State Library ' 5 . j;. PROTECTION! INDUSTRY! ENTERPRISE! PROSPERITY! LOSE 28. HICKORY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1896. NUMBER 39 111 a 1 s. ML I i : CHEAP DOLLARS - NOT CONSTITUTIONAL. .ctaator Jhn B. Henderson Affirm that Q0riTcss Has no Constitutional Power to Coin Money nd Make It a Full Tender In the Payment of Debt Except on the Basis of the Commercial or Intrinsic Values of the Met als Coined A Clear and Cogent Argument Convincing His torical Reference. 13 a r Harbor, Sept. 8, 1896. Joseph Pulitzer, Esq. My Dear Sir: I now recur to our conversation in which. I suggested to Tou my conviction that to coin silver and invest it wim unumiieu legai ten- . .. i ii . , a i jer character, at a value admitted by the law-making power to be scarcely more than one-half its commercial value, would be an unconstitutional act, and should be so declared without hitAtion bv the Supreme Court of the United States. ,. , Among the enumerated objects to be attained by the format on of the Con stitution are the following, to wit: "To establish justice," to 'promote the general welfare" and . to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and, our posterity." . At the threshold, let us ask if "justice" can in any conceivable ?way be promoted or "established": among the people of the United States, by a legislative edict which plainly and confessedly transfers one half of their property from one class of our people to another class. If it be said that Congress by the enactment of bank ruptcy laws may accomplish tne same end, I reply that bankruptcy laws are I not "b s of attainder." They are f "Killo i-f nttoinrlor 17 ThOV Mm I not acts of usurpation. They must be administered in the courts and under the forms and sanctions of judicial procedure. Such laws are required by the Constitution to be "uniform" unilorm territorially.and uniform as to the classes and persons to be affected by their administration. If, in the eiecution and enforcement of bank ruptcy laws, the debtor is finally ' dis charged from a part of his obligations without actual payment, it is only done after judicial inquiry, and after a finding of the fact in the courts of law that the debtor is unable to pay; that his inability to do so is untainted iy iraua. aua tuai iu xeiee, wuc alike beneficial to himself and the t'ominuiiity, will not be prejudicial or injurious to his creditors. ; ; if Congress can constitutionally de clare that oli grains of silver, regard lesi, of its intrinsic -value, ,j shall be worth as much 33 -2-100 "grains of iroUl, and that coins containing these amounts respectively Shall be accepted as a full dollar in the discharge of debts and -m all other commercial transactions among the people, it fol lows, as a matter of course, that Con k'ress may, In 1 its - discretion,-declare that 30 grains of silver, commercially worth 3t cents, shail.be of equal value with the irold dollar. The enactment f such a law, if conformable, to the Constitution, would certainly operate to confiscate by, legislative edict about y?t jK5rceut. of the total tindebtednetv3 of the country; or more 'appropriately 1 should say- it would take that amount from the holders of .all sub Mating obligations and transfer it, to the debtors. It would enable-all banks to pay their depositors In full with St per cent, of the amount they agreed to pay. And the same is true in respect of insurace companies and building associations; and the employers of labor would In the same manner be authorized, to take acquittance from the honest demands of labor. If this power exists, the Government itself may legally discharge Its whole debt by paying to the holder of its bonds 8$ jH?r cent, of their par value. The Government debt is all payable in coin, but if the Government can itself make the coins for its discharge and fix by law the value of the coins so madeof course a single hundred dol lars' worth of silver may suffice to liquidate the whole twelve hundred million dollars of Its bonded debt? 1 All this extraordinary power iis claimed to by- derived from the authority delegated to .Congress 'tto coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix the stan? dard of weights ad measures,'; j In whaV sense didt oarforefathers use the word tregnlater" If we take our old cojonlal history, the proceedings of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, , the con dition on of the currency "when the above clause was inserted into the Constitution, the speeches and acta of public men contemporaneous with the formation of the instrument, together with the legislation and proceedings of our National Congress from 1793 down to 1878, there can be no doubt about the extent and meaning of this coinage clause of the Constitution. From the portion of this history which precedes the adoption, of the Constitution, it is clear that the coins expected to be made and used under the Constitution should consist of gold, silver and copper. This is gath ered from the report -of the great finAnc!ep of tne Revolutionary, era. rbert Morris. made in 1782, on , the subject of foreign coins and the estab lishment and regulation of an. Ameri can mint. Mr. Jefferson's "Notes on the Establishment of a Money Mint and of a Coinage for the - United States," prepared and published about the same time, clearly