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Resolution to Close Debate on the Bill (H. R. 1) to Repeal the Silver-Purchasing Clause of the Act of 1890. S P E E C H OF HON. WILKINSON OF CALL, FLORIDA, I N T H E S E N A T E OF T H E U N I T E D STATES, Saturday, September 23,1893. The Senate having under consideration the following resolution: s e c t i o n T h a t RUlG I X °f thG S e n a t e b e a m e n d e d adding the following U ' SEC. 2, Whenever any bill or resolution is pending befoie the Senate lis unfinished business, the presiding officer shall, upon the written request of a majority of the Senators, fix it day and hour, andnotify the Senate thereof, when general debate shall cease thereon, which time shall not be less than five days from the submission of such request; and he shall also fix a subsequent day and hour, and notify the Senate thereof, when the vote shall be taken on the bill or resolution, and any amendment thereto, without further debate; the time for taking the vote to be not more than two days later than the time when general debate is to cease; and in the interval between the closing of general debate and the taking of the vote, no Senator shall speak more than five minutes, nor more than once, upon the same proposition."* Mr. CALL said: Mr. PRESIDENT: The resolution before the Senate for a change of the rules which have been observed in this body for a hundred years is made at a time when the public mind is inflamed; when it is full of apprehension: when opinions are greatly divided in reference to a public measure which is the subject of consideration here and throughout the country. Whatever may be our views upon the subject of the pending bill, it can not be denied that to a large portion, I say a great majority of the people of the United States, it is regarded as the most important legislation which has been before the country perhaps during the whole period of its existence, if "we except the'single period of the great civil war. There is throughout the entire limits of our country a deep-seated feeling that the results of this legislation will* be more disastrous to the great body of the people than any measure which has been presented to it. Before I submit the few observations I wish to make upon the subject of this rule, I preface it with the statement that I am not of the number of those who find occasion for unfriendly criti483 2 cism of the President of the United States, or of his great and distinguished Secretary of the Treasury, or who charge upon them inconsistency or infidelity in adhering to the pledges of their political faith. I regard the President as a man of extras rdinary intellect, of unquestionable patriotism, of sympathy with the great masses of the people. He it was who started the great waves of public reform, of changed legislation looking to the interest of the masses of the people of this country, the great tariff question, and there is nothing, in my judgment, to abate the confidence of the people in him or in the Secretary of the Treasury; nor with the distinguished Senator from Indiana [Mr. VooRHEES], who advocates this movement upon the floor of the Senate, can there bo found any inconsistency with his previous declarations and his lifelong advocacy of every measure which looked toward the advancement and the welfare of the great masses Of the people of this country. The administration of a great public trust, Mr. President, and the duties of a deliberative body and a legislator are vastly different. Caution, conservatism, must be the guide of those who are charged with the execution of the law and the public policies which they find in existence; and I can well see that the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the United States may not have in anywise changed their convictions because of their advocacy of measures which are here presented. Who can doubt that the distinguished Senator from Georgia (Mr. GORDON], who has been the hero of many a triumphant battlefield, and been repeatedly the recipient of civic honors by his own State, is honest and sincere in his advocacy of measures of relief hereafter to be adopted by this body? Who can question the fidelity of the Senator from Indiana, who has shown so much courtesy and forebearance in the advocacy of this measure? But these are not reasons for a submission on the part of those who have different opinions to the passage of this bill. The questions are of too great importance. They require deliberation; they are world-wide in their effects; they are connected with the revolutions which seem to impend over every country in Europe. See the vast amount of,public debt which the most careless observer perceives threatens bankruptcy and the possible result of civil war and social and political revolution. Who doubts that this vast mass of debt, increasing in an almost geometrical progression, accompanied by millions upon millions of paupers, people having scarcely the necessaries of life, and extending to ovir own country, presents questions of the most serious consideration to the statesman? The simple question of the time when we shall debate these measures may press itself with force to one mind or to another. For myself I regard the pending proposition to change the rules as a proposition to forbid discussion, to forbid debate, to close the only avenues of intercourse batwesn this body and the great mass of the people of the United States. W i t h the press in the control &nd ownership of the great moneyed interests of the country; with the power of money assailing every legislative body and every legislator; with rank 488 and position and distinction conferred upon those who submit to the will of the great moneyed interests of the country, this tribunal is the only one in the world where the free and open consideration of the people s wants, the interests of the great mass of the people can be had unaffected by those powerful causes It is here alone in all the world that the psople can be he.ird free from the influences and the solicitations of fortune and the power of wealth. It assails this