problem therq is any doubt.
He has gone even further, and has directed that there shall bo extended no
official courtesy whatever to anyone in Congress until it is known how his voto
is to be cast upon tho silver question.
Two Senators from the far West called upon Secretary Hoke Smith the other
day and asked to have enforced certain laws adopted by the last Congress relating to Indian reservations, and they were surprised to be informed by the Secretary of the Interior that the Department would take no action upon the request of
men in Congress until after the Sherman law was ropealed.
The Senator attempted to explain to Secretary Smith that there was not tho
slightest partisanship or personal favor to them in the request made, but the
Secretary of the Interior replied that he was carrying out instructions and there
would be nothing done except the routine of the Department until after the silver
question was disposed of.
\
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Now, Mr. Speaker, I have had
that article read and I desire to make no comments save to say two
things: First, that I do not believe a word of it. I believe that it
133
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is a base calumny upon the leader of the Democratic party and the
President of tho United States. I do not believe and can not believe that an administration headed by a man whom I have reverenced and admired, and taught the people whom I represent to
reverence and admire, headed by a man who has made himself dear
to the American people not alone by saying that "public office is a
public trust" but by acting it; who has carried that principle
farther than I would have carried it, so far that he has declined to
use official patronage for the purpose of rewarding the men who have
carried the cause of sound political jmnciples to a successful issue
or of punishing the common enemy, the Republican party; I decline to believe that an administration headed by that man for
whom I have demonstrated my respect and reverence now for three
Presidential periods, by advocating his causo to the best of my
humble ability, not alone after nomination but before it, could
change its position and sink to the base and contemptible littleness
of using official patronage to disrupt tho Democratic party, for
that is the. purpose if it were to be done.. [Applause.] For, Mr.
Speaker, men ought to be affected with the natural consequences
of their acts.
That is one thing that I wanted to say. The other is this, in
behalf of the Southern men who sit here: Even if I believed that,
it would demonstrate to my mind but one thing, and that would be
the woeful lack of knowledge of human nature which must exist
in the mind of the author of such a policy.
You, a Southern man, Mr. Speakerv just think of the attitude in
which this places you, for a moment. For ten long years we, the
gentlemen of the South, bore on our lances the cause of local selfgovernment and civil liberty on the American continent, with no
aid from any quarter except now and then a random shot from old
New York (God bless her; although Bhe is wrong now on this question) and the persistent musketry of little New Jersey. But can
it be that any man of common sense believes for a moment that
that magnificent cohort of Southern gentlemen, who stood out manfully for self-government, with the charge of treason palsying every
norve and oppressing them in every effort, could be controlled and
cajoled at this late day by a few pitiful post-offices. [Applause.]
During that entire period, amid darkness and clouds, with no
break in the monotony of the gloom, save now and then a lightning
flash accompanying a thunderbolt hurled from Washington: when
legislatures were dissolved at the point of the bayonet ana good
men torn from their wives' sides at dead of night and hurried to
Sing Sing—without so much as one ray of the gentle sunshine of
official favor in nation, State, or county—we fought fiercely on and
at the end conquered a peace and renewed position.
And I take it, Mr. Speaker, that the men of the West, free born
and manly, are as courageous as we are, and are aB firm in their
convictions,* and I know that the magnificent race from which we
spring, armed with the sense of mastery that it has always been
able to exert, with the spirit of domination that has made it master
wherever it went, is not to be controlled in that sort of style, whoever else may be.
And, Mr. Speaker, if there were a man upon this floor so contemptible as to be induced by such reasons to take a position
contrary to his convictions, I would ask of his constituents, if
they be a Southern constituency or a Western one, that when he
goes home "they may meet him at the border, and kick him in a
westerly direction through the northern tier of counties, then in a
southerly direction through tlie western tier of counties, then in an
easterly direction through the southern tier of counties, then in a
northerly direction back to the point of beginning; and then give
him one grand boost and land him in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts [applause], where there exist gentlemen who are willing to
rise upon this floor and say " Put me down as one of the President's
gentleman ushers." [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker, in the old country, where maids of honor, amid the
scented perfume of the court, are glad to be prostituted to the
pleasure of the executive, and are not ashamed of tho bastards
which result, there are men who yet consider it an honor to be
gentlemen " flunkeys.7' [Laughter.] In God's name, may the taste
not spread in America t
Mr. Speaker, I wish in the next place to insert in my remarks m
the RECOKD an article from the New York Recorder which expresses
so nearly my opinion in certain respects that I shall make it a part
of the RECORD, because I believe that a record is now being made,
and partially even by as humble an individual as myself, which in
1896 shall be made a part of the war material of the battle, a part
of the war material necessary then. The article from the Recorder
is as follows:
GIVE US FREB SILVER,
The Recorder believes that the time has come when the will of the people mast
2
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
be enforced alike upon Congress and the President, and tlie mints of the United plete paralysis of all enterprises, the utter collapse of credit, tho completo prostration of trade from Now York to California, and the consignment of myriads of
States be thrown open to the freo coinage of silver.
.
,
Thefinancialand business situation is admittedly bad. There is 110 need to " ^ k i n g people in every city and State in the Union to idleness and starvation.
The Recorder pleads with all its power that this whirlpool of contraction may
exaggerate it. It might bo worse. It will become worse, much worse, unless
Congress and President Cleveland can got togethor and relieve the existing com- not be opened. President Cloveland and Congress must get together and prevent
it. The people must raise their voices now and demand their own salvation. If
mercial congestion by prompt and adequate legislation.
The President admits in his recent mossage that the repeal of the silver purchaso silver be not restored quickly to free coinage, the most optimistic man can not look
law of 1890 will not fully meet the exigencies of our situation. It is confessed on torward six months without fear. Millions of unemployed, wageloss men, with
all hands that to simply repeal tho Shorman act and stop there will not leave our their wives and children crying for bread that can not be earned for them, will bo
currency upon a satisfactory basis, or provide for a safe and sufficient circulating hard to reason with. But they will have to bo reasoned with if silver is outlawed
from the mints. And it will be idle to tell them that it was thought best to starvo
medium.
™
The business of this country can not bo done upon a purely gold basis. J-here them UL order to place the country on the same gold-standard footing as England.
Repeal tho act of 1890, readmit silver to freo coinage at a new and reaaonablo
is too much business to be done, and too little gold to do it with, to justify the
experiment of a currency based wholly on one metal, and that one the scarcer and ratio, and do it quickly. That, and nothing less than that, will put the business
dearer of the two. The total disfranchisement of silver as a money metal, which of the countryfirmlyon its feet again, give now heart to capital, now hope to labor,
seems to be the aim of tho gold extremists at Washington, means a violent and and restore good times throughout the land.
If this be not done and the antisilvcr madness prevail, tho prosperity of the
ruinous contraction of values. The mere threat of it has already given the first
country can not be recalled, and its peace will soon be in serious peril.
sharp twiat to the screws of contraction.
To persist in tho total elimination of silver from our currency is madness. The
Tliink o f i t ! A f e w years ago there w a s a sort o f nondescript
lead of tho gold monometallists has been followed far enough. It is time to call
Where
a half, and demand that silver shall pe put back in the place it held for eighty k n o w n as a p r o t e c t i o n D e m o c r a t . D o y o u r e m e m b e r h i m ?
years, from tho formation of the Government down to 1873, and be made again is h e n o w ? A t h o m e o r o n t h e o t h e r side o f t h i s c h a m b e r .
one of the two main pillars of the American system of currency and coinage.
A n d I w i l l t e l l y o u , i n t h e n a m e o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l classes a n d i n
It is evident that his party in Congress is not fully with the President, and t h e n a m e o f t h e y e o m a n r y o f A m e r i c a , w h o d o n o t l i v e in c i t i e s o f
will not act upon his initiative unless he will assent to a provision by which sila
h
undred thousand population and over, that four years f r o m n o w
Ter shall be retained as a partner with gold on a.just and fair ratio in the metallic
basis of a nation's money. Congress is not ready and willing to repeal the act t h e y are n o t g o i n g t o etej) o u t a n d b e a t t h o o l d D e m o c r a t i c p a r t y
of 1890 until tho President on his side is prepared to give his assent to a new law b e c a u s e a m i n o r i t y h e r e j o i n h a n d s w i t h an a l m o s t s o l i d R e p u b l i c a n
based on bimetallic principles restoring silver as a money metal and reestablish- p a r t y a n d d e f e a t t h e w i l l o f t h e p e o p l e , b u t t h e y are g o i n g t o c a p ing tho double standard.
This is the perilous feature of the situation at "Washington. If tho President t u r e a n d h o l d t h e m a c h i n e r y o f fche D e m o c r a c y ; a n d t h e " m o n o and Congress can not harmonize their views and act together without long de- m e t a l l i c D e m o c r a t " w i l l b e w h e r e t h o p r o t e c t i o n D e m o c r a t is t o - d a y .
bate and delay, tho crisis through which the trade and industry of the country [ A p p l a u s e . ]
are passing must and will grow more acuto. Is there any way of bringing them
N o w w h a t s t r a n g e p o s t u r e are w e in, g e n t l e m e n , p o l i t i c a l l y s p e a k together? Ouly, as the Recorder thinks, by putting Buch a pressure ofpublic
opinion upon them both as will compel them to meet on middle ground and take i n g ? A m a j o r i t y o f t h e D e m o c r a t s i n t h o Senate, n e a r l y a t w o thirds majority, and a majority o f the Democrats in this House
decisive action.
Tho President is not justified in asking for the unconditional repeal of tlie s t a n d h e r e i n f a v o r o f c a r r y i n g o u t t h a t p l a n k o f t h o p l a t f o r m a t
present silver law. To postpone the definite readjustment of our currency laws, C h i c a g o w h i c h s a i d :
leaving silver demonetized and its use as a standard money metal wholly pro"We holdhibited, would, in the Recorder's opinion, precipitate a financial and business
catastrophe compared with which all past panics would seem to have been mere
Mark the language—
bugaboos.
Absolute gold monometallism spells ruin, universal and unsparing ruin, for to the use—
the people of this country.
Not the certification—
Congress is right in demanding securities for the silver already coined and represented in our paper circulation, and a guaranty for the permanent retention of of both gold and silverboth metals and the historic doublo standard, at a ratio to be fixed with a due reAs w h a t ! not subsidiary coin—
gard to tho existing conditions of the currencies and coinages of the world. Congress stands for tho American people in this matter. It is their dearest inter- as tho standard money of the country, and wo believo in tho coinago of both metals
ests which it is defending in defending their constitutional currency—gold and without discrimination or charge of mintage.
silver.
I w a s surprised to hear m y learned friend f r o m Tennessee [Mr.
The single gold standard has never been sanctioned or desired by the people of
this country. Their will has been over and over again expressed to the contrary PATTERSON] t h o o t h e r d a y l i k e n his p o s i t i o n h e r o as a r e p r e s e n t a at every election and in every Congress for sixteen years past. Their determina- t i v e o f t h e p e o p l e t o t h a t o f a l a w y e r w h o h a d m i s a d v i s e d h i s c l i e n t .
tion that silver shall not bo outlawed at the mints tiaa been clearly and forcibly W o o c c u p y n o s u c h a t t i t u d e . I k n o w n o t w h a t h e m a y h a v e s a i d t o
shown by overwhelming majorities in both branches of Congress. It never was h i s p e o p l e u p o n t h e s t u m p . I k n o w n o t w h a t y o u m a y h a v e s a i d t o
stronger than it is to-day.
The clamor of the money-changers, the usurers, and tho stock gamblers, in- y o u r s . Y o u r c o n t r a c t is t h e r e . I h a v e n o c r i t i c i s m t o m a k e o f i t
spired by tho English influences that radiate from Lombard street, and which so f a r as t h a t is c o n c e r n e d ; b u t a m a n d o e s n o t o c c u p y t o w a r d h i s
represent the organized rapacity of tho world, has not shaken the faith of the c o n s t i t u e n t t h e a t t i t u d e o f a n a d v i s i n g c o u n s e l . H e is a p u b l i c
American masses one iota in the honesty, the justice, tliu fairness, and, above all, s e r v a n t , sent h e r e t o o b e y t h e i r m a n d a t e , a s e r v a n t i n t h e t r u e s t
the vital necessity of maintaining silver side by side with gold in their national
B ense, w h e r e i t is a n h o n o r t o s e r v e , b u t s t i l l a s e r v a n t , a n d h o
money system.
There may have been a change in the relative measuring values of tho two stands i n t h e a t t i t u d e o f o n e o f t w o c o n t r a c t i n g p a r t i e s w h o h a v e
metals. That has often occurred in the course of history. But that change, e n t e r e d i n t o a c o v e n a n t .
whatever it may be, can be corrected by a change in the ratio of coinagofromthe
I am in f a v o r o f the free coinago o f silver f r o m honest convictions,
present 1C to 1 to, say, 19 or oven 20 to 1. It does not justify the total abolition
of silver as a standard money metal. England is reported to be at this moment a n d s o t o l d m y p e o p l e ; b u t i f I h a d c h a n g e d m y m i n d n o w I w o u l d
exchanging her gold for Indian silver oh tho basis of 22 to 1, showing that even n o t c h a n g e m y v o t e . A s a g e n t l e m a n , I w o u l d n o t u n t i l I h a d first
tho leading gold standard country recognizes that silver possesses an exchange- r e s i g n e d a n d g o n o h o m e t o m y p e o p l e a n d g i v e n t h e m t h e p i t i f u l
able value with gold at some ratio that can bo fixed. And we may be sure that o p p o r t u n i t y t o a n s w e r t h e q u e s t i o n , " H a v e y o u c h a n g e d y o u r s V'
the Bank of England, in fixing it at 22 to 1, has been as unfair to silver and as
[ A p p l a u s e . ] I t is a c o v e n a n t , a b a r g a i n , a c o n t r a c t , a n d a n h o n o r partial to gold as it has dared to be.