demonstrates the same factv The report of the Grand. Committee of Congress on the subject of the "Money Unit" in 1785 and the report of the Board of Treasury , In, 1786 fully confirm the statement not only that coins of gold, silver and cop-. per were contemplated, but that theses coins were to be so made, constructed,' "regulated," if you please,aa to express their commercial value. The Idea of coining money on a false or fictitious value was not then entertained by onvMv it seems not to ; have oc curred to the authors of these papers thai such a thing as legal value, sepa rate and apart from commercial value, could exist. Mr. Morris, indeed,simply predicated the superiority of stamped coins as money over oumou ujwu iuo . i tit V, fact that "the standard of coins is presumed to be just," that is, based on intrinsic or market values, and con- sequently, he said, "they are received without the delays and expense of ..sMvintf " And Mr. Jefferson, to MWJt J Q - - . mala' th Aonclnsion still clearer: de clared that in coining money justice ( demands that we "disregard legal pro portions altogether," and that we must ascertain the "market price" of the metals to be coined in the "several countries with which we shall be principally connected in commerce and tnkft an averasre from them." In the reDOrt Gf the Grand Committee of n.nnrn- in 1783. the first or tne -iour propositions discussed is the Compara tive commercial value5 'of gold ,. and silver. y-.,:-- -- i ' r: In the celebrated report of Mr, Hamilton, the then Secretary of the Treasury; in 1791, madt at the, special instance of ; Congress, concurred in and approved by Mr. J.efft?rPon,and op .iiwli rtort our. first eoinacre' act of tv a.AA'w va , w ; - " " t April 2,- 1793, , was predicated, it be came 'necessary, - of v course,- i to ; give practical interpretation to this clause of the Constitution! 1 , - : In this report it is said: "There is scarcely any point in the economy of national affairs of greater moment than the uniform preservation of the intrin sic value of the money unit. On this the - security and steady value of property essentially depend.' It will be remembered that MrV Hamilton recommended in this paper, - and Con gress, inits legislation, followed the recommendation, that the exact com mercial value of both gold and silver be ascertained and that the unit be affixed to both metals. He realized and stated, with his usual ability, the superiority of gold.both as money and as a standard of value, but the com parative value of gold and .silver throughout the world luid then been uniform for so great a period it was hoped jthat the double standard could be safely - adopted. This was clearly and confessedly a concession to the extensive use in the United States of oreigu silver coins already received from Spain, France and England, with the current values of which the people had become familiar. - It was feared, and so stated by Mr. Hamilton, that, in the future, changes might take place In the comparative value of the two metals, to be oc casioned probably by the fluctuations of silver. Bat It wai suggested that no great burta could result from such changes in value ."if Jca re be take to regulate the proportion between them with an eye to their average commerS cial value." a?. ia:iu x . n v a ' '"This langtiageshoWs that the erd regulate'? jwas net than usedi in the .0 IIAJSVSJ l sense ol arbitrarily esiaonsning or fixing values by law, but , only in the sense of ascertaining and declaring the quantity of each metal necessary to make equality of commercial or market value in the respective coins. It points out and enforces the neces sity, under this power to coin money, of keeping constant guard against de preciation in the market value of the metal coined, and of so changing the laws from time to time as to adjust . or "regulate1 the coinage values accord ing to bullion values as ascertained in the markets of the world. An abund ant and sufficient reason for such ac tion is explicitly stated by Mr. Hamil ton as follows; "One consequence of overrating either metal, in respect to the other, is the banishment of 'the one that is undervalued." And the corollary is equally well stated as fol lows, to wit: "It is evident that as often as a country which overrates either of the metals receives a payment in that metal it gets a less , actual onantitv than it ought to do, ot less than it would do if the rate was a just I a w - . one." He xnereiore uoceseaxuy wu- i a a . . fc m I eludes that the legal and market value must be the same. u J : " j I In the light of contemporaneous history, thereforeit seems clear that . the Constitution did not intend to authorize the proposed coinage of sliver at double Its intrinsic value. . 