Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, on the Free Coinage of Silver

Part 1

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MONEY.

"Gold is a wonderful clearer of the understanding; it dissipates every doubt and scruple in an instant, accommodates itself to the meanest capacities, silences the loud and clamorous and brings over the most obstinate and inflexible. Philip of Macedon refuted by it all the wisdom of Athens, confounded their statesmen, struck their orators dumb, and at length argued them out of their liberties." --ADDISON.

SPEECH OF HON. JOHN P. JONES, OF NEVADA, ON THE FREE COINAGE OF SILVER; IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, MAY 12 AND 13, 1890.

WASHINGTON. 1890.

SPEECH OF HON. JOHN P. JONES, OF NEVADA.

On the bill (S. 2350) authorizing the issue of Treasury notes on deposits of silver bullion.

Mr. JONES, of Nevada, said:

Mr. PRESIDENT: The question now about to be discussed by this body is in my judgment the most important that has attracted the attention of Congress or the country since the formation of the Constitution. It affects every interest, great and small, from the slightest concern of the individual to the largest and most comprehensive interest of the nation.

The measure under consideration was reported by me from the Committee on Finance. It is hardly necessary for me to say, however, that it does not fully reflect my individual views regarding the relation which silver should bear to the monetary circulation of the country or of the world. I am, at all times and in all places, a firm and unwavering advocate of the free and unlimited coinage of silver, not merely for the reason that silver is as ancient and honorable a money metal as gold, and equally well adapted for the money use, but for the further reason that, looking at the annual yield from the mines, the entire supply that can come to the mints will at no time be more than is needed to maintain at a steady level the prices of commodities among a constantly increasing population.

In view, however, of the great divergency of views prevailing on the subject, the length of time which it was believed might be consumed in the endeavor to secure that full and rightful measure of legislation to which the people are entitled, and the possibility that this session of Congress might terminate without affording the country some measure of substantial relief, I was willing, rather than have the country longer subjected to the baleful and benumbing influences set in motion by the demonetization act of 1873, to join with other members of the Finance Committee in reporting the bill now under consideration.

Under the circumstances I wish at the outset of the discussion to say that I hold myself free to vote for any amendment that may be offered that may tend to make the bill a more perfect measure of relief, and that may be more in consonance with my individual views.

THE CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.

The condition of this country to-day, Mr. President, is well calculated to awaken the interest and arouse the attention of thinking men. It can be safely asserted that no period of the world's history can exhibit a people at once so numerous and homogeneous, living under one form of government, speaking a common language, enjoying the same degree of personal and political liberty, and sharing, in so equal a degree, the same civilization as the population of the United States. Eminently practical and ingenious, of indomitable will, untiring energy, and unfailing hope; favored by nature with a domain of imperial expanse, with soil and climate of unequaled variety and beneficence, with every natural condition that can conduce to individual prosperity and national glory, it might well be expected that among such a people industry, agriculture, commerce, art, and science would reach an extent and perfection of development surpassing anything ever known in the history of mankind.

In some respects this expectation would appear to have been well founded. For several years past our farmers have produced an annual average of 400,000,000 bushels of wheat. Our oat crop for 1888 was 700,000,000 bushels, our corn crop 2,000,000,000 bushels, our cotton crop 7,000,000 bales. In that year our coal mines yielded 170,000,000 tons of coal, our furnaces produced 6,500,000 tons of pig iron and 3,000,000 tons of steel. Our gold and silver mines add more than $100,000,000 a year to the world's stock of the precious metals. We print 16,000 newspapers and periodicals, have in operation 154,000 miles of railroad and 250,000 miles of telegraph. The value of our manufactured products at the date of the last census was $5,400,000,000. Our farm lands at the same time were estimated at $10,000,000,000, our cattle at $2,000,000,000, our railroads at $6,000,000,000, our houses at $14,000,000,000. It is not too much to say that there has been an increase of fully 50 per cent. in those values since the taking of the census of 1880. Our national wealth to-day is reasonably estimated at over $60,000,000,000.

Figures and facts such as these in the history of a young nation bespeak the presence not merely of great natural opportunities, but of a people marvelously apt and forceful. From such results should be anticipated the highest attainable prosperity and happiness. Our population is alert, aspiring, and buoyant, not given to needless repining or aimless endeavor, but, with fixity of purpose, presses ever eagerly on, utilizing every conception of the brain to supplement and multiply the possibilities of the hand, and at every turn subordinating the subtle forces of nature to the best and wisest purposes of man. No equal number of persons on the globe better deserve success, or are better adapted for its enjoyment.

But instead of finding, as we should find, happiness and contentment broadcast throughout our great domain, there are heard from all directions, even in this Republic, resounding cries of distress and dissatisfaction. Every trade and occupation exhibits symptoms of uneasiness and distrust. The farmer, the artisan, the merchant,--all share in the general complaint that times are hard, that business is "dull." The farmer is in debt, and is not realizing, on the products of his labor, the wherewithal to meet either his deferred or his current obligations; the artisan, when at work, finds himself compelled to share his earnings with some relative or friend who is out of employment; the merchant who buys his goods on time finds little profit in sales, and difficulty in making his payments.

WHAT IS THE DIFFICULTY?

What can it be, Mr. President, that has thus brought to naught all the careful estimates and painstaking computations, not of thousands, nor of hundreds of thousands, but of millions, of keen, shrewd, and far-seeing men? Our people take an intelligent interest in their business; they look ahead; they endeavor, as far as possible, to estimate correctly their assets and liabilities, so that on the day of reckoning they may be found ready. Why this universal failure of all classes to compute correctly in advance their situation on the coming pay-day? What potent and sinister drug has been secretly introduced into the veins of commerce that has caused the blood to flow so sluggishly--that has narcotized the commercial and industrial world?

All have been looking for the cause, and many think they have discovered it. With some it is "over-production," with others either a "high tariff" or a "tariff not sufficiently high." Some think it due to trusts and combinations, others to improved methods of production, or because the crops are overabundant or not abundant enough. Some ascribe the difficulty to speculation; others, to "strikes." All sorts of insufficient and contradictory causes are assigned for the same general and universal complaint. However inadequate in themselves, they serve to emphasize the universal recognition of a difficulty whose cause without close inquiry is likely to elude detection. But the evil is of such magnitude, it is so widespread and pervasive, that, without a knowledge of its cause, all effort at mitigation of its effects can but add to the confusion and intensify the difficulty.

It behooves us, therefore, as we value the prosperity and happiness of our people, to set ourselves diligently to the inquiry: What is the cause of the unrest and discontent now universally prevailing?

ONE SYMPTOM COMMON TO ALL INDUSTRIES.

In surveying the question broadly, to discover whether there is anything that affects the situation in common from the standpoint of varying occupations, we find one, and only one, uniform and unfailing characteristic; the prices of all commodities and of all property, except in money centers, have fallen, and continue falling. Such a phenomenon as a constant and progressive fall in the general range of prices has always exercised so baleful an influence on the prosperity of mankind that it never fails to arrest attention.

History gives evidence of no more prolific source of human misery than a persistent and long continued fall in the general range of prices. But, although exercising so pernicious an influence, it is not itself a cause, but an effect.

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