Search Results: Political/Financial from Pages For Sages

The pros and cons of bimetallism have been debated world-wide, and "Bimetallism: Its advantage, and what we suffer by the loss of it", by H. R. Beeton, Being an address delivered at the invitation of the Bristol Committee of the Bimetallic League, in the Lesser Colston Hall, Bristol, on 18th April, 1895 is an example of a talk given in Great Britain on the subject that was published by Effingham Wilson of London. Mr. Beeton starts his speech by stressing the importance of a reliable and meaningful monetary system with the words "We are met this evening to consider the justice and expediency of a Reform of the World's Money. You may, perhaps, think this is rather a large order, and you may naturally ask what the world's money has to do with us. But I hope to be able to show you that this nation is deeply concerned with the world's money, because, in the first place, there is no political institution upon which the welfare of Society more depends than upon Money, and, because, in the second place, with… Read More

The pros and cons of bimetallism had been argued for years, and "Carlisle on the Ratio of 16 to 1" -- Speech of Hon. John G. Carlisle before the Workingmen of Chicago, April 15, 1896. Printed as Senate Document No. 256 on the motion of Senator Vilas, of Wisconsin, May 14, 1896 represented John Carlisle's position on the subject. Mr. Carlisle says, in his introductory remarks, that "...Whether the general business of the people shall be transacted with good money or bad money, whether the wages of labor shall be paid in a sound and stable currency, with full purchasing power in the markets where they are exchanged for the necessaries of life, or in a depreciated and fluctuating currency, having no fixed value and therefore bearing no permanent relation to the current prices of commodities, are the questions which affect the comfort and happiness of every home and the peace and prosperity of every community...".
The address is contained in an 18 page booklet, without covers, that measures approximately… Read More

The battle over whether the U.S. Currency should be based on gold or silver had been going on for years, and in 1896, a presidential election year, it appeared to be a significant issue between the parties. Speeches, pamphlets, articles and arguments abounded, and the pamphlet Fact Against Fiction - Prices of Farm Products For Thirty Years. False in One – False in All approached the dispute from the viewpoint of the farmer. The conclusion of this approach, described on the last page of the pamphlet, is boiled down to a few sentences on the front cover, reading "Any honest examination of the records of farm prices will show that the value of gold as measured by the farmers' crops is not advancing. The silver owners bid for the farmers' vote, based on this claim, is directly contrary to the truth."
The pamphlet, which measures approximately 5.5 inches wide by 8.5 inches tall, is staple-bound and contains 16 pages. It was printed by Allied Printing of Chicago. The pages are tanned, but the text is… Read More

"Free Coinage of Gold and Silver" - A report of Mr. Bland of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures to the House of Representatives, February 10, 1892 (To accompany H. R. 4426) was the response of the Committee to its consideration of House bill H.R. 4426, entitled, "A bill for the free coinage of gold and silver, for the issue of coin notes, and for other purposes." Mr. Bland summarizes the consensus of the Committee, with the words "...The bill provides for the free and unlimited coinage of silver on same terms as gold is now coined....Coin notes may be issued on the gold and silver deposited if demanded, instead of waiting for the coin....They are made a legal tender and of like monetary functions as the standard coins. They are redeemable at the Treasury of the United States in coin on demand…" In addition to Mr. Bland's summary, the complete minority report of the Committee is included in the document. This report of the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures can be further… Read More

The financial issues related to bimetallism (gold vs silver base for currency) and paper money ("greenbacks" vs currency based on gold or silver) were actively discussed in the late 19th century. Sound Currency, a semi-monthly publication of the Sound Currency Committee of the Reform Club, was a vehicle for many articles on these issues. "Greenbacks and the Cost of the Civil War", by Wesley C. Mitchell was the featured article in Vol. IV, No. 8 (April 15, 1897) of the publication. The article was "Reprinted, by permission, from the 'Journal of Political Economy', University of Chicago, March, 1897".
The booklet, which measures approximately 6 x 8 ¾ inches, contains 16 pages of text and data printed on a semi-gloss paper. There are no covers. There is an approximatelly 1 ¼ inch tear on the outer edge of the first page. The pages are lightly tanned, but the printing is clear and easily read. The overall condition of the booklet is very good.
The pictures accompanying this description show the… Read More

The Civil War was underway, and the question of financing the prosecution of the war effort was on the table in the House. "The Power and Duty of Congress to Provide for the Common Defence and the Suppression of the Rebellion" -- Speech of Hon. Jno. A Bingham, of Ohio, in the House of Representatives, January 15, 1862 opens with Mr. Bingham saying "I am for this joint resolution, which orders the enactment of a bill to supply the Treasury for the common defence, by taxation direct and indirect, $150,000,000 annually. I hail such legislation as responsive to the living issue of the hour – the suppression of the rebellion which strikes at the nation's life...".
The paper has a handwritten inscription on the top of the first page reading "M Goodman July 26, 1863 From Hon Jno A Bingham". It is not clear if the inscription was written by Mr. Bingham or someone else. The speech is contained in an eight page double-columned booklet, without covers, that measures approximately 6 x 9 ¼ inches. The booklet… Read More

