196 



CONGRESS. (THE BILL AUTHORIZING ISSUE OF BONDS.) 



taining this gold clause. Until every one of these 

 notes and mortgages are paid there will be a greater 

 strain all over the country on gold than on silver, 

 which, of course, will have the inevitable result of 

 artificially increasing the price of gold. Therefore 

 if we pass a free-coinage bill here to-day gold and 

 silver can not come to a parity until every one of 

 these gold obligations are paid, unless the strain 

 on gold is offset by a like and equal strain on sil- 

 ver, unless the Secretary of the Treasury and the 

 President will observe and carry out the letter and 

 spirit of the law." 



Mr. Butler said further: 



" Are not ninety-nine people out of a hundred in 

 this country to-day suffering from the present evil 

 conditions brought on us by bad legislation and 

 mismanagement of Government affairs ? Who 

 brought about these evil conditions? It is not 

 God's fault that this country is in distress. He has 

 not visited us with plagues, famines, or pestilence, 

 but has he not blessed us with sunshine and show- 

 ers? Has he not blessed the American freeman 

 with health and strength to labor and to make two 

 blades of grass grow where one grew before ? 



" It is not the fault of the people, for have they 

 not used in an extraordinary degree the opportuni- 

 ties that have been placed before them? Each 

 year they have worked harder than the year before. 

 Each year they have created more wealth per head. 

 In fact they have created so much wealth that the 

 gold bugs and the monopolists have raised the cry 

 that the people are ruining the country by creating 

 too much wealth by making an overproduction of 

 wealth. In short, Heaven has given us the oppor- 

 tunity to make ourselves rich and prosperous : we 

 have used that opportunity and created enough 

 Wealth to make this country blossom like a rose 

 and to surround every man who will work with 

 comforts commensurate with his wants. 



"Then what has brought this distress to the 

 country ? What has thrown our laborers out of 

 employment and turned them into tramps on the 

 highways of the nation ? What has brought star- 

 vation and poverty to the door of every farmer in 

 the land ? What has ruined millions of merchants 

 and business men ? I stand here to-day and charge 

 and defy contradiction that it has been brought 

 upon us solely by infamous laws enacted in this 

 Capitol and by a still more infamous execution or 

 defiance of law by the administration at the other 

 end of Pennsylvania Avenue. 



" The same thing has gone on whether the Re- 

 publican party was in charge or the Democratic 

 party in charge. The people are not to be blamed 

 except in one particular, "and that is in allowing 

 themselves to be cajoled or fooled or aroused by 

 partisan prejudice into voting for and keeping in 

 power their faithless agents who have robbed them. 

 The great majority of voters in this country are 

 opening their eyes to this infamy and to this be- 

 trayal of trust. The great majority of the people 

 are throwing off their party yoke which they have 

 worn so faithfully and so disastrously. They are 

 anxious to get together under one banner and drive 

 from power these gold conspirators. 



"The greatest hindrance to-day in the way of 

 this, the men who are to-day the most to blame" for 

 keeping apart the people who would come together 

 and right their wrongs and re-establish the Govern- 

 ment of Lincoln, Jefferson, and Jackson, are some 

 of the men who claim to stand by the people and for 

 good government, the men who claim to oppose the 

 gold standard and the rule of monopoly, but yet who 

 sacrifice ever v ] rinciplc of good government, who sac- 

 rifice the interests of the people for party success that 

 they may remain in power and continue to draw 

 their salaries. It is the duty of such men, placed 



in positions of trust by a confiding constituency, to 

 put patriotism above party when the interest of the 

 nation is at stake, and to point out to their people 

 at home the sure way to relief. They ought to do 

 it even if their advice resulted in crushing their 

 own parties, for is not the country greater than 

 party ? Is not the welfare of the people more im- 

 portant than the success of any party ? It is crim- 

 inal for the people's representatives to try to hide 

 the real issues and allow the people to be robbed in 

 order that a party may triumph, in order that a few 

 politicians may hold office/' 



Jan. 15, Senator Pugh, of Alabama, introduced a 

 concurrent resolution, explaining that it was an ex- 

 act copy of what is known as the Stanley Matthews 

 resolution, which passed both houses of Congress 

 in 1878 by a two-thirds vote. 



The resolution follows : 



" Whereas by the act entitled ' An Act to strength- 

 en the public credit,' approved March 18, 1869, it 

 was provided and declared that the faith of the 

 United States was thereby solemnly pledged to the 

 payment, in coin or its equivalent, of all interest- 

 bearing obligations of the United States, except in 

 cases where the law authorizing the issue of such 

 obligations had expressly provided that the same 

 might be paid in lawful money or other currency 

 than gold or silver; and 



" Whereas all the bonds of the United States au- 

 thorized to be issued by the act entitled ' An Act to 

 authorize the refunding of the national debt,' ap- 

 proved July 14, 1870, by the terms of said act were 

 declared to be redeemable in coin of the then pres- 

 ent standard of value, bearing interest payable semi- 

 annually in such coin ; and 



" Whereas all bonds of the United States author- 

 ized to be 'issued under the act entitled 'An Act to 

 provide for the resumption of specie payments,' ap- 

 proved Jan. 14, 1875, are required to be of the de- 

 scription of bonds of the United States described 

 in the said act of Congress approved July 14, 1870, 

 entitled An Act to authorize the refunding of the 

 national debt ' ; and 



" Whereas at the date of the passage of said act 

 of Congress last aforesaid, to wit. the 14th day of 

 July, 1870, the coin of the United States of stand- 

 ard value of that date included silver dollars of the 

 weight of 412^ grains each, declared by the act ap- 

 proved Jan. 18, 1837, entitled 'An Act supple- 

 mentary to the act entitled "An Act establishing 

 a mint and regulating the coins of the United 

 States," ' to be a legal tender of payment, accord- 

 ing to the nominal value, for any sums whatever; 

 Therefore, 



" Resolved by the Senate (the House of Repre- 

 sentatives concurring therein), That all the bonds 

 of the United States issued, or authorized to be is- 

 sued, under the said acts of Congress hereinbefore 

 recited, are payable, principal and interest, at the 

 option of the Government of the United States, in 

 silver dollars of the coinage of the United States 

 containing 412i grains each of standard silver ; and 

 that to restore to its coinage such silver coins as a 

 legal tender in payment of said bonds, principal 

 and interest, is not in violation of the public faith 

 nor in derogation of the rights of the public cred- 

 itor." 



The amendment to the coin redemption bill was 

 further debated Jan. 16, by Senator Peffer, of Kan- 

 sas, and Jan. 22, by Senator Teller, of Colorado; 

 Senator Gorman, of Maryland ; Senator Platt. of 

 Connecticut; Senator Sherman, of Ohio; Senator 

 Aldrich, of Rhode Island; Senator Lindsay, of 

 Kentucky, and others. 



Senator Dubois, of Idaho, spoke on the subject 

 Jan. 23, and the following day Senator Baker, of 

 Kansas, spoke on an amendment which he had 