body; it affects the elections of members here; but always there will be found here representatives, as the Senator from Indiana [Mr. T U R P I E ] , WHOT has just spoken, has said, who will be true to the people, who will represent their interests, who will maintain their honest convictions; and it may be said, and I believe it can be said, that it characterizes this body as a whole. I share not in the censures which have been passed upon tne Senator from Ohio [Mr. SHERMAN]-distinguished in ability and an honor to his country, as I conceive him to be—for nis opinions upon this subject; but, Mr\ President, I regard this measure for the repeal of the Sherman act, whatever may belts specific effects, as but the vanguard of the great battle between the people for right, for justice, for comfort, for happiness in e v e r y home, and the great consolidated money powers of the world. Who can doubt that we are approaching a period when, if wise counsels do not prevail, there will be trouble more serious. more dreadful, than has ever occurred in this country! If the predictions and the apparently well-founded opinions of m a n y economistsare true—and they are m i n e - t h a t gradually the people of this country are becoming poorer and poorer; that tne ffreatforces of invention andprogress are accompanied by increasing-poverty, increasing want and destitution m the homes of the great masses of the people, and that it is because of the consolidation of the money power of the world; because of its control of the powers of taxation; because of the lease of the powers or taxation to great corporations; the monopoly of money, the concentration of the use of public credit in the hands of a few individuals, which is the eflect of our national system, giving the nation's credit as a privilege to a few, a small portion of our people the exclusive right, the monopoly of banking, the use of the public credit: the issuance of bonds, which carry with them a l i e n upon tHe labor of every man within this country—if these propositions are true, we may well see, Mr. President, that, m this contest between privilege and power and money and the srreat masses of the people, the American people will not submit; that they will require of their representatives that such policies and such measures shall be pursued as will remove the possibility of these great and powerful influences. W h a t then? Shall we close the power of debate here.' Shall we give to a bare majority the right to suppress inquiry, investigation, and thought? * V. Mr President, I regard the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, of which so much has been said in these days, when the public press belongs to the great moneyed interests of the country, when their agents are assailing every man who does not do t h e i r bidding-I regard the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, which is the faithful record of the people's servants, of their investigation of public 488 questions, of their analyses of the problems which are before the country and the world, as one of the most i p p o r t a n t m s u u • mentalities within our power for the preservation of P " ™ " ^ 1 " . ™ t v , a n d for the advancement of the happiness and welfare of the t r e a t masses of the people of this country. Mi-: President, throughout the entire length and breadth of this country there is want, there is poverty. In every home in the agricultural regions of our country the pressure of the monev power is felt; no money can be had. Crops aie a b u n d a n M earth is fruitful, lines of communication traverse every section and portion of our country, no public di.aster has come upon the people, and yet tbere has been paralysis o trade Bountiful nature has gone on and has f u r n i s h e d t o t h e i n h a b i - . tants of our country every means and resource of happiness, of abundance, and yet we find here, from some cause, t h a t the whole system and conduct of exchange and commerce: and_ the means of bringing comfort to the familiesof the people t h r o u g h out the country is suspended, is changed is paralyzed Is not t h a t a question of importance enough to be discussed and considered from now untif December? Is that a question ut>on which any man can speak ex cathedra, and say t h a t the r e m e d y for this is in any f u r t h e r concentration of the power of toatira, of money, of bonds, of liens upon thelabor of the countoyfin the hands of a few individuals? Iss tnot t h a t what is proem K-inlrincr yvstftm and extension of S" J >e d V v ^ * the nation's credit to them? Is not that what we P ~ F « « ^ shall be no f u r t h e r legislation? Do we not declare that thepowei of issuing money, paper money, token money.shall be placed in t h e h a n d s ^ s e l e c t e d l n d i v i d u a l s , who can control this scarce and r a r e and difficult product of gold? . . If we are to stop here, if thare is to be no free coinage of silver U there is to be no change in the existing legislation of the country but the repeal of the Sherman act, are we not proposing ^o give to W e people who control the gold of the world the •poleland the r i g h t to issue its necessary token substitute;. and ?