The Recorder earnestly calls for a general expression of the popular will loud a b l e m a n k e e p s i t . I u n d e r s t a n d i n t h o p a r t i c u l a r c a s e o f t h e g e n and clear and general enough to make tho President and Congress understand that t l e m a n f r o m T e n n e s s e e t h a t h e t o l d h i s p e o p l e u p o n t h e s t u m p t h a t
tho people demand immediate relief from tlie stifling and stagnating currency con- h e d i d n o t k n o w w h e t h e r h e w a s i n f a v o r o f f r e e c o i n a g e o r n o t , a n d
ditions from which tlioy are now' suffering; and that, while they want tho act of
1890 repealed, they also want tho freo coinage of Bilver restored at such new ratio t h e y s e n t h i m h e r e a n y h o w . I w a n t e v e r y b o d y t o u n d e r s t a n d
as the wisdom of Congress may see fit to fix.
Mr. T R A C E Y . W i l l the gentleman allow m e t o ask h i m a quesThe money power has spoken for gold monometallism, and Mr. Cleveland seems t i o n ?
to be its executive echo. Xow let the people be heard and Mr. Cleveland be clearly
T h o S P E A K E R pro tempore. D o e s t h e g e n t l e m a n y i e l d t o t h o g e n informed that Congress,- and not he, represents the national will on this matter of
tleman from N e w Y o r k ?
admitting silver as well as gold to the mints.
Gen. Grant oncc said, speaking from the same chair nowfilledbv Mr. Cleleland:
M r . W I L L I A M S o f Mississippi. Y e s , I w i l l y i e l d t o t h e g e n t l e m a n
" I have nopolicy to enforeo against tho will of the people." ThoKccorderrecom- from. N e w Y o r k mendS Mr. Cleveland to adopftho sam© attitude on this money question, for it is
M r . T R A C E Y . W i l l the g e n t l e m a n a l l o w m e t o a s k l i i m a q u e s the only one that is worthy of an American President. Congress is the repository
of the people's lawmaking power, and it correctly represents them in resisting the t i o n ? — a n d as h o is t h o l a s t s p e a k e r h e w i l l h a v e t h e t i m e — w h e n t h e
single gold standard crusade, at whoso liead Mr. Cleveland has apparently placed g e n t l e m a n f r o m M i s s i s s i p p i r e f e r s t o t h e g e n t l e m a n f r o m T e n n e s s e e
himself. He can do the nation no better service at this grave crisis in its financial [ M r . PATTERSON] i s h e n o t a w a r e t h a t t h e g e n t l e n i a n f r o m T e n n e s s e e
and business history than to yield gracefully and say with Grant: "Ihavo no policy
in the last Congress d i d v o t e against the free coinage o f silver.
to enforce against the will of the people."
It is of the very first importance that the present state of affairs should not bo
Mr. W I L L I A M S o f Mississippi. Just a m o m e n t ago I Btatedthat
long continued. Business is benumbed in every branch, currency and coin are I u n d e r s t o o d t h a t o n t h e s t u m p t h o g e n t l e m a n f r o m T e n n e s s e e t o l d
alike in hiding, exchange is difficult to effect for want of money to doit with, perh
i
s
people that ho was not i n favor o f tho free coinage o f silver.
fectly sound banks aro embarrassed themselves and can not give ordinary accomMr. T R A C E Y . H e voted in this b o d y against tho free coinage of
modations to their depositors, trado is clogged and hampered at every turn, mills
and workshops are closing in large numbers, and even the most solvent and flour- s i l v e r b e f o r e h e a p p e a r e d o n t h e s t u m p b e f o r o h i s p e o p l e .
ishingfirmsfindit hard to draw on their deposited moneys in such forms as to
Mr. W I L L I A M S o f Mississippi. I d o n o t care f o r t h a t . I w a s
meet their weekly pay-rolls in the usual way.
This is the situation, and it is not improving, but growing worse with ©very s i m p l y s t a t i n g t h a t w h a t I h a d s a i d w o u l d a p p l y t o t h e a t t i t u d e
which I would occupy i f I changed position, and that the gentleday's delay at Washington.
Bad as it is, it would become infinitely worse if Congress wero to yield to the m a n from T e n n e s s e e I u n d e r s t o o d d i d n o t o c c u p y t h e s a m e a t t i t u d e ,
singlo gold standard movement and surrender tho cause of silver. Such a surren- b e c a u s e h e t o l d h i s p e o p l e b e f o r e h e c a m e h e r o t h a t h o w a s n o t i n
der would mean disaster to all classes except tho vultures that alwaysfleshtheir
beaks deepest and gorge themselves fullest on afieldthat is strewn with the vic- f a v o r o f t h o f r e e c o i n a g e o f s i l v e r .
Mr. T R A C E Y . N o w , y o u d o n o t care whether h e t o l d tho House
tims of a vast commercial and industrial calamity. Tho merchant and the manufacturer, the big business man and tho small tradesman, the great mass alike of o r n o t ?
employers and employed, the professional man, the brain-worker and tho brawnT h e S P E A K E R pro tempore.
Does tho gentleman yield t o the genworker, and, more than all, th© laborer and tho wage-earner in every occupation,
will all be drawn down together in the vortex of contraction if silver is outlawed. t l e m a n f r o m N e w Y o r k ?
Sir. W I L L I A M S o f M i s s i s s i p p i . Y o u k n o t f I h a v e o n l y t h i r t y
To make gold the sole standard and the only currency is to diminish the volume
of our*money by one-lialf. That is contraction; and contraction means tho com* minutes*
138
0O^GrEESSIGNAL RECORD.
Mr. TRACEY. You are the last speaker and have plenty time.
Mr, WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Very well, then.
Mr. TRACEY. I wished, in the absence of the gentleman from Tennessee, to call the attention of the gentleman from Mississippi to
the fact that in the last Congress the gentleman from Tennessee
(Mr. PATTERSON) voted against the free coinage of silver, on the
floor here, and then went before his people and was sustained.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from
Now York evidently has not understood me. I have just undertaken
to explain that, although that what I have outlined would he the
attitude which I would occupy were I to vote against the free coinage of silver, I understand that was not the attitude occupied by
the gentleman from Tennessee, because he did tell his people, as I
understand, upon the stump, that he was not in favor of the free
coinage of silver, and, if so, that is his covenant and contract, with
which I have nothing in the world to do. I threw it out generally
for fear it might bo thought I was impugning the motives of an old
and valued friend.
Mr. TRACEY. Well, now, Mr. Speaker
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. He might be, furthermore, justified by his people, and I will admit that as a fact.
Mr. TRACEY. Now, the gentleman from Mississippi has spoken
about the minority of the Democratic party being in accord with
the Republican party on this question, I would like to ask the
gentleman from Mississippi whether, in the event of the majority
of tho Democratic party voting for the unconditional repeal of the
purchasing clause of the so-called Sherman act, that will satisfy
him, and if the members of the party on this floor will then be justified in having favored the unconditional repeal, and whether they
would be justified before tho people for so voting in case, on Monday next, the majority of the Democratic party vote in favor of unconditional repeal?
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. I will answer that question by
saying that if a man said to me, "Suppose the moon was made out
of green cheese? " I -would answer by saying, " But it is not made
out of green cheese, and never will be." [Laughter and applause.]
Mr. TRACEY. I will predict that on next Monday the majority
of the Democrats in this House will vote for the unconditional repeal
of the^purchasing clause of the Sherman act. [Applause.]
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Never, sir, while the world holds.
Mr. TRACEY. You will see.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Now, Mr. Speaker, what else do
we see when we take notice of the peculiar posture of things. That
nearly 100 votes will bo found on the other—tho Republican—side,
which'are looked to by the gentleman from New York and by the
President, as necessary to carry this legislation through. But, I
find another thing. I find, Mr. Speaker, that the entire Southern
and Western delegation here, except a few gentlemen who are the
representatives of large metropoles in which strong banking and
creditor interests control, are on one side, and I find upon the other
side the representatives of the money-lending and creditor interests
of the Northeast.
The exceptions on our side are gentlemen who represent Memphis, Tenn., New Orleans, La., Vicksburg, Miss., Jacksonville, Ela.,
etc.
Mr. Speaker, I think that things have come to such a point that
it is not unparliamentary for mo to give a definition of Congress.
Congress, in tho new dictionary which I propose to write, shall be
defined thus: " A court of appeal from the decision of the common
people, the appeal being always preceded by a motion for a new
trial upon the alleged cause of newly discovered evidence."
[Laughter and applause.]
Now, I will go further in answering the gentleman's question and
say, that even if it were possible that a majority of the Democrats
on this floor can be cajoled or coerced into voting as he predicts,
if the alleged representatives of the great Democratic party of this
country should so vote, they would not reflect the will and
jvislies of a majority of the Democracy, and I propose to stand by
the majority of the Democracy. [Loud applause.]
Why, gentlemen, why was it thai; the pressure came to call this
House together a month earlier than originally contemplated, do
you suppose f Why do you suppose they got up this great pressure
all at once? It was for fear tho panic would cease of itself before
they could get their work in. [Laughter and applause.]
Mr. BRYAN. SO stated by a New York banker.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. It was stated by Mr. Clews, the
great banker; and Mr. Yacob Strauss or Isadore Strauss came right
along down to see the Chief Executive; and although representatives of the people had been writing time in and time out from
April last, trying to get an extra session of Congress in order to stop
the infernal robbery of the McKinley tariff bill, and could never get
even so much as the courtesy of a reply to their letters, yet when
Yacob Strauss came in the game was up and the thing was settled.
[Langhter and applause.] In other words, gentlemen, you have
reached tho point where you have got the debtor and the farming
classes on the one side and the banking and creditor classes on the
other. We can carry tho war into Africa but you can not. [Laughter.] You can not come down into Mississippi and get any converts
who are interested as you are, because, thank God, I live in a State
where there is not a millionaire nor a pauper. [Applause.] We
138
3
have neither tho one nor tho other, and you can not convert any of
your class^down there because they do not exiBt there. But, gentlemen, I do not thank God for tho opposite state of affairs which exists where you and your brother banker, the gentleman from New York
[Mr. HENDRIX] who first addressed us, lives. By the way, on looking into the Congressional Directory I find that he is not a banker,
he is the president of a Trust Company, tho very kind of thing that
the Democratic party says it wants to put down. [Laughter.] I
repeat, you can not make any converts in our part of the country j
but when we get up just within the shadow of your palaces in New
York we can, with perfect ease, find the men whose interests lie on
our side of this question. [Laughter.]
Now, my friends, there are two classes of people who have been
discussing this issue. I admire the courage and consistency of the
gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. SPERRY] who spoke to us tho
other day, and who said: " I want for my people the best money,
the most valuable money." That means, if it means anything at all,
the money which will purchase the most of service or of commodity ; and very relevant indeed was the interruption of the gentleman from Louisiana, [Mr. BOATNER] when he asked him:
Bat, sir, you do not desire that your people shall be paid baok in better money
than they lent, do you?
And, Mr. Speaker, that question was not answered, and it never
will be answered satisfactorily to tho people, nor at all until the
crack of doom, unless gentlemen on the other side should bo
brave and bold enough to come out like that grand old man in England, Mr. Gladstone, who stated the other day that he represented
a creditor nation. That is where you really stand and you had better come out and take your position like men. Do not pray "Good
Lord; good devil." '[Laughter.] Do not say "Good President/'
and in the same speech " Good p e o p l e b u t come right out and tell
what the interests of the people on your side are. [Laughter.] And,
gentlemen, if your constituents have that interest, I do not blame
you a particle for representing their interest. Not at all. On the
contrary, I admire Mr. Gladstone, who, when he was interrogated
on the floor of the House of Commons the other day as to whether
he was going to send tho delegates back to tho monetary conference, replied: «
"What is tho use? What do wo want with a bimetallic convention! I am
afraid—
Said he,
to undertake to state what the amount is, but a very largo amount of money is
due to people who lire within tho United Kingdom from people who live without
the United Kingdom. I should estimate it at not leas than two billions of sterling—
ten millions of American dollars. I admire tho philanthropy of gentlemen who
would malce a gift to our debtors of that amount, bat I do not see what cause wo
would have to congratulate ourselves, though I may perhaps see some reason
why thereat of the world should congratulate itself.
Now, ,my friends, I have referred to this incidentally, but understand me, I talce no part in these flings at tho mother country.
Grand old mother country, who sits there in her islands and rules
the world, as she is ruling it to-day financially, and ruling you New
York people amongst a good deal of the rest of tho world. Had I
stood in Mr. Gladstone's placo 1 would have taken the position that
he took, because it was for the interest of his people. It is no reason
why we should do a thing because England desires us to do it.
Neither is it any reason why we should not do it because she desires
us to do it. Her interest may be ours in any given matter, or it
may not. To say that England wants a thing is no argument for it
or against it; and I believe in my heart than anglophobia is just as
stupid as anglomania. I want gentlemen to understand, therefore,
that I am taking no Btock in any arguments of that sort. Nor am
I taking any stock in another argument that has been used here,
the theory that there has been a conspiracy; because I believe that
there are a large number of people who are as honest as I am and
far more intelligent than I am, who sincerely believe with all their
souls that if this country adopts the free coinage of silver it will sink
to a monometallic silver basis—people, I say, who are just as honest
as I am and among; them chief stands Grover Cleveland. I do, however believe there has been a combination, not a conspiracy, but a
combination, and that combination has been formed by those people
in their own interests. Nor do I blame them, the world being so
full of selfishness, for combining in their own interest. The natural tread of the banking business is in the direction of dearer, or as
they call it, "better" money—a money which will buy more when
they fret it back than it would have bought when they lent it out.
