The eagle., May 01, 1895, Image 1

About The eagle. (Silver City, N.M.) 1894-1???

Image provided by: University of New Mexico

                
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VOL 1, NO. 37.
SILVER CITY, N. M., WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1895.
PRICE 5 CENTS
BLACKBURN FOR SILVER.
He is After Secretary Carlisle's Po
litical Scalp.
Beimtor Blackburn Huh (ilven HIh Views
on the Silver Question to the Pub
lic Through the Press.
Senator Dlackburn bas given tbo fol
lowing tot lie Louisville Courier-Journal:
"If I bave heretofore shown any in
disposition to be interviewed by you,
gentlemen, who represent the daily
papera of this city, it baa not been lie
cause of my purpose to conceal from the
people my views uikhi any public, ques
tion, but. because I was anxious to avoid,
if possible, a perversion and distortion
to which my utterances have generally
(of course, unintentionally) been sub
jected. "I never had, have not now, and never
intend to have any secrets in politics. I
never did and never will ask the support
of the people without, giving them the
fullest information as to my position
and sentiments. I am at a loss to under
stand how anyone, especially in Ken
tucky, can remain in ignorance as to my
sentiments upon the silver question if
they feel enough interest in the matter
to desire information. For the last 20
years, in congress and on the stump,
anywhere and everywhere, I have earn
estly and persistently insisted ujkhi the
restoration of the silver metal to that
place, in the money system of the country
which it had always held prior to the
passage, of that disastrous act of demon
etization passed in 187;. If there is
ono man in puhli.! life in all the country
whose views upon this pnbjVct were en
titled to lie known of all men by reason
of his acts and utterances I had reason
to lielieve that I was that man. Upon
this subject I have never held an opinion
nor made an utterance that I bave in
the slightest degree altered or mudifled
in all these years. Yet if there are any
still uninformed, who desire to know
those views, I will reiterate them in the
shortest space posible by saying that 1
am in favor of opening the mints of this
country to the unlimited coinage of the
silver metal on an equality ivith gold.
"I am oposed to gold monometallism
and just as much opposed to silver mon
ometallism ; without reserval ion or eva
sion I am a bimelallist. I want and
mean to continue to insist upon the use
of both metals on equal terms as the re
demption money of this country. I
would be glad to see this result brought
about by the action of an international
conference, provided that it could be
done without delay. I am opposed to
tbip government waiting for any such
conference to act. Our experience with
such agencies has not. lieen such as to
give us either confidence or hope of the
attainment of this purpose. Upon the
contrary, our participation in such con
ference have in their very barrenness
become farcical and ridiculous.
"In 1702 this country, with only 4,000,
000 of people, was liold enough to prove
itself able to discard the monetary sys
tem of Great Britain and establish one
of its own, which for nearly 100 years
met. every demand and stood every strain
that the growth and development of the
country put upon it. I lielieve that the
destruction (entailed upon us by this de
monetization jKilicy) of one-half of our
redemption money has contributed more
than any cause to the shrinkage of all
values, the depreciation of all property,
the stagnation of trade, the paralysis of
industry the financial troubles in which
we now find ourselves.
"Whilst it may be true that the restor
ation of silver to its place of unrestricted
coinage, and unlimited legal tender func
tion may not prove a panacea for the ills
that, we now suffer, I am convinced that
it will do more and go further in that di
rection than any one piece of legislation
that has lieen suggested. I have an
abiding faith in the capacity of this
meial to work out and maintain its per
manent parity with gold, provided the
oppressive hand of the law is removed
and the mints of the country thrown open
to its coinage. I lielieve, and always
did lielieve, that the act of 187.1 was an
unconstitutional measure. I lielieve
that the act of 1873 would have been so
held by the pnpreme court of the United
States had not a partisan spirit domina
ted the action of that tribunal. This
conviction I have slated in debute upon
the Hour of the senate as broadly as I
put it here.
"I agree with Daniel Webster, who, in
his day, was always held to be an au
thority as a constitutional lawyer. He
declared that the constitution of the
United States made gold and silver the
redemption money of this country, and
that neither congress nor any state had
any rightful power to substitute anv
other, nor to destroy either the one or
the other of these metals. If congress
had the power to demonetize silver it
must lie conceded that it had the same
power to demonetize gold. It has seen
fit to exercise this assumed power as to
one of these metals. Had it exercised
the same power over the other, the
anomalous and somewhat embarrassing
condition would have obtained that we
had not any money at all. If they could
strike down half, thev could strike down
all.
"I am in favor of the restoration of
the silver melal at the ratio of 16 to 1,
lielieving, in the light of an experience
that covers a century, such ratio will es
tablish and maintain )cniianently the
parity between the two metals. I be
lieve that we should take this action at
the earliest day possible, independent of
the policies or views of other nations. I
have as abiding faith in the ability of
my country to establish and maintain
its own monetary system as that which
I cherish in its ability to defend its own
soil from invasion or its institutions from
assault.
"In my judgment, we are as independ
ent of foreign dictation or domination in
the one as in the other.
"In August, 18OT, when the bill pro
posing to repeal the purchasing clause of
what was known as the 'Sherman Act'
was liefore Ihc senate, I said, in a speech
then and there delivered, that I wanted
the right of coinage for the silver metal,
and that without limitation: that if
seigniorage was what my opponents de
manded, I was willing, not as a matter
of fairness, but in a spirit of compromise,
that the government should take 10 per
cent, or 1 per cent, or 20 per cent, or
even 25 per cent, of the silver bullion
presented for coinage, or that if the
question of ratio was what was troubling,
I was willing, not as a matter of justice,
but in a spirit of compromise, if 1(5 was
not acceptable, to take 17, 18, 1!) or even
a ratio of 20 to 1.
"Hut the opponents of this metal were
not to Ik? placated by any concessions,
either on tho line of increased seignior
age or advanced ratio. They had de
stroyed the metal by a process that lias
never lieen, in my opinion, successfully
justified, and from the hour of its taking
off until now they have never been will
ing that it should be reinstated. Let
those who will seek to distort and per
vert the issue pendinjr. the effort will