1 put aside the newly discovered claim that the present disparity in commercial values of the two metals Is rather the result of appreciation of gold than depreciation of silver. Mr, Jefferson's rale for determining values is the only rational or reliable one, to wit: The nrarket price of the metals 1 (the bullion price) in 'tne several countries with which we Jsball princi pally be connected in commerce." If we take the established and admitted market value of to-day, the silver dol lar proposed to be coined is worth only 51J cents, while the coined goia aonar is worth a full dollar in the form of bullion. - We annually sell to England from two to three hundred million dollars' worth of our products over and above the value of products purchased from her which compels her to pay u this excess in coin or its equivalent. If we Timvido bv vicious legislation that this balance can be paid in silver f ,iiVio it pommercial value. our loss, of course, is equal to the half of this total excess, thereby making true the quoted statement of Mr. Hamilton that "as often as a country which overrates either of the metals receives a payment in that metal it gets a less actual quantity than it ought to do,or less than it would do If the rate were a jiist one," . , -The entire legislation of ourNational Congress from. 1792 down to 1S78 tends to illustrate ancl enforce the" views I v,Qvo nlrpnilv exDressed in regard to the extent nnd'Tneaning of the coinage nr(iU f rnr Constitution. 1 v The coinage acts of .1834 andlS3. fol lowed directly in the line of Mr. Ham opstions that . whenever the tiwvu w j DO relative proportions in the value of bullion (what is now familiarly known as the ratio of, values) shall be dis turbed by fluctuations in the markets of the commercial world, the coinage laws must at once recognize and ac cent the fact. It is generally believed that the act ."of 1T93 when passed prop- ot-k- iinstl the ratioof market value between gold and silver at 15 to 1, and that the admitted disparity Detween them had increase! to nearly 10 to 1 before 1834. But whether the differ ence arose from a mistake in 1793, or in a change of market values oc curing since that time, the difference was intended to be thoroughly adjus- A . tel, that is, "regulated Dy tnese aci. The sole object was to readjust these commercial valaeu In order to prevent the expulsion of gold. : In this legislation the most diligent efforts were made to find beyond the possibility of fractional error the mar ket values of eold and silver Oumon, and strictly to adapt tbe respective 1 ving; the presidency through ar coins to their intrinsic values, for I raijming elass against class and section otherwise it was now clear, ar Mr. Hamilton had predicted in 1791, that tue double standard, the experiment of 1792, could not be maintained. Tba ratioof 1 to "la.&6S41,-nsually known as 16 to 1, wa adopted as the result of lnnnrf Mrtfnl Investigation, based as supposed on a construction of the Constitution such, as T now present. It took only aixteen years more oi ex- 1 f, 'WASHINGTON LETTER. From our Rtrular Lorrpondent- Washington, Sept. 21. -The better the news the harder we'll work, is the motto which governs Republican headquarters, and it is being lived up to. The silver men are on the retreat in every state in which the Republi can ational and Congressional com mittees has made a real fight for Mc- Kinley and honest money, but as yet the retreat is orderly. By redoubling their efforts, the Republican managers believe they can make it a complete rout on the 3rd of November. So complete that the free coinage of sil ver by this country alone will never again be made a national issue, and nothing less will satisfy them. They are working wifh all the vim and en ergy they could put into the campaign if t.e chances for Republican - victory were doubtful instead .of the victory being assured as it is. This pleases all the visiting Republicans, as it enables them to cro home and tell their friends that there is no danger from overoonfldence on the part of the " ' i' AL . f . I men wno are managing me campaiRTi. i Chairman Babcock, of the Congres-; I slonal committee, is now giving spec- I ial attention to the Congressional dis-1 t - : trleta,' and by the middle of October I he will know about what the size of I the Republican majority In the next I House will be. Two years ago when I Mr. Babcock gave out his figures, they I were hooted at by the Democrats and I many Republicans were disposed to I smile at them, but when the returns I came in, it was seen that they were I based upon direct information from I every congressional district. Mr. Bab-1 cock is proud, as he has every right to I be, of his record as unairman oi tne i congressional committee. He doesn t believe in the wisdom of making big claims based on nothing but hope, as the Ponocrat8 are now doing. He thinks it possible always to obtain in formation as to how at least 90 per cent of the districts will go, several weeks in advance of the election, and he wants the public to take his figures a rtnreful estimates and not as a mere bluff for effect. I The using of the official organ of the Knights of Labor as a campaign doc- ument by the Bryanite managers has hn nuicklv followed by ugly char- rres against prominent officials of ths k. nfL. These charcres are made by resronsible parties and allege , that drafts have been drawn on Mr. J. L. Morris, Assistant Treasurer of the "Democratic National Committee, in favor of Master Workman So verign and Gen. Secretary-Treasurer, Hayes, who are in immediate charge of the Journal of the K. of L., published at Wnchinirton. and that , similar drafts have been drawn in favor of officials nf 'the K. of L. at Chicago. Clncinnat- ti and St. Paul, and paid through a Washington Bank. ' The ; 6tir created by these charges Is by no means con- fined to the members of the