This First Edition copy of the Report of the Committee on Banking and Currency, together with hearings thereof, on Bill H.R. 8149, Fifty-third Congress, third session, 1894 was published in Washington, DC in 1894 by the Government Printing Office. The book, which measures approximately 5 ¾ inches wide by 9 inches tall by ¾ inches thick, contains 385 pages of text relating to the work of the Committee in their study of and recommendation for the proposed new law affecting National Banking Associations. Pages 1to10 of the book contains the conclusions of the Committee (the majority of committee members). The Views of the Minority are on pages 11to14. The balance of the book, e.g., pages 1 to 371 (pages have been renumbered for this section), is titled The National Currency and Banking System – Notes of Hearings before the Committee on Banking and Currency of the House of Representatives.
The report's conclusion, stated on page 1 of the document, is "The Committee on Banking and Currency, to which… Read More

The question of whether gold or silver should be the basis of American currency, or whether both should be used (the Double Standard) was argued for decades. The "Resumption and the Double Standard"; or the Impossibility of Resuming Specie Payments in the United States Without Restoring the Double Standard of Gold and Silver. -- A Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, April 24, 1876, by John P. Jones, Senator from Nevada was a major speech in favor of the Double Standard. In it Mr. Jones proposed to address the following eleven major points (somewhat abridged from his actual words on pages 6 to 8 of the speech):
1. Set forth the function and nature of money, the various substances which have been used for money…2. Show that the use of money and the preference of the precious metals for both money were both natural and voluntary acts…3. Trace the stock of the precious metals in the world from the earliest period…4. Restore the double standard of gold and silver which existed from… Read More

This First Edition copy of the Speech of Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio. In answer to Mr. Duncan, on the bill providing for the civil and diplomatic expenses of Government for the year 1840. - Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 11, 1840 was presented as part of the House discussion on the spending bill. Mr. Giddings states, in his speech, that "...I understood him (Mr. Duncan) to say, in substance, that he thought it ungenerous for the party with whom I have the honor to act to complain of the great amount of money expended in the support of Government, unless we could specify the particular items of extravagance...This request, I think, is reasonable...And now, Mr. Chairman, I will proceed with as much brevity as possible to notice some of the items of this bill which I think extravagant, and much higher in amount than is necessary..."
The speech is contained in a 16 page, double-column booklet, without covers, that measures approximately 5 ½ x 8 ½ inches. The pages are tanned, with some… Read More

Millard Fillmore, as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, presented the result of the committee's deliberations on the Tariff Bill in the Speech of Mr. Fillmore, of New York, on The Tariff Bill, delivered in the Committee of the Whole, House of Representatives, June 9, 1842. His opening remarks included "...I regret that, on a subject of so much importance, the committee nor this House has been furnished with proper and authentic information on which to base its action. Since the passage of the compromise act, in March, 1833, all had known that at this time there must be a revision of our laws for the collection of duties; and yet, ten years have been suffered to pass away without one step being taken, either by Congress or the Executive departments of the Government, to collect well authenticated facts, on which to base future legislation. All we have on the subject is the statistical information collected with the last census – as yet hardly published – and the reports annually made to… Read More

The debate in Congress over The Independent Treasury Bill was underway, and Mr. Benton stood in the Senate on Wednesday, March 14, 1838, to present the Speech of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, on the Bill to Separate the Government from the Banks. The divorce of government from the banks was an issue which Benton was a staunch supporter of, and which created much discord between the political parties. After the presidential election of 1824, Benton and Jackson put their personal differences behind them and joined forces. Benton became the senatorial leader for the Democratic Party and argued vigorously against the Bank of the United States. Jackson was censured by the Senate in 1834 for canceling the Bank's charter. Benton was an unflagging advocate for "hard money", that is gold coin (specie) or bullion as money—as opposed to paper money "backed" by gold as in a "gold standard". "Soft" (i.e. paper or credit) currency, in his opinion, favored rich urban Easterners at the expense of the small farmers and… Read More

Horace Greeley was opposed to the proposed new tariff bill, believing it was part of a devious scheme to affect the Presidential election of 1844, and felt that the current tariff bill was more than adequate for the purpose. His arguments supporting his position are presented in "The Tariff As It Is, Compared With The Substitute Proposed by its Adversaries" in the bill reported to the U.S. House of Representatives by Gen McKay of N. C. from the Committee on Ways and Means. By H. Greeley. In his introductory remarks, Mr. Greeley writes "...The Country is enjoying at least an average and certainly an increasing prosperity; there are fewer vainly seeking work than for several former years, and cash payments for work or property are more general than in any year from 1837 to 1843. The Revenue for the current year has thus far exceeded all anticipation, all precedent since 1836, and will doubtless exceed the Expenditures of the year by at least Ten Millions of Dollars. For what possible reason, then, is so… Read More

At the time when the Speech of Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill, of Connecticut, on H.R.7645: A bill to maintain the legal tender silver dollar at parity with gold, and to increase the subsidiary coinage, in the House of Representatives, Tuesday, February 18, 1902 was delivered, the country's currency was pegged to both gold and silver. The bimetallic ratio between these metals was both an economic and political issue, and of such concern that Mr. Hill felt free to interrupt ongoing House discussions on a bill related to funding of the Indian Department and treaties with Indian tribes to pursue the resolution of the currency issues.
The speech is contained in a 15 page booklet, without covers, that measures approximately 6 x 9 ½ inches. The pages are tanned, but the text is clear and easily read. There is some staining along the edges of some pages. The item is a first edition, as printed in Washington, D.C. in 1902. The overall condition of the booklet is good.
The illustrations accompanying this description… Read More