From a purely selfish "business" standpoint, and they do not
pretend to be ruled -by other than business motives—they do not
assume to be philanthropists—theywould be stupid not to operate to
the best of their ability with that end in view. Why should they not
want the principal to grow as well as the interest? Why should
not their great and intelligent chieftains in England, Germany,
France and America cooperate to that end? They would do it unconsciously. And thus there came about "combination "everywhere
•without "conspiracy anywhere—without need for "conspiracy.''
Mr Sneaker, gentlemen speak of silver having been demonetized
b e c a W o f its overproduction; yet until the year 1881 there never
had been a single year since the American and Australian discoveries of eold in which the production of silver measured by weight
was sixteen times the production of gold measured by weight; m
other words, there never had been a year np to 1881 when the basis
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4
of tlie real comparative value of the two metals, which is their comparative rarity, equaled the American ratio of 16 to 1. So that,
when gentlemen say that Bilver has been demonetized by the civilized countries because it was getting too cheap and too abundant
they either show great ignorance indeed or they assume great ignorance on the part of their auditors.
I am not going back to England's initiative in 1816, because England at that time adopted a gold standard for the avowed reason
that gold was the cheaper of the two metals, not because it was the
dearer. England had come out of a great war with a great amount
of debt upon her shoulders; she was not then the great creditor
nation of the world that she is to-day; and when after coming out
of that war she consummated the resumption of specie payments
she did it in gold, because gold was then the cheaper of the two
metals at a ratio of 15£ to 1, which was the ratio in England.
[Here the hammer fell.]
Mr. TRACEY. As I interrupted the gentleman, and as he is the
last speaker this evening, I ask unanimous consent that his time be
extended so long as may be necessary to enable him to finish his
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York [Mr.
TRACEY] asks unanimous consent that the time of the gentleman
from Mississippi be extended indefinitely. Is there objection? The
Chair hears none.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Now, Mr. Speaker, what I intended
to say was this, that the facts in regard to demonetization disprove
the theory that the cause was the overproduction of silver. iWatch
the dates while I run over them quickly. Germany took the initiative in 1871; Scandinavia followed in 1872; the United States came
along in 1873; then there came limited coinage in France and the
Latin Union in 1874; then there came an entire cessation of coinage
in France in 1876 or 1878. Now, Mr. Speaker, at the time the United
States demonetized silver it was worth four mills more than gold in
the dollar at our ratio. Germany consummated the demonetization
in 1873 by putting her silver coins upon the market (I am not mistaken about the date), but she took the initiative legislation in
1871. At that time the amount of silver in a silver dollar was worth
3 cents more than the amount of gold in a gold dollar. Silver was
not demonetized because there was overproduction. In those countries where demonetization took place there were two motives leading to it, one peculiar to Germany, the other common as to Germany
and all the other countries. The motive peculiar to Germany was that
it was thought demonetization would cripple her old enemy, France.
It was a military measure for Germany to go to a gold basis and
dump her silver into France. It turned out to be foolish, because
France upon her bimetallic basis stood there solid and paid out one
billion of gold dollars—five milliards of gold francs—and when she
got through with this payment she was in a more prosperous condition than her neighbor who had received the money.
Mr. TRACEY. Will the gentleman permit me
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. Certainly.
Mr. TRACEY. The gentleman will allow me to suggest that he
is inaccurate in the statement he has just made as to the quantity
of gold paid by France to Germany. The indemnity paid by France
to Germany after the Franco-German war did not include the quantity of gold which the gentleman has stated. A great portion of
the payment was made m silver
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. That is not my recollection.
Mr. TRACEY. Only a small percentage of the payment was made
in gold. A very large j>ercentage was paid in silver and paper.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. My recollection, Mr. Speaker, is
that the payment was made entirely in gold and in paper, and that
paper was paper for which gold was afterward given; BO that, in
fact, the entire payment was made in gold.
Mr. TRACEY. I will ask the gentlemen to refer in his published
speech to the data in support of his assertion.
Mr. WILLIAMS of Mississippi. I understand that the gentleman's recollection of the matter does not accord with mine* I am
ftnnft" to say that verjrpossibly he maybe right and that some of
this amount was paid in silver; but that is not my recollection. I
was in Europe |ibout that time and I heard it constantly said in
Germany where I was a student that there was five milliards of gold
francs to be paid by France. I do not get my view from any historical account, but from my recolleotion of then current events.
The other reasons common to all governments were that such a
course was to the interest of the ruling or so-called better classes,
and that the people had really nowhere a voice in it.
Now, Mr. Speaker, another thing that strikes me as peculiar about
this situation (if you will excuse me a moment) is the air and bearing of my friends who take the position that the only sensible thing
is a gold monometallic currency. You all heard the first gentleman
who spoke from New York [Mr. HEXDRIX] ; you marked his manner; his eyes u i n a fine frenzy rolling" from gallery god to gallery
goddess; his brow arched over his eye; his chest thrown out; his
head thrown back, overlooking this House as a sot of comtemptible
pigmies, whose opinions were not worth consulting. [Laughter
and applause.] His ipse dixit comes like a Papal bull-^cx cathedra.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I submit that nobody in the world, except an
assistant Secretary of State, the negro that stands guard at the
Postmaster-General's anteroom, or a sleeping-car porter, have a
138
right to that sort of bearing. [Laughter.] The first two have it
by the customs of the city of Washington and the last has it by tho
common law of America. [Laughter.]
But it struck me, gentlemen, that perhaps this gentleman, coming
from the same State, thought ho had fallen heir to the manner and
bearing of the late distinguished Roscoe Conkling. If so, I could tell
him two things in that connection; first, that the manner was not
that of Mr. Conkling, for although Mr. Conkling was a man who
spoke his mind, he at all times treated his opponents, both in word
and deed, with tho utmost courtesy. He never called his enemies
or his opponents in dobate "jibbering idiots." Ho never put them
in lunatic asylums. [Laughter.] He never told them that they
were afflicted by "midsummer madness " and all that sort of thing.
Although lie might have thought that all the rest of the world (in
his own mind) were fools, ho nevor allowed them to see that that
was his opinion. Another thing: even if it were the manner and
bearing of Mr. Conkling, whidi tho gentleman from New York
assumes, I can tell him that it would require the superb eloquence
and the magnificent intellectuality, the keen, cutting sarcasm, tho
wit and the incisive logic of Mr. C'oukliiig to carry it off, here or
elsewhere, outside of a couuting house. [Applause.]
But, Mr. Speaker, if you will excuse me for a few moments longer,
the gentleman from New York made some allusion to the evolution
business before he got through with his remarks, and I want to tell
you a little about that matter. He said this was a process of evolution, and that we might as well bare our breasts to the avalanche,
I believe it was, and try to hold it back as to stand athwart the
path of the world's evolution. Now, I take it from what I see of
the gentlemen—I find that he was a newspaper editor first and later
on the president of a trust company—I take it that it never fell in
his way particularly to study the scientific theory of evolution, and
that he needs information as to what it really is. I wilLtake the
liberty of informing him. Evolution, as I understand it, is the
gradual consummation of a natural end by or through a process of
the survival of tho fittest and the extinction of the unfit. To illustrate: An acorn drops from an oak tree and a magnificent oak under
peculiarly favorable circumstances is grown. It spreads its boughs
and its shade in every direction over the adjacent country. Owing
to its favorable environment it grows up a better oak than that from
which the acorn originally fell. Acorns drop from this second oak
and these are better than the acorns from the parent tree, and oaks
continue to grow under the new and more favorable environments,
and these also continue to improve until we have at the end of a
period an improved oak, not much like the parent tree from which
the acorn originally fell, and the acorn from that oak is different
from the acorn of the parent oak, just as the Irish potato is now superior to and different from the original plant discovered in Peru.
But another illustration, Mr. Speaker. It is said that the monkey was the father of the man, and that he lost his appendage
because it ceased to be useful. Not being needed it was not used,
and therefore an extinction of the unfit followed. You know it
takes use to develop the muscles of the arms and the legs, and so,
too, a prehensile appendage or attachment of that sort requires
use to develop its growth. [Laughter.] But there being no use
for it, the monkey under new environments, not having to use this
part of his anatomy, it became weaker and weaker and less and
less in size and usefulness as a tail, until finally it dropped off and
left nothing but a rudimentary appendage. [Laughter.] That is
evolution. But if a man had gone and got a monkey out of a menagerie and taken a broadax and cut his tail off little by little,
that would not have been evolution. That is just what lias been
done with silver. There has been a creditor broadax at work,
first in Germany, then Scandinavia, then France, and then the
United States, and then tho miserable wielder of the instrument
declares that he believes that this broadax is God's principle of
evolution. [Laughter and applause.] As the gentleman has evidently never had evolution explained to him 1 thought it best to
£ive this information.
Now, gentlemen, there is ono argument that has been made in
this Congress in the trial of this great cause before the people which
I want to notice. Gentlemen say, 0, well! Repeal the "Sherman
act now—repeal it now and trust to the common sense of Congress
for a future remedy. I am with you. I am a bimetallism I \rill
vote for a free-coinage bill later, but not as a condition to repeal the
Sherman act. My reply is this: If that magnificent, sturdy, and
very honest gentleman who is Chief Executive of this nation will
trust the common sense of Congress wc will trust it, and you can
repeal the Sherman act, gentlemen on the other side, in an hour, by
the watch, whenever you are ready to give us assurance of liis willingness to trust us and approve our future action.
If there is any sincerity in that argument, bring us here a pledge
from the Executive that ho will not veto a free-coinage bill later on,
and then I will bo with you. But you are net going to get the
pledge. Why ? Because tho President is too honest a man to
pledge himself to do a thing which he is not going to do. And, to
be perfectly plain—I do not understand parliamentary usages, but
I hope I am not unparliamentary—to be perfectly plain, you will
never get from him the approval of a free-coinage bill unless it
goes as an adjunct to the repeal of the Sherman law. You may not
get it in that way, but you certainly will not get it in any other.
5 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
And I find it hard to believo in tho sincerity of gentlemen who appeal to me to throw aside the only vantage ground we have.
Why, Mr. Speaker, when I was a hoy, if I undertook to run and
catch-as-catcli-may with another hoy, and wrestle it out, if I got
the underhold I thought it was ridiculous foi; him to turn and say:
"Well, here, lot us quit and give me the underhold and then call it
a fair wrestle!" [Laughter.]
Now, gentlemen, I come to the discussion of this question first by
Btating what I favor. I favor the repeal of the Sherman law, the
purchasing clause of it or all of it—I do not care which. I favor
that, because that bill was never anything and is not now anything
except a miserable silver bullion subtreasury scheme, and no more
respectable from the standpoint of sound governmental practice
than the subtreasury scheme which was advocated by our friend
from Kansas here,which was to issue certificates of the Government
to pass as money, upon the deposit of cotton, corn, and tobacco. I
favor the repeal of the Sherman bill becauso it was a Trojan horse
cunningly intruded into our fair city of Bimetallism, from which
the enemies were to come, as I thought then and as the event has
since shown, to try to overcome the city.
I favor the repeal of the Sherman law because I have had love
for its enemies and hatred for its friends; but I favor the free coinage of Bilver because I think we have come now to a plain issue, and
that there is no use trying to dodge it; that for this House of Representatives the issue is, Shall we have gold monometallism or shall
we have bimetallism? And the thing to be argued is, " Is bimetallism practicable or possible ? "
Now, Mr. Speaker, in that connection, let me say this: Gentlemen
say bimetallism will necessarily bring us to silver monometallism.
I do not really believe it, but if I did believe it, and if I were put
to the choice and had no other choice, if the sole alternative which
faced me was to accept either gold monometallism, a dishonest gold
dollar, or silver monometallism, a dishonest silver dollar, the former dishonest to the debtor of the country and the latter dishonest
to the creditor of the country, if I could conceive of being placed in
the attitude where I had no other possible alternative but to put my
hands into the pocket of one or the other and rob him, I would ask
heaven's forgiveness for the deed, but I would rob the richer, so help
me God. [Applause.]
But I do not take it there is any such issue as that. I take it
that we have got to come down and get a right money. Now, gentlemen, starting off at that basis, I want to give a definition of
money. It is not my definition, or it would not be worth a copper
cent. There is nothing new in finance. When you have found
anything new it is not worth talking about. It is like religion in
that respect. Mr. Edward O. Leech, the last director of the mint,
in an article in the North American Review in April, 1891,1 believe,
gives a definition of money which he has boiled down from the best
authorities, and it is this:
Money is an instrument used in the exchange of Bervices or commodities, which
is at one and the same time a measure of values and an equivalent of values.
It must be both; and all the money fallacies, the two extreme fallacies which have grown up in this country, have come about by
the disregard of one or the other necessary attribute of money.
The fiat money man totally disregards the equivalency attribute of
money, totally disregards the fact that money in order to be right
money must be something bey ond human control, beyond the control
of politicians to increase or decrease at their sweet will, because, gentlemen, after all, government is a government of politicians. There
are three hundred and fifty odd in this House and eighty odd I believe in the other, but it is a government of politicians. The fiat
money man loses sight of the fact that money must be made out of
something which can not be controlled, infinitely increased, or
largely decreased at mere human will; that it must be a something
which God has naturallyfittedto act as money, just as God has fitted
wheat to be turned into bread, or cotton to be turned into cheap
clothing; that in order to possess the attributes which are necessary, it must be a something found within the storehouse ofnatnrc,
which even human industry and human invention can not produce
at will by increased human exertion, a something which must be
found and in limited amount and with tolerable constancy. It must
be something which will grow in production pan passu with the
growth of population and wealth and transportation, and all the
other instrumentalities of civilization.
