CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



177 



standard dollars by about 4 per cent., the small 

 change of nearly all civilized nations being so 

 debased to keep it from going out of the 

 country. It will be remembered that the joint 

 resolution of 1876 authorized this subsidiary 

 coinage to be issued to the extent of $50,000,- 

 000. I learn that there has been submitted to 

 the Attorney-General a question as to the 

 amount of this issue of subsidiary silver allow- 

 able by law, and that his decision is to this 

 effect, that under that resolution there can be 

 issued of this subsidiary silver coin $62,103,- 

 513. The commission appointed to examine 

 this subject reported that $8,083,000 had been 

 lost or destroyed in circulation, and could be 

 replaced by an additional issue of subsidiary 

 silver, which, together with the four millions 

 in the Treasury before this coinage began un- 

 der the resumption act, makes the sixty-two 

 millions. For the purpose of redeeming the 

 remainder of old fractional currency, upward 

 of $9,000,000 of legal-tender notes have been 

 virtually retired, having been placed in the 

 Treasury to meet that amount of fractional 

 currency if ever presented. 



" It will thus be seen that, taking into con- 

 sideration the fractional currency, the legal- 

 tender notes, and the national-bank notes, 

 there has been a contraction of $94,595,000, if 

 we include the $9,000,000 retired into the 

 Treasury to meet the fractional currency not 

 sent in. There is, in addition to this, a very 

 considerable amount still on deposit for the 

 withdrawal of national-bank notes on transac- 

 tions not yet completed. The amount of legal- 

 tender notes withdrawn from circulation and 

 held in the Treasury on account of the liquida- 

 tion, settlement, and resignation of national- 

 bank notes is made up as follows: 



For reducing $8,218.000 



Failed 881,000 



In liquidation 3,956,000 



"In all there are held in the Treasury up- 

 ward of $13,000,000 of legal-tender notes with- 

 drawn from circulation under the provisions 

 of this third section of the resumption act, 

 making in all a contraction in the volume of 

 currency during this length of time of nearly 

 $107,000,000 upon a circulation of $750,000,000 

 in national -bank notes and legal tenders. This 

 has occurred under the operation of the third 

 section of the resumption act. It will be seen, 

 therefore, that the avowed purpose of that act 

 to increase the volume of the currency has 

 not been realized ; that, on the contrary, there 

 has been a contraction almost unparalleled in 

 the history of any commercial country, amount- 

 ing in that brief time to one sixth of the en- 

 tire volume. 



"Before I dismiss this question I wish to 

 state a fact which, although not immediately 

 involved in the present discussion, vitally 

 affects the general question of our currency, 

 and shows the gross misstatements resorted to 

 in order to prevent the remonetization of silver. 

 Statements have been made formerly in this 

 VOL. xvin. 12 A 



House from misconception of the facts, and in 

 the public prints, that silver had been declin- 

 ing in value rapidly before it was demonetized. 

 Examination proves this not to have been the 

 fact. As the House is well aware, in 1871 

 Germany demonetized silver. In 1873, by a 

 provision adopted in an appropriation bill, and 

 which members of the House and the Senate 

 have said repeatedly they did not know they 

 were enacting, the silver dollar was demone- 

 tized in these United States, or rather stricken 

 from the coinage, for it was a money prescribed 

 by the Constitution. This was done on the plea 

 that silver was declining, or rather its remon- 

 etization is resisted on the ground that the de- 

 cline in silver no longer makes it useful as mon- 

 ey. What were the facts ? Up to the date of 

 the passage of that act silver for many years 

 had ranged at about sixty pence on the ounce 

 in London not lower than fifty-nine. In Feb- 

 ruary of that year it was a small fraction un- 

 der sixty, although quoted at fifty -nine and a 

 quarter for the year ending in June. It had 

 not been declining when the act demonetizing 

 the silver dollar took effect more than it had 

 sometimes declined previously. Since we 

 demonetized it, and the Scandinavian countries 

 have demonetized it, it has fallen, and has been 

 at forty-eight pence, and even forty-six pence. 

 It will thus be seen that our demonetization 

 had great effect in producing this result, for 

 its use as coin is what gives silver its chief value. 

 We have thus stripped our silver, one of our 

 most important productions, of much of its 

 value. The improvements in machinery in our 

 western mines have actually doubled the pres- 

 ent silver production of the world. We have 

 it in our power by preserving its value to pay 

 our debts more easily, even if the balance of 

 trade should turn against us. We have it in 

 our power through our silver and gold to dic- 

 tate terms to the money magnates of Europe, 

 and become what we may be, the ruler in 

 finance. But by that wretched act we threw 

 away a facility to pay our debts, weakened our 

 political power, and tried to belittle our own 

 productions. 



u We have seen, Mr. Speaker, that this third 

 section did not increase the volume of circula- 

 tion. We have seen this third section, on the 

 contrary, decrease that circulation almost one 

 sixth of its entire volume, and not only leave 

 power with the Secretary to destroy the best 

 money we had, but to saddle us with an addi- 

 tional debt of one hundred and seven millions 

 and a burden of interest of six millions a year. 



"Now, there is one fact to which I wish to 

 call your attention. The national-bank notes, 

 as you will have observed, have been reduced 

 in volume, and any man might have foreseen 

 when that bill was pending before this House 

 that it could not result in an increase of the 

 national-bank notes on any rational hypothesis. 

 The national-bank notes can not do without the 

 legal-tender notes. So long as the volume of 

 legal-tender was greater than the volume of 



