People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1897 — A POPULAR DELUSION. [ARTICLE]

A POPULAR DELUSION.

Ex-Congressman Jno Davis Calls up a Point. The Crime of ’73 was of Lesser Magnitude than the Revision Law of 1874.—Quotes the Monetary Commission Report. Editor Junction City Tribune: —I notice that my recent discussions of “Ernest Seyd and Silver,” have raised a breeze among l the plutocrats. Some of them are claiming that John Davis does not believe in “the crime of ’73.” They are badly mistaken. I believe, and can prove that there was a wicked crime committed in the passage of the coinage law of 1873; and, also a greater one in the revision law of 1874. I prove the commission of the crime of 1873 by the terms of the law itself. That law enacts the gold standard, and contains no mandatory provision for the coinage of the standard silver dollar. Iu effect it placed us on the single gold standard. It was a crime against every debtor and tax-payer in the country, cutting off half the means of payment of every monetary obligation. It enacted the enforced idleness of labor, and insured the existence and increase of the two most dangerous elements in human society—the tramp and the millionaire. That law of 1873 enacted labor strikes, hunger, bankruptcies, suicides, general human suffering and national decadence, all of which has been witnessed in this country ever since its passage, and are still prevalent. That was the crime of 3873. The crime of 1874 was the affirmative completion and perpetuation of its predecessor. It is briefly described in the official report of the United States monetary Commission of 1877, as follows:

“The demonetization of silver, coined and uncoined, was affirmatively completed in June, 1874, by the following section (3,586) of the revised statutes: ’The silver coins of the United States shall be a legal tender at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding five dollars in any one payment.’ The official report then continues: ‘No law was ever passed by Congress of which this language can be considered a revision. The revised statutes wei’e enacted in bulk. They were intended to be a revision, merely of the existing law, without change or introduction of new matter, and Congress had been assured by its committee on revision that no new matter had been introduced into them. It was not possible for the members of this committee to have personally verified the exact accuracy of the revision. They must necessar* ily have relied upon assurances given to them by persons actually engaged in the work. Who ever may be responsible for this error in the revised statutes, the ancient money of the country, instead of being intentionally legislated out of existence by Congress, was revised out of existence.”—Vol. 1, page 90.

That official statement has laid almost unnoticed in the official report for twenty years, and the enemy has kept us fighting over the lesser crime of the previous year. The crime of 1874 was a secret forgery by some one who had access to the work of the revision committee! As to the presence of Ernest Seyd in this country, I do not think he was here. Ist. He was not needed as a

participant in the crime, because j we had rascals enough in this country without importing any. 2nd. Seyd was a bimetalist and advised very earnestly against the demonetization of silver, in a full and elaborate review of the bill. His review was written in London, February 17, 1872. (SeeU. S. coinage laws. p. p, 279,290.) 3rd. There was no sufficient evidence to prove that Seyd was in America at the dates mentioned, and we have the positive statement of Seyd’s son and brother, that Seyd was not here at any time near the dates mentioned. But so long as the gold men can keep us laying the blame on Ernest Seyd, they obscure the guilt of their own men. I think this mistaken course has continued long enough. I think we should now fight the real criminals, and not keep firing at the effigies that are presented to us. John Sherman’s committee, on June 9, 1868, reported unamiously in favor of “a single standard exclusively of gold,” and John has been working on that line ever since. There has been done, doubtless, a good deal of coaxing, bribing and bulldozing, but however that may be, Sherman, Hooper and other Americans have been equal to the task, and should be held responsible for results. It is poor policy to be hunting a scage-goat over in Europe, when we have the guilty rascals right here among us. Very respectfully,

JOHN DAVIS.