OCR Text |
Show Washington Letter. (I'rotnour lUguUr Corrtjpondtnt; Attorney General Olney played n truitp card in tho gaino ngnlnst sliver 'Alien he. In reply to n formal request of the Seerctnry of the Treasury, delivered" an ofllclM opinion that the silver certificates, certifi-cates, millions of dollars worth of which are tn circulation throughout the country arc not lawful money In the meaning of the acts of Juno 20, 1874 and July 12, 1882. It Is putting tho casn very mildly to say that this opinion was a great surprise to seven-tenths of tho House and Senate, and that It aroused much Indignation among the friends of silver, mnny of whom do not hesitate to chnrncterl..o it ns another administration administra-tion move for tho furtner debasment of silver, while tho opinion of the Attorney General is not legally binding upon any body, it necessarily has much effect .upon .up-on Treasury ofllrlnls In a matter of this fort. It is stated nt the Treasury Hint it was because of tho refusal of eomo of tho national banks to accept silver certificates in exchange for other paper money presented for redemption that Secretary Carlislo nsked tho Attorney General to pass on tho question. It Is probablo that steps w 111 at onco be taken by tho friends of silver to mako a test cnKo for tho courts. There, is no doubt about the Intention of Congress having been to mako tho Btlvcr certificates lawful law-ful money, and it will require 11 decision of tho Supreme Court to couvlnco the silver men that it did not succeed. Tho Semite 011 motion of Senator Allen has nsked fur tho official documents. Upon no ono schedule of the tarlll' bill is more pressure being brought to bear upon tlio Senators who nre members of tho Finance committee than that which deals with sugar. Mnny Senators havo been greatly surprised nt the tnagnltiito of this Industry. The appointment ap-pointment of Senator White, of Iuis-'ana, Iuis-'ana, to the Supreme Court ha not weakened tho sugar men. ns ho will not lenvo the Sennto until his successor, who is certain to be a sugar man, arrives to take his place. The Louisiana Senator who havo declared In the most positive terms that they will not vote for the bill unless sugar is protected, are receiving strong support from an far nwny from their homes ns Kanras, Nebraska and Utah, where tlio beet sugar Industry is large nnd growing, and. they nre still confident that their wishes will be respected, re-spected, If not by the committee, then by a voto of tho Senate. |