On the opposite extreme is the gold monometallist. He loses sight
entirely of the measure of value feature in IIIB sole contemplation of
tho equivalency feature. He forgets that it must be sufficient in
volume to answer the purpose of a measure; that it must be sufficient to measure things with the assistance of other things redeemable in it, and not too much of the other things to be°cuTrently
redeemed in it. He loses sight of the fact that it must be something
not too precious, but which can be divided and brought down, BO
that it will measure the smallest commodity. Both lose sight of
the fact that gold and silver were money many years, not by law,
but before there ever was a law, and that they were money because
they were precious metals, and became more precious metals because they were money.
The question has been frequently asked, "Are gold and Bilver
precious metals because they are money, or are they money because
theyjiro precious metals?" The question is a stupid one. They
138
became money because they were rare and precious, and they became still more precious because of the increased demand for them
in use as money. They were money, as I said, before ever law or
statute book made them such, before a mint or coinage existed, and
if you were to-day, all over the world to rescind every coinage law
upon every statute book in the world they would both remain
money. The only difference would be that they would pass by
weight and assay instead of by tale. Why ? Because God made
them—not legislation, not government, not man's ingenuity fitted
them for it. And how did He do it? He gave them the attribute
of rarity and preciousness; the attribute of infinite divisibility, and
the attribute of comparative indestructibility and that of malleability; the quality of easily taking and permanently retaining
stampage; so that men came to use them just as they came to use
oats to feed horses with, and wheat to grind for bread, because they
were naturally adapted to that purpose. It was a natural use.
There is evolution; not the broadax sort of evolution, but the right
sort of evolution—nature's Entwickelung.
Now, all that the silver men ask you in the world is, to "take
the law off of silver;" treat the two natural money metals alike;
that is all. They ask me, " But can the United States cure an evil
which has been existing, if by demonetization at all, then by the
demonetization of other nations besides our own?" I answer them
entirely and completely, " N o . " But we can undo our part of the
wrong and set the example for other people to undo their part. In
proportion as the wrong is undone, the divergence now existing
between the two metals, instead of widening, will close up to some
extent, but to what extent we can not say.
But gentlemen say there is a largo intrinsic-value difference. My
reply is,you do not know what intrinsic-value difference there is;
and when you use the expression in connection with gold and silver
you use a double middle. When you speak of the intrinsic value
of gold metal, you mean tho intrinsic value and bullion worth, its
use as money considered and accounted for; and when you speak
of the intrinsio value of silver you mean its value as bullion, independent of its use and any prospective demand for it for that purpose. Intrinsic value, gentlemen, is value in use. You can not, as
the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. HARTER] said, fix the price of things
by legislation. You can not pass a law saying that wheat shall be
worth 50 cents, or a piece of paper shall be worth a dollar, and then
make it so; but you can fix the value of things by any law which
increases or decreases either demand or supply.
If I believed, as some gentlemen do here, that if there is to be
bimetallism it must be had by international agreement and that
this is attainable only by our joining western Europe in further demonetization, and thus convincing ourselves and them by a great
" object lesson," I still would not be in favor of doing what they
wish as the first step. They say that you must convince the world
that gold is not to be had in sufficient quantity to carry on the business of the world. That was the argument of the gentleman from
Maryland [Mr. R A Y N E R ] . How will you convince the world? How
will the world receive the demonstration in this way or any object lesson be sufficient to convince the world? What would bring
about this demonstration? It would be a knock-down argument
indeed! An "object lesson" of universal bankruptcy, suffering,
misery, accompanying tumult and riot. As much as I love bimetallism, I do not want to reach it that way. But I furthermore hold
that that is not the best way to reach it. I say there exists not
upon the face of the globe to-day one single institution or law which
came about as the result of international convention unless some
great and strong nation first set the example or unless the u convention" came about as the result of war. Gentlemen oil the other
side may delve in all the history books and find not one instance.
Now, think a moment. Away back yonder, over one hundred
years ago, people thought it would be useful to try to get a given
point of longitude for universal use. Nobody was concerned in the
matter; no vested interests were at stake. You could take the very
point on which I stand now
your starting point, and it wonld Adj u s t a s w e l l as Washington or Paris or London, and it is a great
convenience to science and to mankind that there should be a single
point of ^world-wide acceptance. But mere national jealousies and
inertia have prevented it, and to-dajr England starts her longitude
from Greenwich, America from Washington, Russia from St. Petersbur"- France from Paris, and Germany from Berlin, and the State
of Ttfassachusetts would start it from Boston if it was not too small
a part of the Union. [Laughter and applause.]
Take another matter. There is no man of common sense in this
wide world but agrees that a metric system is the best for weights
and measures, and ever since Thomas Jefferson undertook to bring
it about and had some influence upon the statesmen of the French
Republic in bringing it about there—I do not know how m u c h scientific congress after scientific congress have sent out their pron u n c i a m e n t o e s urging it; yet the two most intelligent peoples of
tho world the head and front of civilization, the one civilizing the
islands of seas and the other civilizing the continents, England and
the United States of America, still measure molasses by the gallon
Now, my friends, I learned when I was a boy that it has been a
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
6
truth over since tlie day when the woodman dropped his axe into
the stream and prayed to Hercules to recover it, ever since the day
when, as we are told in another fable, he prayed to Hercules to lift
his wagon out of the rut, and Hercules told him to first put his own
shoulder to it, ever since that day it has been true that in national
as well as individual undertakings you can never accomplish anything until somebody makes the start. [Applause.]
There is no consummation without an initiation. All are not going to complete what each in turn is afraid to begin. You can't inaugurate a great industrial enterprise on the credit of a wish to see
it succeed. You must " show your faith by your works/' and first
take stock yourself.
,
And who is better fitted to take the start than we? All the
nations now see the bad effects, but each one is standing waiting for
the others, as we are. Each one says: " If I throw myself into the
breach I must take the risk of not being followed and the responsibility on behalf of the nations of the world must rest on me."
Now, Mr. Speaker, I began by saying that I felt the ridiculousness of speaking at all under the circumstances, and I find, to my
astonishment, that I have made it still more ridiculous by making
a serious speech to a row of still half empty benches. [Cries of " Go
on !"] No; I shall stop now, with that degree of forbearance and
politeness that has always characterized mo. [Laughter.] If there
is anything in tho world that I am, it is a sympathizer with the sufferings of mankind [laughter], and, in deference to that feeling^ I
shall stop now and load the people of my district with the remaind e r o f t h i s s p e e c h t h r o u g h t h e CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
SOUTHAMPTON, August 17.
Tho Trave, from Bremen, sailed hence for Now York at 4 p.m. to-day. She
carries $910,COO in gold for American houses.
NEW YORK, August 17,
Tho steamer Lahn, which arrived last night, brought $672,055 gold from Southampton and 1,047,500 francs from Paris. Thore is £57,570 consigned to the Canadian Bank of Commerce in transit to tho Bank of Nova Scotia or Chicago.
[Now York Press, August 19.]
Tho gold stream does not seem to bo interrupted in the least. Tho Spreo made
the record for a merchant steamship carrying gold with its cargo of £805,000,
which arrived last week. Now tho Fuerst Bismarck comes in with $4,200,000 to
fourteen different consignees, and it is evident that some of it will go to Chicago.
As thero is no attempt to report with accuracy the shipments from the other
side, it will bo noticed that every steamship brings more than is reported. The
Etxuria, which is duo to-day, has, it is reported, $1,850,000, which will bring the
total for the week perhaps up to $10,000,000, La Touraino also has a considerablo
amount. Tho Trave, from Southampton, on Thursday had $010,000; the Columbia, from Southampton, yesterday, $1,440,000; tho Campania, from Liverpool, today, $800,000 that is known of, and the Elbe, from Bremen, to-day, $300,000. In addition to all this, Chicago engaged yesterday $050,000, and Kidder, Peabody & Co.,
$50,000. Then the Bank of England yesterday paid out 302,000 sovereigns for shipment to this country, and 60,000 more for Toronto, whence they will quickly find
their way to Chicago. There is little wonder that this makes the stock market
flat abroad.
And notwithstanding all this, people have "been wanting silver
and needing it so much more than gold that they have been demanding silver in preference to gold at United States subtreasuries in exchange for tho Treasury notes issued under the Sherman
hill. In proof whereof listen to this statement of Secretary Carlisle,
made officially in response to inquiries of tho Senate:
[Laughter
and prolonged applause.]
I had just said that we must take tho initiative. Are we in a
condition to do sof Can we afford to coin more silver? If so, at
what rate and for how long a time can we persist in it? The best
argument is always an inductive one—one drawn from our own experience or from the experience of others.
Our own situation first, then.
It is not true that " w o have too much silver," nor that "the
people do not want silver," nor that "silver is driving out gold,"
nor that the certificates under the Sherman bill are driving out gold,
nor, in fact, that gold is being driven out at all now. These statements made, or assumed, as the base of arguments are simply false
in fact, and that is the long and short of it. A premium is being
paid to-day at New York for tho despised silver dollar, and gold is
pouring by the millions daily into this country, there having been
forty millions to come within twenty days.
Listen to the following statement of Watson & Gibson, brokers,
of the condition of things in Wall street. It is not the utterance
of politicians, but of business men for the guidance of their clients:
Tho Clerk read as follows from the St. Louis Republic:
[August 18.]
Secretary Carlisle sent to tho Senate yesterday tho following communication in
reply to a resolution passed by the Senate on "Wednesday requesting certain
information as to the redemption of Treasury notes issued under tho bherman
act:
In response thereto, I have the honor to say that during the present month
Treasury notes issued under the act of July 14,1890,amounting to $714,036, havo
been redeemed by the Government in silver dollars. While I do not pretend to
havo knowledge of the degree of information possessed by the holders of the notes
so redeemed, I am of the opinion that they wero fully advised at the timo of such
redemption that they could have gold instead of silver if they so desired. I baso
this opinion upon the general publicity which has been given to the terms of the
act, no less than upon the instructions of this Department to the Treasurer and
assistant treasurers of the United States. I am also supported in my belief by
the fact that in tho circular of this Department issued to the public for their guidance in their dealings with tho Treasury, and containing the regulations which
govern the issue, redemption, and exchango of the paper currency and the gold,
silver, and minor coins of tho United States, there is a paragraph which reads as
follows:
Gold coin is issued in redemption of United States notes in sums less than
$50, by tho assistant treasurers in New York and San Francisco, and in redemption of Treasury notes of 1890 in liko sums by the Treasurer and all assistant
treasurers.
In further response to tho resolution, I havo to say that recently gold coin has
been presented at an office of this Department and silver dollars asked in exchango
[Special to Tlio Republic.]
^therefor, and that the exchange was not mado for tho reason that all the silver
NEW YORK, August 13.
dollars in the Treasury at the timo were required under the provisions of the laws
Tho following ia a carefully prepared statement of the situation in Wall street relating to the currency to be held in tho Treasury to cover outstanding silver
certificates aud Treasury notes issued under tho act of July 14, 1890. At present
by Messrs. 'Watson & Gibson, brokers, 55 Broadway, !Now York:
" "Where is all that fear of our 65-cent silver dollar? "We were told only a few the Department would not and could not exchango silver dollars for gold coin if
requested
to do so by holders of gold for tho samo reason; but if the conditions
months ago, by the urgent advocates of tho abandonment of silver by this country, that the preference for gold would lead to its hoarding and withdrawal from of tho Treasury were such as to afford a margin of silver dollars in excess of silcirculation, and that everybody would want to pass his silver dollars on quickly ver certificates and Treasury notes outstanding, such exchange would be mado.
to his next neighbor, as they used to pass * wild-cat' currency from hand to hand
So much for the actual condition; that wo need more silver, or
lest it depreciate in the keeping. -Thero is a hoarding of gold, but only by those
else something equally good in its stead.
who can not get the more convenient form of legal-tender paper money.
" Further than this, more gold is now paid into the custom-house and more paid
Now how much more can wo usefully absorb, even granting for the
out by tho Treasury and the banks than in years. Instead of leaving our shores, sake of argument that tho contention of our opponents is correct in
gold is coming this way by every steamer; and, since its loss by export last spring
this
that free coinage at any given ratio would neither close up nor
BO greatly disturbed tho public peace of mind, conversely the return of this gold
ought to, and indeed does, encourage the financial community. But why not go materially diminish tho existing difference "between the bullion
further and say that, if tho gold critics were right last spring in attributing the value of the two metals? How much silver can we support even as
ontward movement of gold to the silver law, they should now ascribe the return
flow to the same measure ? Tho silver bill is a nondescript, but it is the neutral 'token money—discredited and virtually redeemable in gold? Tho
ground between free coinage and tho introduction into this country of-the sole answer to these questions must he drawn irom tho experience of
gold standard, which would have a cramping and contracting influence, and, there- other nations.
tore, it is a sort of ark of tho covenant.
Let us see how far we can ^o, oven treating silver thus unfairly,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
and presuming beforehand lor the sake of argument, that not a
* 'JTo man can gauge the probable measure of legislation on silver. Congress was
called together to rule silver out by what President Cleveland and the ultra-gold nation on tho globe will join us in tho step we take—how far before
num would do namely, to unconditionally repeal tho silver bill* One man's c^ess our silver could or would drive out gold? It will be admitted that
may bo as good as another's, bnt that is no reason why we should be so modest no country is on a sounder monetary basis than France. With its
as not to guess at all. Our guess is a long struggle, a great many speeches, parliamentary moves and rumors, with the final result of a free-coinage bill on a constant political upheavals—its Wilson and Panama scandals,
changed ratio, say 20 or 24 to 1, possibly with a provision for a gradually descend- everything to betoken uncertainty, it seems impervious to panic or
ing ratio, if the ojien market price of bullion shall rise.
monetary disturbance.
" The presentation of such a bill to Mr. Cleveland would be a curious picture of
It has not been long since France saved England from crash, and
the whirling of sentiment and events. Things do not often come out as they are
planned, they "gang aft aglee," and those who are so sure of a repeal of the silver that Gibraltar of financial institutions—the Bank of England—from
suspension. The figures which I shall use, as a basis of computabill without substitute may come to realize this very effectually.