-h-it is t h a f J I read in the sta istics given by Mulhall t h a t in 18S0 t h e debt of the principal nations of the world, including the U n i t e d S U t e s ? was £6,160,500,000. Isee h e r e that in t h e Lnited S t a t e s our private and public debts are estimated m the last fensus a t $19,000,0c0,000 an increase within t h e last ten years o r a v a s t amount and all the debts of the world, according to M u S , h a v e increased tenfold in ninety-six years preceding ^ H e S a tenfold increkse of indebtedness in ninety-six years W d e s the annual tax levies upon th6 people of the world, to pesiaes ine auauai 0 f municipal corporations, of railrnat?co^Dai5es an^of the various forms of corporations which r o a d companies, ana oi i increase in the taxation u w ) n \ h o s ° people and our o wn is estimated at the great amount K S c nitional debt. Y e t we find that the g r e a t n itions ° F a i n f a r e - r a s p ng gold and locking it up in their^military l i t e tor the suppport of the 23,000,000 armed men who are in hostUe aVray agaiAst each other, threatening war every day. T h i s e r e a t powfr, this golden treasure, is b e i n g withdrawn fi om the uses of trade/from the business of the country, and locked 5 up in the military chests of the nations of the earth. What does that mean? That means that there is no free and unrestricted use of the precious metal. That means that the laws of commerce are not applicable, but that they are suspended in their relations. Now, Mr. President, in this condition of public opinion, allowing what we may for a difference of opinion, as shown by controversy, allowing for the opinion of those of us who see in the future nothing but greater poverty, greater want, greater oppression, and the advance of monopoly in every form which must* necessarily be accompanied by the want and poverty and the degradation of the masses of the people of this country—admitting the possible error of opinion that we may have, is this a time to propose a resolution that shall close free and fair discussion in this body, that shall suppress here, when here alonothe people can be heard, the voice of inquiry, of protestation, and of continued examination? Mr. President, we have survived the perils of our great civil war, with all its emergencies and all its demands for instantaneous action, we have passed through every peril and every circumstance and condition of national life for a hundred years without any other power in this body than the force of public opinion. Shall we now, in the interest of those who believe that gold alone is the proper basis for monetary transactions—shall we, in the interest of those great bankers of Europe, the Rothschilds, who deal in the public securities of nations and who obtain their wealth alone from the great crushing public d e b t s shall we, at this time, in the interest of theories, be they correct or incorrect, give it into the power of a majority to close debate in this body? I do not distrust the President of the United States. I believe that he will sign any bill for free coinage, or otherwise, that is demanded by the great majority of the people of the United States. But I have no idea that tie or others will have the power when this proposed repeal bill is passed, until a great political revolution shall have occurred, until perhaps a social revolution shall have occurred—to me§t the combined wealth of the world which depends for its further aggrandizement upon this action in the United States. Mr. President, I do not distrust the distinguished Senator from Indiana [Mr. VOORHEES] nor the distinguished Senator from Georgia [Mr. GORDON]. They are as sincere as I am; they c in be relied upon as far as I or others can be relied on in the defense of the views and intarests of the people and their pledges in favor of free and unrestrictd coinage of the precious metals; but they will not have the power when this action shall be accomplished to successfully cope with the forces, the vanguard of which is now here fighting for supremacy in the transfer of power from the people of the whole of this country. In my judgment there can be no doubt of the fact that this is *,he contest for republican government, however others may view it. There will have to be a new start and a new organization of forces. Thomas Jefferson, the founder of this great Democratic party to which we belong, and in which I have confidence, declared that there was no rightful power in one generation to bind 488 another in the imposition of national indebtedness Under our Prostitution the provision in respect to the national aeDi uaa beefmade obligatory since the conclusion of the war, yet as the g r l a t T r c h b i s h l p Walsh, of Ireland, has g e n t l y demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt, the c o n f l n e m . n t of tho bus^ ness of the world to a single metal, gold, has doubled the puDlic ^ l ^ t Z t ^ o l h^ve t r a n s m ^ d this vast load of oublic and private obligation into one single metal and P doubled n that you threaten the stability of thc whole of th^ preat fabric of debt. I, for one, with whatever ability I Poss®®s> f m decidedly of the opinion and judgment that the change into t h e S e -old standard and the transfer of the power of issuing token money, paper money substitutes, to the great i n k e r s of the world m i l increase the indebtedness of the whole world twofold Thiftransfer into their hands will be the necfessaryresultof the power of taxation and will create an increase of the want and poverty and the price of money throughout the whole ° f W h v ? T m y State, Florida, the people can get no money. Even in ordinary times they pay for use of money m there homes and in their-business affairs from 8 to ^ P e ^ t - J - h e y are i>oor Whatever treasures the oarth m.iy disclose, thej fail T w e l v e the benefittherefrom. Extend your lines of corporatinnci and still th^v draw to the great central point, JNew *orK, a n f t o Europe a l l l h e money, a l f t h e results of labor, and leave thn«fi Pneoole in a condition of poverty and want. X w Mr. President, in that condition of things when we are called upon for mature deliberation, when the highest forces of the human mind are demanded for the consider tion of these Problems when we can well afford to spend months m careful f t u d f and invesSgation; in these times, when the pressure of want is felt in every household in every city, when it is estimated wUh reasonable cert dnty that there are a mil ion of unSnnlovedmen begging for work in order to be able to live, when tVuv? are to be seen in the streets of our cities begging for employment tha? they may obtain the tread of U f e - m t h £ e times, when we are required to examine into some measure of relief, for one I should be willing to advanc; such public works everywhere as could he properly utilized; for one I should be willing to commence the construction of intercontinental railroads and cun ls through the two Americas. For one i should prefer to consider ^aproposition for a conference with the great silverusing nations of the world in order that we might combme Sur fesources towards securing the benefits of free coinage of silver and gold and open the mints of these countries to both m But; 8 Mr. President, I mention these things with respect and deference to the P r e s i d e n t theUnited States. P o r h i m i h a v e the highest opinion. I am willing to trust him again with the Presidency of the United States. His sympathies, I believe, are as much with the people as are thoseof any publicman in ourmidst. f am willing to trust his distinguished Secretary of the Treasury. whom 1 vindicate from even inconsistency with the celebrated speech which he made in the House, but who is now con- 7 fronted with measures of Treasury administration. 