K. o! U. who do not approve of the selling of the influence of - the organization to Bryan, but extends to all who are op- posed to bribery as a political agent; and may result in a rumpus ; of large dimensions in the K. of L. About the most notable thing con- nected' with the appearance of Mr. Bryan in Wasington Saturday night. and his speech upon that occasion, was his gall in making the farewell a,Mr of Georce Washington the basig of basis of his speech which endorsed the Chicago platform. "Even the heav ens weep" said a gentleman present when the rain storm put a sudden stop to Bryan's speech. Washington mM: "In conteninlsting the causes which may disturb our union. It ocr rtif-a a n. matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by nhlcal discrimination, North - era and Southern, Atlantic nd.': Wes tern: whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there m ml difference of local Interests and views." Designing Mr. Bryan is I -jjainst section. Again, Washington j ..jj. js a rery important source of gtrenth and security cherish public CT4it.' Mr. Bryan's principal buri- nes U the advocacy of a depreciated currency, which will injare both pri rate and public crediL - There bare been sonie jnore or, less amusing stories m connection with Xlr. Hryan'a coming to Washington , to make , a speech. In thu first . place : 5 i! there was no end of trouble in getting a place for him to speak; then there was more trouble about the distribu tion of tickets for seats and about music the local committee seemed to fear that some unauthorized band might get into the baseball park in which the speaking took place, and which, by the way. was paid for by two saloon keepers whose places are opposite the main entrance, ana play some pieces of music that would give Mr. Bryan the razxle dazzle right be fore the crowd. There was a crowd just as there would have been at any pther free show, and the proprietors of the bar rooms who paid for the park made a good speculation, even if the crowd was not up to expectations In size. ELECTOR1AL FUSION EFFECTED. Flv Democrats, Plva Populists and Ottm Silver Pmrtjr Man Coagraattocial 4 Fusion Prabable. The Democratic and Populist execu tive committees effected fusion at a w a m ' m " s ' ' " luueign Monaay nigns on tne oasis ox five Democrat and five Populist elec- tors and one Silver party man B P. Keith, of Wilmington. The division is as follows:. At large, Locke Qr&I Democrat; It. B. Davis, Populist. By districts: First, Theo. White, Popa- list; second, H. E. Freeman, Populist; third, C. R. Holmes, Democrat; fourth W. S. Bailey. Populist; fifth, William M. Herrit, Populist; sixth, B. F. Keith Free Silver party; seventh, T. F. Kluttz, Democrat; elgth, Tyre York, Democrat; ninth, R. D. Gilmer.Demo- crat. Keith and free silver Democrat electors will vote for Bryan and Bewail and the Jropuusts wm vote xor liryan and Watson. - The Populist committee informed the Democratic committee that it does not regard its contract, with the Re publicans as to Congressmen as bind- ing and is open to ;an arrangement with the Democrats if one can be made. It is asserted that both committees appointed sub-committees ; to confer on the matter. 80,000 CHEER rVKINLEY. Diicxeat Crowd la Caoton Ever 5n la Ohio. CANTON Ohio, Sept. 18. The larg- I est political gathering ever seen in Onio assembled here to-day. Conser- vatives estimates place the number of people on the streets of Canton this afternoon and. evening at more than 80,000. ; Pretty much the whole of Eastern Ohio, Eastern West, ; irglnJa, I Rnd .Western Pennsylvacia sent large delegations to Canton. -The railways were taxed to their utmost capacity, and every vehicle, , in the county seemed to have been brought into service. The crowd was . almosttwlce as large as the organizers , of the meet ing had expected, but Jt was orderly, and the people were well cared for. Notwithstanding the other attractions jn the city, the home of Major McKin- jCy was the centre of interest, and people clung about It till 11 o'clock at night. They filled : the ; yard, took possession of the porches,' and peered in at the windows! The streets and bouses of, the city were handsomely and very generally decorated. No party lines were drawn, and the Democrats were as active as the Republicans in their , ef fort to dispense hofpltality and give cordial greetings to the host of Strang-, ers. . Maior McKlnley began speaking directly after breakfast and kept it up until late this evening. He also made half a dozen speeches. 5fEECME$ BY CEN- MABRI50N. Tbo MPmliDt Ia Ttkt ta 3 1 map In CniCAOO, Sept, 18. Ex-President Harrison will make some campaign speeches in October. Th Republican National ExecuUve Committeemen at the Chicago headquarters learned of this to-day through a letter from the ex-President, now In the Adirondack!, to CommlttecmenDnrbin of.Indlana. ILr. D oxbin would only . say that the letter contained a promise to make some speeches. The dates and cities rill be fixed after Mr- Harrison; has communicated with Mr. Dnrbin. - One of the speechea wm be made in Iixdanapollfc Mr. Harriioa wfll go to KewTork insi day or sa to rcnialn a week or ten days, ana tne spea&lng engagements will be . made as toon as the ex-President slsail xttura hose.

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