"On Tuesday everything went down after the President's message appeared, ex- tion, are taken from an article written by Edward O. Leech, late
cept silver, which was 74£ bid, but not offered below 75J, as against 73 bid Mon- director of the mint, and published in the April number of the North
day. On Jnne 30, tho day Mr. Cleveland issued his call for a special session of
Congress, silver sold as low as 67 and as high as 69, and on Thursday it sold at America Review for 1891.
They would be, of course, slightly different to-day, but not enough
7sit or l l j cents per ounce higher. This shows the inherently strong position of
silver in tho market."
so to affect conclusions.
Franco had $700,000,000 of silver with a population of 38,000,000,
or a per capita allotment of $18.42. It is true, that Franco is now
coining no silver. But she did not stop coining until she reached
the above figures, and has never had the slightest trouble or ques[Washington Post.]
tion even about maintaining parity between her gold and her silver.
KOBE GOLD FBOM ETTTLOPE—LAHGE CONSIGNMENTS OF THE YELLOW METAL COMING
TO THIS COUNTBY,
The United States had, at the date of Mr. Leech's article, $469,262,000
LONDON, August 17.
of silver and 64,000,000 of population, making a per capita allotGold to the amount of £314,000 was withdrawn from tho Bank of England to- ment of $7.33. Population and coinago have both increased since
day for shipment to tho United States.
and about equally. The difference is $11.09 per capita. W e must
The Hamburg-American line steamer Columbia, -which sails to-morrow from
Southampton for New York, will take consignments of gold valued at $1,440,000. still issue, say, $11 for each man, woman and child in the United
These gold shipments are continuing. I will read these extracts
from tho commercial reports of 17th and 18th from great metropolitan journals:
138
7 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
States to 1)0 on an equal footing with France, as to silver currency,
or a gross additional sum of $704,000,000 silver.
But has not all this silver driven gold out of France? Not a whit,
for France has, in round numbers, $200,000,000 more of gold than
we, and it is increasing, having $900,000,000 as against our $700,000,000, in round numbers.
But you say " can we be expected to stand as much silver circulation as Franco can and does?" Answer me frankly, why not?
There are, indeed, two reasons why the "danger line" for us would
bo farther to seek than for her, first our coinage ratio is 16 to 1, and
hers only 15£ to 1, and, second, Franco must make her calculations
for virtually stationary figures, she is at a standstill as regards
population, and her growth in commerce—in money needs—from decade to decade is very Blight. We grow in population about 25 per
cent (or one-fourth) each decade, and industrially, and in opportunities for the use of money, very much more. If we should liappen
for awhile to overshoot the danger line, which may be somewhere
beyond where Francb stands, we would Boon, like Topsey, "grow
lip to it." A coinage of $288,000,000 the decade, or $28,800,000 cach
year, or $2,400,000 each month, would barely keep pace with the
increase of population at tho rate of $18 per head of increase for
the next decade, even if we did not coin the $704,000,000 to establish the French allotment for our present population.
How long would it require to coin $700,000,000 of silver, in dollars,
quarters, halves, dimes, keeping in mind and coining, each month
$2,400,000 to keep up with the increase of population and business?
The present full capacity of United States mints, working day and
night, and coining nothing but silver, is $5,000,000 (five millions)
per month. Working regular hours, $3,500,000. If run day and
night, full time, it would require of the $5,000,000 possible monthly
coinage tho sum of $2,400,000 to keep pace with population, leaving
$2,600,000 to go on the count as part of the proposed $700,000,000.
This would require two hundred and sixty-nine months or twentytwo years. If present mint capacity were doubled it would require
eleven years. To make the calculation differently—this time leaving tho growth of population and commerce out of the count—to
issue $700,000,000 silver would require running the present mints day
and night and coining nothing but silver the period of eleven years
eight months, by which time the population of the country would
have increased 18,000,000 of souls, requiring for them $324,000,000
more of silver to be coined in order to put us on equal footing for
the thon existing population as to silver with France, leaving us
$200,000,000 behind her in gold.
Stating it differently yet—doubling the mint capacity—working
day and night, coining only silver, we could coin the $700,000,000
in five years ten months, and the population having increased in
that time say eight millions of souls, we would still require
$144,000,000 of silver and $200,000,000 o± gold to be on an equal coin
basis with our sister Republic.
Either of these periods—twenty-two years, eleven years or even
the shortest five years ten months—would give them ample time
for negotiation with foreign powers.
Moreover, it would be an admohition to our Government and an
invitation to others to negotiate seriously.
Hitherto " negotiation" has been a pretext to sidetrack free
coinage.
Wo have either not negotiated at all or else with hope of failure,
or at best with fear of success on the part of our negotiators*
All these calculations are made with a view to the context of the
"Bland substitute" for the "Wilson bill," now before the House.
The substitute is a coinage act pure and simple—"first come, first
served," with no provision for certificates on deposit of bullion.
The only certificates provided for in it, or contemplated by it, are
certificates on the deposit of coin.
There must first be tho actual coinage, before a single certificate
can issue.
There is not now and there never was any just fear of danger to
the monetary system of the United States from too mtroh coin of
any sort. There has been in the past, and there is now, impending
danger from too much uncovered paper, which is money only in so
far as the "measure of value" side of money is concerned, in no
sense as an "equivalent." Pure "measure of value" money is worth
as much as either gold or silver in times of peace, prosperity, and
universal confidence in the giver out of the promises to pay. But
in days of gloom, public distrust, or war, an approximation to an
"equivalent" money will be needed.
It is curious how people howl about an "honest dollar"—"only
SO cents" and all that, when they regard complacently a circulation
of $500,000,000 of uncovered paper—rich man's money. Where, pray
is its value as an "equivalent?" It is merely good as peace and pros-
etized, in actual use, and used chiefly for spoons and waiters.
Fully one-half of this enormous sum of $o00,000,000 of uncovered
paper had best be put into gold or silver, or both. Even then we
would have more uncovered paper afloat than any other solve! ;
nation, except Belgium and The Netherlands, than any other government on the face of the'globo that pretends to maintain specie
payment, except the two named above; for England has only
138
$64,000,000, France but $96,000,000, Germany only $160,000,000, insolvent Italy only $211,000,000, and worse insolvent Austria onlv
$260,000,000.
But they say paper money is so much more convenient. Convenient to whom? To the man who has to carry it, I suppose. The
average citizen is not bothered with over $10 at a time. Tho statistics, which would show how many men had ever handled a $50
bill would bo a miracle of astonishment to most people who have
never seriously thought of it. I am no enemy to a sound paper currency. The Government's note is just like anybody else's. Just so
long as there are not enough of them out to arouse suspicion of nonpayment with those who have dealings with it, it is good. But
need rich men^ who for their own convenience or to prevent the
actual circulation of cheap money (for most paper money being in
large denominations does not actually circulate at all) bring all
their influence to bear to discriminate against silver on the ground
that it is worth only 65 cents as an "equivalent" and to favor
national bank notes, treasury notes, and other "rich man's money,"
which possesses no value as an "equivalent" at all, need these men
be astonished, when poor ignorant men are deluded by their example into fiat money crazes and into demanding an issuance of
"Treasury certificates" on the deposit of cotton, corn,onions, or
green peas, as well as on the deposit with the Government of silver
bullion? Can you expect them to make the distinction? To be
frank about it, do you not find some trouble in making it yourself
sometimes when your head is not over clear?
So I say we can stand $700,000,000 more oi silver, $2,400,000 per
month, on top of that $200,000,000 more of gold on top of that,
and $200,000,000 more yet of gold and silver to take the place of
fully that much uncovered paper.
Before we shall have coined enough to approach the danger line,
as historically and inductively demonstrated, coining, if you choose,
day and night with double our present capacity of mintage, and
'coining nothing but silver—a ridiculous supposition—wo shall
probably have a monetary convention with the states of South and
Central America, through Great Britain with India, with France,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy and Austria-Hungary, and Roumania—all naturally bimetallic countries, and, possibly, even with Germany and Russia—not naturally hostile to bimetallism. But they say we will be the dumping ground for all tho
world's silver. What country on tho face of-the globe which has
coined silver now floating at par at the ratio of 15£ to 1 (the universal ratio except with us and Mexico) would go through the folly oi recoining at 16 or 20 to 1, at our mints ? Remember, under the substitute tho Government buys no silver; it merely coins it and hands
it back to the o Truer.
But, even if it came, it would come in exchange for something wo
had to sell.
The silver would bo worth more to us than tho product or else
we " wouldn't trade." If it was worth more, we would trade and
would make our profit. There is no very serious danger, I take it,
of somebody's giving us their silver. And, if they did, " need a bodycry?"
Mr. Leech says that tho entiro value of all tho silver mined in the
world's mines, in 1889 was $161,318,000 and estimates that of the
product of 1890, not then fully reported, at $168,000,000. This being
the case, then, if all the silver from the world's silver mines came
to us, it would require us, in order to coin $700,000,000 at the rate
of $168,000,000 a year (the world's product), as estimated by him,
considerably overfour years. The administration would still have
ample time u to negotiate "—four years—before we could possibly bo
on the ground that France has demonstrated not to be dangerous.
But, of course, such a supposition is absurd. Not over half of the
world's pioduct could possibly come to us. All nations, even monometallic ones, uso silver as fractional currency ; much is still
required for "limited legal tender" silver in quasi bimetallic
countries India andXJhina, the great "silver sinks of tho world/'
wottld wrari and got their share, for no English legislation m
change tlie hereditary and traditional attachment of tho Hindoo for
silver Mexico, Central and South America, which have virtually
no coin bat silver, would want and get their sharo. Silver spoons
would not ceaso to be used as wedding presents, nor would dudes
and dudesses cease to hand around cigars, tooth picks, and green
apples on silver waiters. The Connecticut watchmakers would
still inclose'the right or wrong time of day behind silver cases, to
_ .^
•
1 _ "1
JJ tu a
^
nn ri
+
ure3 we'could give very nearly six years and with the last considerably more than seven years " t o negotiate," without approaching
the danirer line. If there is anything wrong about these figures, it
is the fault of Mr. Leech or of the North American Review. Mr.
Leech was director of the mint; the North American is, I believe,
monometallic and Republican.
,
,,
I h a v e thus far argued tho question on tho monometallist's ass u m p t i o n that silver is and must remain mere token money, subsidiary'coin relying upon a backing of gold for its value.
This is an unwarranted assumption, however.
I have a 'little doubt, very little, however, about the power of
the United'States, conjointly with the other silver-using and bi-
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
8
metallic countries of tlio globe, being able to maintain the bullion
parity of tho two metals at a ratio of 16 to 1. I have no doubt
whatsoever about our ability to do so at an increased ratio, 20 to
1, that being, if anything, too high.
Free coinago will not have so much effect on tho bullion value of
silver, because of the present increased demand, though much in
that way. as because of the status of silver prospectively. I lay
down the proposition that silver answers every end of money as
well as gold. As an " equivalent" of values it is the equal of gold.
As a " measure of values" it is superior, because more stable and
less liable to violent fluctuations of production.
Mr. Leech says in the article in tho North American, which I
have already referred to:
Timo was when silver possessed tho conditions necessary to fit it to serve as
such a "measure" and 11 equivalent." It does not possess them to-day.
If it docs not, and if, furthermore, its inadaptability to one or
the other end has grown out of the nature of things, that is, if it
has not been produced or brought about by legislation, by human
interference, then the author has made a strong argument against
any effort to cure tho defect by repeal of legislation or counter human interference. His own article, however, furnishes proof positive that the so-called depreciation of silver has not been altogether,
nor even mainly, the result of natural laws, but, on the contrary, is
the direct result of human interference. If the series of total and partial demonetizations which have decreased the demand for and
thereby depreciated tho value of silver had taken place in the case
of gold, does any one doubt but there would have resulted a great
depreciation of gold as an "equivalent?"
Does any one doubt, that if all this legislation had had its genesis
in Great Britain too long ago for one of my age to remember distinctly, in Germany as far back as 1871, in the United States in
1873, and if such a combination of the creditor nations and creditor
classes had been consummated fifteen years ago and was being
daily urged further now, does any one doubt that in 1893 the subject of discussion with the American people would be " i s gold tit
to serve for money," is it or can it be made (which is the right
statement) at once a "measure" and an " equivalent?"
Does any one believe that tho demand for gold for plate, jewelry,
gilding, etc., could possibly have kept the metal up to its present
value, the great demand for it as money, its chief natural use, being
thus curtailed? It must be remembered that, if coin is an "equivalent," it is because of its intrinsic value. This intrinsic value is
due, as in all things, to its value in tise, its capacity for being used
for valuable purposes, its present and prospective use.
It is peculiar capacity for use in subserving certain purposes
which gives value, " intrinsic value." If gold and silver were not
limited in production, indestructible and yet malleable and infinitely divisible, capable of receiving and retaining stampage, not easy
to rust, in a word not peculiarly adapted to use as money, neither
would have ever been used as money and neither would, for other
purposes solely, be so useful and hence wouldnothave tho intrinsic
value, as mere metals, of either copper, nickel, or iron.
What I have supposed as happening in the case of gold is actually
what did happen in the case of silver. The history of the happening, the how and when and the where of it, you all know.
We know that in 1873, the year of silver demonetization by the
United States, the value of the silver in a silver dollar was one dollar and four mills. This was after England and Germany had done
their worst, but before the United States had struck the fatal blow.
To answer the purpose of a measure of value, especially with a
view to deferred payments, the chief essential is stability of value
in tho measure itself. That means—taking a series o£ years—stability of supply, relatively to the supply of other things. The measure must be something which increases approximately at a P a c e
with the average of commodities.
j
Deductively reasoning you would naturally expect leis fluctuation in the production of silver than in that of gold, because silver
comas
mining, and is somewhat dependent upon
industry, gold from surface findings, a matter chiefly o f pure accident; and historically and statistically you find just irhat you
might have expected to be a fact.