1 would speak with respect of the distinguished Senator from Ohio [Mr. SHERMAN], against whom are made so many imputations, but whose opinion as a great statesman I respect. But we have ^d if ferences of opinion between them and ourselves and, I think, the great majority of our people. Consider the able declarations and arguments that have been made by the distinguished Archbishop Walsh, of Ireland, showing the condition of the Irish p ople under the 1 md-settlement act, so beneficent, passed under the leadership of Mr. Gladstone. The evils to which that act was addressed have grown to a greater burden than they were before the passage,of the act. What is true of Ireland is true of the United States by demonstration. The debt will be a double burden upon the people and the taxpayers, in my judgment, if we repeal this law, unless there shall be some additional legislation accompanying it. Mr. President, it was said by the Senator from Kentucky [Mr. LINDSAY] that those who opposed this bill must necessarily distrust the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury and the promises which have been made here by distinguished Senators. 1 do not distrust them. I believe to-day that they will vote, after this repeal bill shall 'have been disposed of^ for a free-coinage law, and that the President will approve it, and that the Secretary of the Treasury himself will also, with perhaps some reserve, because of his character as an administrator of the Treasury, give his assent to it. But they will have no power to do it. The public press will be unanimously in the charge of this great consolidated money power, which obtains its profits of banking from the public. The repressntatives of the people here alone will stand unaffected by this tremendous money power. A great many peoffle will be sincerely of the opinion that gold, and gold alone, is the safe bmis for the conduct of the public and private business affairs of the world. These arguments which are now so forcibly made will then be far more forcibly made, will aid the triumph in this controversy of the people who have accumulated wealth, and will give them tenfold more power and strength. Mr. President, I concur with the Senator from Indiana [Mr. TURPIE] who spoke this morning, in the proposition that unrestricted debate here in this body is the hope of freedom, the hope of legislation for the people of the wide world. Here are ilo-standing armies, no kings, no despots, seeking to control the sole basis of money transactions. The power of public opinion must control. If so be, it is voluntary. If the money pow-r is allowed control it will be by the conviction of the judgment of these Senators, and, as against them, is the great rushing tide of public opinion. So that here in this body the right of unrestricted debate and discussion is the last refuge of f/eedotn. If we are to advance along the lines of progress and invention and these mighty forces which have been so often alluded to in the learned debate which has been had here; if we are to make the people happy, and bring joy and abundance into every household, as it is possible to do, why here is the place for th it judgment and consideration; We must open wide the access to the 488 8 waves of public thought and feeling which reach this body. We must deliberate long, carefully, and thoughtfully, accepting the best judgment, the best thought, and the best opinion of the world to guide us in our path of deliberation.. For that reason, Mr. President, while I yield to those who differ from me the same patriotism, the same devotion to the interests of the people, and the same hope of future progress and happiness of the people as I myself have; while I recognize their distinguished ability; while I maintain that neither as Republicans nor as Democrats is there need for ostracism pf those who differ from us; while I recognize the paramount ability of the President of the United States and of his great Secretary of the Treasury, and honor them for the courage of their convictions; while I recognize in the distinguished Senator from Indiana [Mr. VOORHEES] the fact that he has given a lifelong service to the interests of the people and of freedom, and the fact that he is still as faithful to them as he ever was; while I recognize the fact that he regards this as an appropriate thing to do without change, qr substitute, or modification; still I differ from them. We are fighting^the battle of freedom. This is the vanguard of the great forces about to meet to not only fight for 'the repeal of this bill, but to fight for the control of the world. In my judgment, if a cloture resolution shall be imposed upon this body, if the despotism of restraint of discussion and thought is brought here, we shall be placed at a disadvantage, which will require a reorganization of the great forces which are fighting the people's battles, and we shall have to commence anew our journey in the path of progress and reform which President Cleveland in his great message first advocated.^ Let us give heed to the public opinion which protests against this proposed action. Let us give pause to action and consider long and with earnest solicitude the eventualities of the action which we shall take. m O
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