I hand to the Clerk, to be printed in the RECORD, two tables,
marked " A " and " B . »
Table A is a table of variations or fluctuations from year to year
in the production of each metal from 1849 to 1891, inclusive. You
will note that the greatest fluctuation in the production of silver
from any one year to the year succeeding was in 1861, when it
increased 10 per cent. You will find gold decreasing one year 18
per cent, increasing in other years by bounds of 16, 55, 63, even 96
por cent.
I have said that a right "measure of value" metal ought to increase gradually from year to year j)ari passu, with population,
trade, transportation, etc. Note from Table A that while silver
has done just this thing with tolerable uniformity, gold has positively decreased in production during nineteen out of the forty-two
years. You will also note that there is being less gold produced
yearly now than there was yearly from 1852 to 1860, inclusively—
the entire amount of gold produced in all the world's mines in 1891
being 125,000,000, and over half of this, as a matter of fact, being
used in the arts.
138
But the monometallists say thero is a new and different order of
things now. "There is an unheard-of overproduction of silvor."
Examine table 15.
From it you will seo that in 1891 there was by weight 23.6 times
.— World's yield of gold and silver, with percentage of annual
variation in supply.
TABLE A
Year.
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857,
1858
1859,
1860.
18G1.
1862.
1863.
1864.
Gold, in Variation Silver, in Variation
from
from
millions
millions
of dollars. previous of dollars. previous
years.
years.
27
44
133
155
127
135
134
134
133
130
127
16
-18
-I- 7
122
-
122
126
+
+
126
V
119
119
1865.
1866.
127
127
1867,
1868.
108
97
1887.
106
1889.
1890.
1891.
120
_ 3
+ 3
+ 6
+ 0
+ 0
110
120
+
+
1601-1620..
1621-1640..
1641-1660..
1661-1680..
1680-1700..
1701-1720..
1721-1740..
1741-1760..
1761-1780..
1781-1800-.
1801-1810.,
1811-1820.,
18Z1-T38G- •
1831-1840..
1841-1850.,
1851-1855..
1856-1860.,
1861-1865..
1866-1870..
1871-1875..
187 6
187 7
187 8
187 9
188 0
1881
18S2
188 3
1884
188 5
188 6
1887
June, 1893 (average).
4
9
0
+ 4
125
1545-1560..
1561-1580..
1581-1600..
4
3
—4
100
106
106
Period.
+
+
— 5
_ 4
100
TABLE B.—World's
3
5
— 5
104
1888.
-
114
116
120
1886.
3
3
111
111
111
1883.
1884.
1885.
0
- 1
—1
°0
° 0
112
1880.
1881.
1882.
2
4
3
zt
125
123
119
113
3869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1877.
1878.
1879.
1889..
1S90
1891
63
55
96
68
39
39
40
41
41
41
41
41
41
41
41
41
45
46
49
52
52
52
54
57
61
64
68
71
75
79
82
88
93
97
99
101
10G
111
115
120
125
130
136
146
159
174
186
production of gold and silver.
Mean annual product. Ratio of Ratio of
silver to gold to
gold
silver
Gold.
Silver.
(weight). (value).
Kilos.
8,510
6,840
7,380
8,520
8,300
8,770
9,260
10,765
12,820
19,0S0
24,010
20,705
17,790
17, 778
11,445
14,216
20,289
54,759
193,388
201,750
185,057
185,026
173,904
165,956
179,445
185,847
167,307
163,515
153,864
148,475
144,727
153,193
159,289
159,741
159,155
159.809
185,809
181,256
189,824
Kilos.
311,600
299,500
418,900
422,900
393,600
366,300
337,000
341,900
355, 600
431,200
533,145
652,710
879,060
894,150
540,770
<460, £60
596,450
760,415
886,115
904,990
1,101,150
1,339,085
1,969,425
2,323,779
2, 388,612
2,551,364
2, 507,507
2,479,998
2,592,639
2,769,0G5
2,746,123
2, 788,727
2,993,805
2,902,471
2,990,398
3,388,606
3,901,809
4,180,532
4,479,649
[
36.6
43.8
56.8
49.6
47.4
41.8
36.4
31.8
27.7
22.6
21.7
31.5
49.4
50.3
47.2
29.4
14.3
4.4
4.5
5.9
0.9
11.3
14.0
13.3
13.7
15.0
15.2
16.3
18.6
19.0
18.2
18.8
18.2
18.8
21.2
21.0
23.1
23.6
18.6
11.30
11.50
11.80
12.25
14
14.50
15
14.97
15.21
15.08
14.75
14.73
15.09
15. 61
15.51
15.80
15.75
15.83
15.41
15.29
15.41
15.50
15.98
17.88
17.22
17.94
18.40
18.05
18.16
18.19
18.64
18.57
19.41
30.78
21.13
21.99
22.09
19.76
20.92
30.18
NOTE.—The figures for 1493-1882, both years inclusive, are Soetbcer's; thOBe
from 1882-1881 are from the reports of the director of tho Mint.
9 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
a s m u c h s i l v e r as g o l d p r o d u c e d f r o m t h e w o r l d ' s m i n e s ; a n d o u r
, friends, t h e enemy, say y o u can n o t h a v e bimetallism w i t h such a
huge disproportion of production.
T h e i r i g n o r a n c e is o n l y e q u a l e d b y t h e i r a s s u m p t i o n o f w i s d o m .
G o b a c k f u r t h e r w i t h y o u r dates o n t h a t t a b l e a n d y o u w i l l see
1 t h a t f o r t h r e e h u n d r e d y e a r s ( f r o m 1545 t o 1840) t h e d i s p r o p o r t i o n
w a s greater than n o w . A n d this w a s w h e n so-called " e v o l u t i o n "
h a d n o t p r o d u c e d a s i n g l e g o l d b u g . Y o u w i l l n o t e , t h a t in o n e
t w e n t y - y e a r s p e r i o d , f r o m 1581 t o 1600, t h e r e w a s o v e r fifty-six t i m e s
a s m u c h s i l v e r p r o d u c e d as t h e r e w a s o f g o l d . I n t h e t e n - y e a r
p e r i o d , 1801-1810, t h o w e i g h t o f s i l v e r p r o d u c e d w a s o v e r fifty t i m e s
that of g o l d : in the next decade over forty-seven t i m e s ; and yet,
d u r i n g all t h a t t i m e , w e h a d b i m e t a l l i s m at a less r a t i o t h a n t h e
p r e s e n t o n e . N o t e also, t h a t w h e n s i l v e r w a s d e m o n e t i z e d i n 1873
there was no relative overproduction, nor did the production after
t h a t y e a r e x c e e d 16 o f s i l v e r t o 1 o f g o l d u n t i l 1881.
Note another thing in connection w i t h the n e w proposed ratio o f
20 t o 1, v i z , t h a t t h e a v e r a g e c o m p a r a t i v e p r o d u c t i o n f r o m 1881 t o
1891, i n c l u s i v e , h a s b e e n less t h a n 20 t o 1, h a s b e e n 18.6 o u n c e s o f
s i l v e r t o 1 o u n c e o f g o l d . H o w a f e w p l a i n f a c t s a n d figures d i s p o s e
o f asinine e x p e r t a s s u m p t i o n s ! I h o l d in m y h a n d a l i t t l e p a m p h l e t
c o m p i l e d b y M r . H . E m e r s o n , o f G e r m a n t o w n , P a . , i n w h i c h he h a s
c o l l o c a t e d , f r o m M u l h a l l ' s D i c t i o n a r y o f Statistics, t h o E n c y c l o p e d i a Britannica, and the Engineering and Mining Journal, some
i n s t r u c t i v e t a b l e s o f c o m p a r a t i v e s t a t i s t i c s . A s f a r as I h a v e b e e n
a b l e t o v e r i f y t h e m t h e y are e x a c t in e v e r y p a r t i c u l a x . I shall
make a part o f m y remarks the portions of the pamphlet and the
tables under the respective headings: F a c t one, fact t w o , fact
three, and fact four.
FACT ONE.
The total production of silver between 1871 and 1892 relatively to gold is little
more than half what it was during the thrde hundred years preceding the California gold discoveries.
V
Period.
1545-1850
1871-1892
1561-1660
1661-1780
1781-1840
1891
.
Ratio of
weight.
Silver.
Years.
Gold.
306
22
100
* 120
60
1
Kilos.
4,427,900
3,727,966
796,200
1,944,800
1,650,360
190.000
Kilos.
146,347,000
63, 764, 534
38,024,000
53,031,700
67,420,000
4,480,000
33.12
17.14
47.75
27.27
40.86
23.6
FACT TWO.
Thefluctuationof silver supply between 1515 and 1892 has been less than that
of gold.
Annual production of silver.
Kilos.
Minimum, 1561-1580
300,030
Maximum, 1891
4,500,000
Increase, 15 fold.
Annual production of gold.
Kilos.
Minimum, 1561-1580
6,840
Maximum, 1853
234,000
Increase, 34 fold.
Suddenfluctuationsin gold.
Kilos.
Ten-year interval:
1831-1840
20,289
1851-1860
201,138
Increase, 10 fold.
In dollars, increase, $120,000,000.
Four-year interval:
1849
1853
$27,000,000
155,500,000
Amount
128,500,000
Increase, 5.8 fold.
Suddenfluctuationsin silver have not occurred in the last three hundred years.
Ten-year
interval:
1801-1810...
1821-1830
Decrease to one-half.
In dollars, decrease, $19,117,600.
$894,000
460,000
Four-year interval:
1887
1891
$136,000,000
186,000,000
Increase
49,000,000
Increase, 1.4 fold.
At a ten years' interval, 1881-1891, the increase of silver was $30,000,000, the
increase in gold 1841-50 to 1853, was $122,000,000, or one-half more in dollars.
At a four years' interval, 1887-1893, increase of silver $49,000,000, and of gold
1849-1853, $128,000,000, almost three times* as much, and for a one-year interval,
1889-1890, increase of silver is $15,000,000, while 1851-1852 shows a gold increase of
$55,000,000.
Whether, therefore, we take intervals of time long or short, remote or recent;
or whether we consider percentages, or absolute amounts, or value in dollars, tlio.
production of silver has ooen incomparably lessfluctuatingthan that ot gold.
FACT THREE.
The added stock of silver sinco 1872 (twenty years) to tho total world's supply
of both metals to tho world's money has been neither absolutely nor proportionately as large as the added stock of gold to the previous world's supply of both
metals in the twenty years 1850-1870.
Total amount of gold and silver mined, in million dollars.
Gold.
1492-1850
1852 1871
3,160
2,573
SUver. Total.
6,000
9,160
Increase through gold to previous supply of gold and silver, 28 per cent.
UNPARALLELED FBOSPEBITY.
1492-1872
1873-1892
Gold.
Silver. J Total.
5,836
2,362
7,000 | 12,836
2,430
Increase through silver to previous supply of gold and silver, 19 per cent; in*
craase through gold and silver to previous supply, 27 per cent.
Stock of precious metals in the world*
Silver.
Gold.
$2,535,000,000
6 175,000,000
$4,830,000, 000
6,065,000, COO
Percentage of increase: Gold, 142 per cent; silver, 24 per cent.
*Mulhall, page 306.
FACT FOTJR.
The annual increase of gold and silver since 1860 has not been as great as
increase of ^
population,
of commerce, of railroads, of cotton, of grain, of pig
is the annual inci
^
iron
in
for
*
* the
t h eUnited
" • ' States
"
" the same period.
1840.
flnld itnfl BIIMTyimrf^'mmimlfV . . . .
Pn-nnlfltioii
.
Railroad mileage
Leading railroads of the United States:
Mileage
Freight movement
...
.......
. .........
....
1860.
- $311,000,000
62,600,000
166,702
31.400,000
30,626
15,501
396,000,000
1,732,000, 000
63,477
4,938,000,000
6,421,000,000
$5,150,000,000
$2,200,000,000
$450,000,000
1,240,000,000
1.836,000,000
821,000
* First period.
1890.
1889.
$107, COO. OOA
1
tons -
Banking power
1870.
3,454,000,000
!
3.629,000.000
Increase.
Percent.
.
C
{
86
100
444
309
1,147
277
*390
TL34
178
98
1,206
t Second period.
T h e t a b l e p u b l i s h e d u n d e r t h e h e a d o f f a c t f o u r is e s p e c i a l l y i m - i t is a f a c t t h a t t h e p r i c e o f a l l c o m m o d i t i e s , as e x p r e s s e d i n t h e
S o r t a n t , as s h o w i n g t h e d a n g e r o f r e l y i n g o n o n e m e t a l o n l y w h e n a m o u n t o f s i l v e r b u l l i o n f o r w h i c h t h e y w o u l d at g i v e n t i m e s e x o t h p u t t o g e t h e r d o n o t k e e p p a c e w i t h t h e w o r l d ' s g r o w t h i n c h a n g e h a s v a r i e d less t h a n t h e i r p r i c e , as.expressed i n t h e a m o u n t
population, nor transportation, n o r banking power, nor grain, nor o f gold'bullion for which they would exchange.
cotton, nor pig iron.
Here is a t a b l e c o m p i l e d b y M r . S a u e r b e c k , t h e e m i n e n t s t a t i s t i c i a n ,
A s s e r t i o n s t h a t s i l v e r fluctuated v i o l e n t l y a n d i s d e p r e c i a t i n g g i v i n g in o n e c o l u m n t h e a v e r a g e p r i c e f o r e a c h y e a r o f f o r t y - f i v e
r a p i d l y f r o m n a t u r a l causes g r o w o u t o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e assertors p r i n c i p a l a r t i c l e s o f c o m m e r c e i n t h e L o n d o n m a r k e t , a n d i n t h e
have reference t o the price o f silver in gold,
s e c o n d c o l u m n t h e a v e r a g e p r i c e o f s i l v e r f o r e a c h y e a r 1874-1892,
B u t in addition t o the fact that necessarily Bilver does not fluc- i n c l u s i v e .
tuate any more in term a of gold than gold d o e s in t e r m s o f silver,
I t shows that the price of silver as expressed in gold has been
138
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
10
s t e a d i l y g o i n g d o w n , h u t a l s o t h a t t h o p r i c e s o f t h e f o r t y - f i r e artic l e s , as e x p r e s s e d i n t e r m s o f g o l d , h a v e b e e n s t e a d i l y g o i n g d o w n
a l l t h o t i m e , a n d a l m o s t , i f n o t q u i t e , at t h e s a m e p a c e w i t h silver.
T h i s s h o w s t h e c o m p a r a t i v e s t a b i l i t y o f v a l u e o f t h o t w o metals as
c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e v a l u e o f c o m m o d i t i e s , a n d also demonstrates an
appreciation o f g o l d gradual, g r o w i n g , a n d constant, everything
b e c o m i n g c h e a p e r a n d c h e a p e r i n t e r m s o f g o l d , w h i c h means t h a t
g o l d is b e c o m i n g d e a r e r a n d d e a r e r i n t e r m s o f e v e r y t h i n g , w h i c h
m e a n s , i n t u r n , t h a t i t is b e c o m i n g y e a r l y m o r e a n d m o r e difficult
t o o b t a i n a g i v e n a m o u n t o f g o l d in return f o r service or products—
m o r e and more p r o d u c t s must b e g i v e n t o g e t the given amount o f
gold.
I f t h o use o f s i l v e r as m o n e y i s s t i l l f u r t h e r c u r t a i l e d a n d tho d e m a n d o n g o l d t o p e r f o r m t h a t f u n c t i o n s t i l l f u r t h e r increased, this
movement w i l l o f course b e accelerated and its already grinding
effects accentuated.
Mr. SatterlccJc's index
numbers.
Index numbers Index number
of 45 principal
of silver.
commodities.
Year.
102
96
95
94
87
83
88
85
84
82
76
72
69
68
70
72
72
72
f 68
1874..
1875..
1876..
1877..
1878..
1879..
1880..
1881..
1882..
1883..
1884..
1885..
1886..
1887..
1888..
1889..,
1890..,
1891..
1892...
1893*.
95.8
93.3
86.7
90.2
86.4
84.2
85.9
85.0
84.9
83.1
83.3
79.9
74.6
73.3
70.4
70.2
78.4
74.1
J 65.4
•Lowest price of wheat on record; lowest prices of stocks since 1884.
f June ana July, lowest price of wool in its history.
X Lowest price of silver on record.
Between 1850 and 1870 there was a slight rise in the value of commodities, and
during the same period silver was at a slight premium compared with gold.
T h e still m o r e eminent statistician, Mr. Soetbeer, has published
a^ t a b l e o f c o m p a r a t i v e g o l d p r i c e s o f s i l v e r b u l l i o n a n d o f o n e
hundred and fourteen articles in the free port of Hamburg, leading
i n e v i t a b l y t o t h o s a m e c o n c l u s i o n a n d d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h e same f a c t s .
I s h a l l a l s o i n s e r t t h i s t a b l e i n t h e R E C O R D as a p a r t o f m y r e marks ;
Tear.
1871..
1872.,
1873.
1874..
1875..
1876..
1877.,
1878.,
1879..
1830..
1881..
1882..
1884..
1885..
1886..
1BS7-.
1888..
1889..
1890..
Index
Price of
number silver per
of general ounce in
prices.
gold.
127.03
135.62
138.28
136.20
129.85
128.33
127.70
120.60
117.10
121.89
121.07
122.14
122.24
114.25
10S. 72
103.29
102.20
101.93
106.13
108.13
$1.326
1.322
1.298
1.278
1.246
1.156
1.201
1.152
1.123
1.149
1.138
1.136
1.110
1.113
1.065
.978
.939
.935
1.046
A n d y e t i n t h e f a c e o f f a c t s a n d figures l i k e t h e s e g e n t l e m e n w i l l
continue parrot-like to repeat the stereotyped cry t a u g h t them b y
the money-lenders, that bimetallism w o u l d lead t o a silver standard
a n d the " dishonest silver dollar."
I n t h e first p l a c e i t w o u l d n o t l e a d t o t h e s i n g l e s i l v e r s t a n d a r d ,
and in the second place, i f it did, the dollar reached would n o t be
as d i s h o n e s t as t h e g o l d d o l l a r , w h i c h is n o w t h e m e a s u r e o f v a l u e .
B u t our opponents say, the general fall i n prices and the universal
d e p r e s s i o n w h i c h set i n i n 1873 a n d s t i l l c o n t i n u e s is d u e t o i m p r o v e d
processes cheapening production, and n o t to tho appreciation o f
gold.
T h a t t h i s i s i n m a n y t h i n g s t o a g r e a t e x t e n t , a n d i n all t h i n g s
partially, true, I d o not doubt.
Listen t o the voice o f the celebrated monetary commission o f Great
Britain, twelve illustrious men, one-half g o l d standard a n d one-half
d o u b l e standard advocates. T h e y u n a n i m o u s l y report as f o l l o w s :
W e are of the opinion that the true explanation of the phenomena which we
138
are directed to investigate is to ho found in a combination of causes and can not
he attributed to any one cause alone. Tho action of the Latin Union in ] 873 broke
the link between silver and gold, which had kept the price of the former as measured by tho latter constant at about tho legal ratio, and when this link was broken
the silver market was open to the influence of all the factors which go to affect
tho price of a commodity. These factors happen since 1S73 to havo operatod in
the direction of a foil in tho gold price of that metal.
A n d f u t h e r o n i n t h e i r final r e p o r t , o n p . 95, I find these w o r d s :
In India, in the opinion of nearly all the witnesses whom we have examined,
the purchasing powor of the rupee continues unimpaired-and the priccs of commodities measured in silver remain practically the same. "Wo have no evidence
to show that silver has undergone any material change in relation to commodities,
although it has fallen largely in relation to gold; in other words, the same number of rupees will no longer exchange for tho same amount of gold as formerly, but,
so far as we can judge, they will purchase as much of any commodity or commodities in India as they did before.
A n d s i x o f t h e m , i n a s e p a r a t e r e p o r t , use t h i s u n a n s w e r a b l e
l a n g u a g e , w h i c h I find p u b l i s h e d b y M r . D a v i d A W o l l s i n h i s i n c o m p a r a b l e w o r k , R e c e n t E c o n o m i c C h a n g e s , o n p a g e 190, a t b o t t o m .
We are not insensible to the fact that facilities lor production are habitually increasing, and the cost of production is constantly becoming less. "But these factors
have always been in operation since the world began; and while we recognizo their
tendency to depress the prices of commodities, they aro not, in our opinion, sufficient to account for the abnormal fall in prices, which has been apparent sinco
the rupture of the bimetallic par, and only since that time.
M y f r i e n d f r o m Mississippi [ M r . CATCHINGS] i n o n o b r e a t h a c c o u n t e d f o r t h e f a l l o f silver b y t h e d i m i n i s h e d d o m a n d f o r i t as
m o n e y , c a u s e d b y t h e series o f d e m o n e t i z a t i o n s w h i c h h a v e t a k e n
p l a c e , antl i n t h e n e x t b r e a t h d e n i e d t h a t a n y o n e c o u l d s h o w t h a t
there h a d been any appreciation o f g o l d !
A g i v e n cause w i l l p r o d u c e a given effect, b u t the reverse cause
has n o t e n d e n c y t o p r o d u c e t h e r e v e r s e e f f e c t !
S u c h is t h e a b s u r d a n d i l l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n . J u s t i n p r o p o r t i o n as
t h e d e m a n d f o r silver, i n p r e s e n t a n d p r o s p e c t i v e use, h a s b e e n lessened b y legislation, j u st in that proportion has tho d e m a n d o n g o l d
f o r p r e s e n t a n d p r o s p e c t i v e u s e t o fill u p t h e v a c u u m b e e n i n c r e a s e d .
T h e d e m a n d i n c r e a s e d , t h e s u p p l y r e m a i n i n g t h e s a m e o r less, a n d
yet no appreciation of price!
T h e g e n t l e m a n f r o m M a r y l a n d [ M r . RAYNEH] w e n t f u r t h e r , a n d
in t h e h e a t o f d e b a t e a n d p a u c i t y o f t h o u g h t a b s o l u t e l y d e n i e d t h a t
there had been any appreciation of gold. I n this connection I quote
f r o m a v e r y v a l u a b l e w o r k , p u b l i s h e d b y t h e A p p l e t o n s i n 1886, w i t h
t h e t i t l e " Class I n t e r e s t s , " p . 68 et seq.:
:Now, what is the fact in regard to the relative value of the gold and silver dollars for the last eight years ? The production of gold has steadily fallen off, its consumption in,tho arts has steadily increased, its function as money has been
weighted by the demonetization of silver, and prices have steadily declined.
These facts'conspire to show that the value of the gold dollar has increased—how
much, it would be difficult to say. I will quote J. Barr Robertson, in the Economist, February 23,1884: "Mr. Goschen's select committee, all of them gold-standard men, produced a large volume, in which they satisfied themselves that they
had shown the causes of the " depreciation in silver," but the Indian government
immediately produced incontrovertible evidence to prove that silver had not
depreciated in purchasing power, and last spring Mr. Goschen gave a long and
able address at the Institute of Bankers to show what the bimetallist shad abundantly shown for the previous seven years, namely, that the disturbance in tho
gold price of silver was chiefly due to the appreciation of gold; so that Mr.
Goschen, by no means a very courageous investigator, has come over to the bimetallic view, that the monetary troubles of the past ten years have been mainly
caused by the rise in the purchasing power of gold, while silver has remained
comparatively stationary in purchasing power, and has therefore been during that
time far more completely a standard of value than gold."
Later, Dr. Giffen, the statistician, has come to the support of the same view.
The prevailing opinion is that silver has depreciated because it has been demonetized; but this very act of demonetization of silver has caused a greater demand for gold and raised its value. Mr. W. Westgrath says in the Economist:
" A s gold nas been (in the United States especially) so largely substituted for
paper as well as for silver, I agree with your correspondent (Robertson) that the
rosult has been decidedly more an appreciation of gold than a depreciation of silver,
and that the effects upon our trade, and, I may add, upon the incidence of our
public debt, have thus far been verysorious indeed." In speaking of the efforts
to get silver out of tho way, Mr. ±L B. Greenfell, ex-governor of the Bank of
England, says: " B y these processes the states of England, Germany, and Franco
have created an artificial demand for ^old, which has upset all prices, enhanced
the property of all creditors, and diminished tho means of all debtors.
(The
Economist, March 1,1884.)
.
. ...
,
Now, what is there to show that, since 1877, the divergence m the bullion values of gtAA and^tirer h»*
wliuliy
or juaijaly duA to
AopTcciat.ifm ol
silver? I am somewhat conversant with current references to this subject, ana J.
know of nothing except the eternal reiteration, "the fall of silver," the " dishonest
silver dollar." and "the danger of getting down to the debased silver standard.
If the bullion in the silver dollar will buy as much now as it would in 1877-80,
while the gold dollar will buy more, which is tho more honest dollar 1 Or, even if
silver has depreciated as much as gold has appreciated to make the difference
that has taken place between them within the last few years, and the silver dollar is, therefore, dishonest, is not the gold dollar equally dishonest? Herein
appears the assumption of these who are shouting so lustily about the dishonest
dollar. The trouble with this business is that the creditor class, the monoy-owners, and thefixed-incomeclass, aro the people whose views are mostly voiced in
our great journals and it is the bias of these classes to regard the dear dollar, constantly growing dearer, as the truly honest dollar, simply because it is growing
heavier in their pockets. A few years ago an eastern journal had a heavy editorial to prove how much more honest the people are in the East than in the West,
in this country. We can not censure classes for seeing to their own interests;
they have done so from tho beginning, but none the less is it the duty of the
great body of the people, whose real interests are thus threatened, to organize for
the encouragement ofa higher sort of "honesty" than that which has been so
fulsome of late in its own praise. I have no doubt that there are editors, South
and West as well as East, who reiterate the catch phrases of the monometallism
without having given any careful attention to the real points at issue. Gold
appears to befetedin value and central in importance, as the earth appears to the
fixed in tho center cf the heavens; and/giving the matter no careful thought, they
are altogether sincere in assuming that the gold standard is uniform and silver
fluctuating, and they join in the chorus," the dishonest silver dollar!" With
them it is as if the earth stood still and the heavens moved.
11 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
I also quote from tho same work, as "bearing on the general effect (who, if the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. PATTERSON] is to bo
believed, " d o not understand these things")* against them.
of tho monometallic policy, beginning on page 64, as follows:
Leading statesmen of " national reputations," also of every party,
Tl»e mines are add ing nothing at present to the stock of gold for money purposes.
Its consumption, as well as that of silver, in the arts and manufactures is very including Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, and the ' ' Metropolitan press/'
"with
scarcely an exception, were against them, because forsooth
great and rapidly increasing. It is now three times as great as it was twenty
years ago, four times as great as it was thirty years ago. On the other hand tho they thought too "surely the experts know."
production of gold i3 steadily falling off. From 1856 to 1860, the annual production
But the horse sense of " Old Hickory " and the plain common
of gold was 137 millions; in 1879,107 millions; in 1888,94 millions. It is estimated
that the annual consumption of gold in the arts is steadily increasing; so it is to sense of the "common people" triumphed and to-day there is not
he expected that in a short time, taking the last twenty years as a guide, the con* a reader in the United States fool enough to say they did not triumph
sumption of gold will be greater every year than its production. This, together deservedly.
with the wear and loss of coin, will draw upon the present stock of money gold,
Later on when we wanted to reform the tariff all tho " experts "
and draw uj»n it largely; and yet, in the face of these facts, known to all who
havo given the subject study, we havo classes in tho community who want gold in that line cried out against it.
alone to bo tho niea'suro or denominator of values.
Again for a season they fooled tho people.
If this movement were to be carried out. how would it operate on the various
But we are here now with the power and tho will to do just what
classes in societv ? In the first place it would increase tho relative wealth of certain cl asses, and diminish tho relative wealth of other classes, with no correspond- the experts don't want done.
And the ultimate effect of our doing it will justify its having
ing merit in the one class or demerit in tho other. All whose property consists in
credits and moneys, all whose incomes arefixedannuities and Government sala- been done.
ries, and salaries not readily ad justed to the changed conditions, all these would
When
Luther came, theological i ( experts " were against him; when
gain directly by tho general adoption of gold monometallism. "What they gain
others would lose. All prices would fall, all property would be bought and sold Christ came, theological "experts" crucified him.
The expert intellect runs now and has always run in grooves;
at lower figures; and all who own such property, all producers, would have to do
with less than before. All indebtedness would be increased. Enterprising busi- the "present status," whatever it is, having been long studied and
ness men who had borrowed a part of the capital they used, would be crippled. being intimately understood by the "expert," and his mind having
The farmer still having payments to make on his homo would be weighted. Tho
same number of dollars having in all cases to be paid, and those dollars having become molded to the clay he works in, is precious to him.
increased in valuo, the debtor would have to pay more, and the creditor would reOf all forms of government, the most ridiculous and unfortunate
ceivo more value than he loaned or sold. And yet wo have classes in society that would be " a government of financiers by financiers," which would
are laboring in season and out of season to establish monometallism. But this also be a government " f o r financiers." The bourgeoisie underform of insidious and unjust redistribution of wealth is not all wo havo to look out
for. Our monometallists are quite concerned for the poor laboring men. They stands its own interest with a view to the immediate future. All
say, if wo get too much silver—and we are always right on the ove of getting too history shows that beyond that it is incompetent.
much—prices will go up, and wages will not buy aa much, greatly to the disadWhat is the condition confronting us ? First, scarcity of money
vantage of laborers. Usually, however, pretty soon after prices go up, wages rise,
and laborers are quite sure to havo all the work they can do. A good (leal of un- in actual use. How do gentlemen propose to remedy it? Make it
necessary alarm is shown about the high prices work-people may have to pay. scarcer.
One would suppose that a little of this alarm might be reserved for the contingency Second. A divergence constantly widening between the two
of loss of employment and lower wages under the crushing operation of constantly metals. How do gentlemen propose to remedy it? Make it still
increasing scarcity and dearness of the gold dollar. But this is precisely the side
greater by increasing the demand for that one whose price is already
of tho shield that our Argus-eved monometallists never see.
Under advancing monometallism, if the movement can not he arrested, money too high and by lessening the demand for that one whose price is
must become constantly dearer and prices constantly lower; with what results 1 too low.
With a steady discouragement to business. "When prices are falling business is
That is " expert" statesmanship!
always dull. Buyers bold off, and the competition of unsuccessful sellers sinks
There is no lack of confidence among the people of tho Union in
prices even lower than would be indicated by the reduced volume of money. As
purchases made on falling prices are always small and consumption economical, any form of its currency.
roduction has necessarily to be limited, and there is a constantly diminishing
Lack of confidence in currency makes it go out and got about,
emand for labor. Workingmen are thrown out of employment or have to work each man getting something in exchange for it as soon as he can.
on reduced time or reduced wages, so that, even on falling prices, laborers are
People do not hoard things which they fear will become valueworse off than they were before. Under progressive gold monometallism, with
the lessening supply of gold all consumed m the arts, with the wastago and loss less. The trouble is lack of confidence in investments.
And this has come about because men see nothing in which they
in coin going steadily on, and the stock on hand absolutely diminishing, this depression of business is not merely a temporary thing; it must continue from year can put their money which has not been falling in price with moro
to year with the effect of casting down the groat middle class relatively lower or less constancy for twenty years and which does not threaten to
and lower, and sinking employes to the borders of beggary and slavery. Monometallists never discuss these permanent features of their system; they merely continue indefinitely to fall. Men do not like to buy on a falling
refer in a partial way to what can only be immediate and temporary results, re- market.
lying, like advocates, on the safe mental inertia of those they mean to influence.
And what, in turn, has produced this?
The gentleman from Maryland [Mr. RAYNER], wrapped in a cloak
For twenty years the world has been madly and uselessly endeavof monometallic self-sufficiency, went further still and positively oring to get on a gold basis, thereby making gold more and more
denied that the depreciation of Bilver had been caused b y demoneti- valuable and other things, as expressed in terms of gold—tho only
zatiouj denied that demonetization had any effect on the price of metal recognized as real money—cheaper and cheaper.
silver, and as an inference from that position denied that remonetiAnd now we are requested not to throw our great power and inzation would have any effect.
fluence abreast the current to try to stem and check it, but to accelRefer to tables and prices of silver.
erate the movement 1
But no reference to statistics ought to be nec essary. The gentleI will not join the " e x p e r t " movement of still further grinding
man is old enough to remember that in 1890 the prospect alone of the masses, robbing the debtors, and depreciating the agricultural
a free coinage bill becoming law in the United States sent silver produce of my country.
np 20 cents on the London market (from 43.625 pence to 54.625
Coin both gold and silver, or else^deprive both of governmental
pence).
aid. As I have said, they would both pass as money, only by weight
He is also old enough to remember that two months ago, in June and not tale. Of course nobody is seriously in favor of having no
last, merely closing the mints of India to private account caused coinage laws.
silver to decline in one day nearly 10 cents (from 77 to 68£ cents)
Coinage is convenient if all can have access to it, if government
and caused a fall before the decline ended of nearly 20 cents. "None will confine itself to its legitimate functions, which are to declare
so blind as those who will not see."
the weight, the fineness, the ratio, and the device.
The greatest curiosity in the way of an argument came from the
But when Government goes farther and attempts to restrict the
lips of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. COOPER]. He said, " that supply of coin, it takes from money its most desirable quality and
as a lawyer he hud-learned the value of expert testimony nnd that attribute its elasticity; and moreover depreciates the intrinsic
all the ' experts/ tho * financiers/ were opposed to free coinage and value of the bullion whose coinage is restricted. The gentleman
•wanted unconditional repeal."
f
from Ohio [Mr. HARTER] said that the volume of money makes no
l ean tell the gentleman two things; first, that though courts difference—that nations are not prosperous in proportion to their
avail themselves of expert testimony, a man is not called to testify volume of money.
in his own behalf as an expert; he might be too expert. Second,
If he had used the word currency instead of money I should havo
that tho world, with its finances, commerce, and religion, would agreed with him.
have gone to the " demnition bowwows " long ago, had it been
But the proposition as laid down b y him is absurd. Real money,
guided by experts and their biases.
gold and silver, havo intrinsic value, and a country is richer and
Wlieq Adam Smith created the science of political economy he .more prosperous for every ounce of gold and silver it has, as it is
found in existence the so-called " mercantile theory " of trade and for every additional pound of iron or bushel of wheat.
finance. It was held by all traders, bankers, and experts. Not a
Moreover, the richer a nation is the more money it will have. I f
merchant belonging to a London guild but laughed at the Scottish it has no mines, it has valuable products and precious energies, and
rofessor. They did not answer him, but laughed at and ignored these will draw gold and silver. All that is needful is that Governim. And for many years tho -world imitated them, for surely " the ment should not hamper the operation by preventing coifiage and
trade " k n e w " business" better than anyone else.
use as coins.
When Andrew Jacksen and TKomas H. Benton reformed the
The countries which have the most money, real money, are to-day
finances of this country and emancipated the people from the 3SfationalBank thralldoin,they foundnot only the United States Bank,but the most prosperous, and those which havo the least are the least
successful bankers everywhere and all the commercial classes in all prosperous.
In interrogating the gentleman from Ohio the other day, I did
the large cities, everybody, in short, except the " common people "
not use the word currency, as the R E C O R D makes me do, but money*
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD..
12
In support of the drift of my question then and of my assertion of intelligence, nor am I willing to believe that the Congress of the
now, X insert th© following names of countries and amounts per United States, to whom he addressed that message, are not a body
head of money and paper currently redeemable in money; i. e., on of " intelligent men/'
This trouble has been brewing for long. The crash in Argentina,
demand at any hour.
tho Baring Brothers' failure, the Bank of England on the verge of
In the order of greatest volume.
temporary suspension, and only saved by $15,000,000 of gold from
France
$40.56 silver-using France, the widespread wreck of Australian banks
Netherlands (Holland)
28.88 and industries, all these things are current history. English capBelgium
.
— 28.53 italists then found it necessary to draw in their business—to sell
Australia
26.75 their securities to get money for liquidation at home and in the
United States
25.15
Great Britain
,
18.42 colonies—ours among the first, and chiefly for obvious reason.
Extensions could not be offered, securities must be protected and
I have dwelt upon the monetary prosperity of France. It has
long been an axiom among men of information that Holland is the be taken, as they came over by millions, requiring the gold.
Unfortunately just at that moment Austria-Hungary was trying
country of the world where prosperity among the common people
is greatest, distribution of wealth most nearly even (except m to get $75,000,000 of gold for resumption. What condition did this
unprecedented
coincidence find us in f
Franco), and where tho smallest percentage of people either hunger
Why, we had been "overdoing it," like our English cousins. Boom
or shiver.
towns everywhere; inflated " industrials," overcapitalized and someIn the order of least volume.
times fictitious, doing business on a basis of 6 per cent money and
China
$175 currency and 94 per cent credit appliances; boasting of it even as
Turkey
2.88 an evidence of civilization, forgetful of the fact that credit and
India
3-64
Japan
4.90 credit appliances are only necessary evils of commerce and civilizaMexico
- 4.91 tion and not things whose growth requires or should receive
Russia
6-63 encouragement. Added to all this, it found us, owing to the operaof the McKinley bill, which had made the cost of imports
Comment is needless. The figures are from the World Almanac tion
greater and the price of exports less, with a balance of trade
for 1893, p. 142.
against
us, requiring shipments of gold on our own account.
The gentleman from New York [Mr. H E N D R I X ] calls it " gibberTo it all and more than it all, add that it found us sharing our
ing idiocy," " stark midsummer madness/' to believe what we believe, viz, that the two metals can be maintained as money on a part of the evils accruing from the slow pressure of a twenty-year
parity with each other at a ratio to be fixed by law, with due regard effort on the part of Western Europe, and partially on our part too,
to do business on a still narrower cash basis by making gold the
to intrinsic values.
Did this gentleman, who says he was born in the West and left sole standard and measure of value. This had sapped our energies
there, and who, in my opinion has been getting further and further and left our financial constitution open to attack.
I think the only wonder is that we have stood it so well. But
away ever since, until now he thinks the western boundary of the
United States is tho Hudson River, did this gentleman believe that we did stand it, until agricultural exports came to draw back our
when he consented to run and be elected on a platform which lost wealth.
What did the Sherman bill have to do with all this?—a bill under
asserted that this very thing could be done and promised that it
which 50 millions of paper certificates are issued in a country which
should be?
collects
and spends 500 millions a year?
If not, he should be more charitable to us, who but stand where
The Sherman bill had but one effect: It enabled the gold exporters
he a short while since stood. If he did so believe, however, how
can he successfully plead "not guilty" to the charge of obtaining to draw their gold from the Federal Treasury, instead of from the
banks. It had to go, and I don't see that it makes much difference
a thing of value—to wit—an office, under false pretense f
Now to address myself to this absurd proposition that the Sher- to the country whether it was taken from the Treasury or from the
man bill, vicious, silly, as it is? is the cause of the present condition banks.
But I think the Treasurer ought to be armed with power to proof things.
The only undeniable fact and sound utterance in the speech of tect the gold in the Treasury.
Give him the power which the Bank of England has, of controlthe gentleman from New York [Mr. HENDRIX], is contained in
ling export movements by rate of exchange, or, better still, let him,
these words, the italics are mine:
like the Bank of France, pay out the metals half and half. My conI do not assert here that the Sherman purchase law is the cause of all the woe stituents want the Sherman bill repealed, but they, do not want its
from which this country is suffering at this moment. No intelligent man talking
repeal used as a club in the hand of "financiers" to drive us to gold
to intelligent men would undertake to make an assertion of thai kiitd. The Sherman silver law was not responsible for the failure of that Federal bank in Aus- monometallism.
tralia in January, 1893, nor for the tumble there of fourteen great banks, nor for
Its repeal is well enough, but more must be had, ^
llie rebounding force of the distress which has gone round the world since that
Bo not listen to the siren voice of international bimetallism. Its
time like a bowlder bouncing down a mountain side.
No; the wave of distress has encircled the globe. The Anglo-Saxon race has voice is always raised when a free coinage bill iB about to become
overdone the business. It has gone on conquering and populating the far distant law. It is the voice of the Lorelei. We will have it in time. But
isles.
we must first have national bimetallism. The South and West will
(See CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, August 13, 1893, page 63.)
never rest until we get it.
The gentleman "gives away" the whole case now before the
Even the East, it seisms to me, might see that the country can
court, but he is right. I will not join him in the utterance: "JXo in- never have rest from the agitation of this question until the functelligent man talking to intelligent men would make an assertion tions of money—coequal money—have been restored to silver. It
of that kind." The President "makes an assertion of that kind" is the only thing which will prevent a worse panic than this—a
in his message, and I am not willing to deprive him of the quality world panic.
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