Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-01-09
THE STEVENS GOLD BILL.

ana venerable q Stabeoman as mr' ote'e
of Pennsylvania, that "Thad. Stevens !:
making a Judy Fitzsimmons' mother y
himself" might be considered o0th NV
erent and audacious; yet. as we nav ~
other term at hand which seems " H.
the emergency, we are compelled to make AXE
,hs, ,ams,k On the 9th OF December
A. s,oron. introduced into the House nus
nco1S ain" as i, is called, the object Of
,.;a R;,l being the attempt to do that by
, ,~-a which is by natural law an inn
nossibility. The spirit of the bill is, per-
hans, laudable. Its intention is probably
TO put stop to the frequently causeless
imitation Of the price of gold, and depre-
CATION of the paper currency of the Gov
ment. The letter of the proposed law is
to the effect that the gold dollar and the
paper dollar shall be of equal value, and
that whose Disseminated between the
same shall be adjudged criminal, and shall
be both mulct and cast into prison, where
there is crashing of poor grub. The gist
of the bill is contained in these sections ::
SEC. 4. Ind Be It further enacted, That
from and after the passage of this Act, no
person shall receive or pay, or contract to
receive or pay for any gold or silver coin, or
for any gold or silver bullion, any more in
value, benefit, profit or advantage, than the
! = II ~ r,olA and
silver coin or bullion doth, BY its denomina-
ton, import, or is fixed by law, whether such
value, benefit, profit or advantage be paid,
taken or made in lawful money of the United
states, which is or may be made legal ten
der, or in any other article or commodity, or
by any or all of said means, wholly or partly,
or BY any other device, means, shift or con-
triyance whatsoever; and every person who
shall offend herein shall be deemed and adj
Judged guilty of q misdemeanor, and, being
thereof convicted by a course OF law, shall
suffer Imprisonment not exceeding SIX
months, and shall forfeit the full amount Of
said contract or transaction, the one-half to
the informer who shall prosecute the same,
and the other half to the United States.
SEC. s. And be It further enacted, That no
person shall, by any means, device, shit or
continuance whatsoever, receive or pay, or
contract to receive or pay any treasury or
other note or bill issued, or which may be is
sued BY the United States for circulation as
money, and declared by said United States
| 10 be lawful money and a legal tender, for
less than the amount Of lawful money ex-
pressed thesein, and thereby made payable ;
and any person who shall offend herein shall
be deemed and adjudged guilty of INSIDE
meanor, and shall suffer imprisonment not
more than six. months, and shall suffer lne
or forfeiture equal to the full amount Of the
sum specified in said note or notes, or sum
contracted for, on being thereof duly con-
victed.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That il
any person shall, in the purchase or sale OF
gold and silver coin or bullion, agree TO pay,
or receive in payment therefor, the notes or
bills of any corporation or individual, at less
price than the full or par value expressed
therein, he shall be deemed and adjudged to
have offended against the provisions Of this
Act, and be punished accordingly.
When the Saviour of men related the
parable of the laborers in the vineyard, he
put in the mouth of the suppositious
householder this question: us it not
lawful for me to do what will with mine
own" CThis was money transaction
Nobody appears to have answered the
proposition, and the Saviour seems to have
considered it in the light of sockdologer.
But if old Thad. had been there he would
have sung out Hold on !" and would
have argued the point. That II may do
what will with mine own" is a non Sc
qtatw with uncle Thad. John Doe may
have his wallet well lined with greenbacks,
and be honestly inclined to pay his Eng
lish and French creditors, who have no
use for the Treasury notes of Uncle Sam
and his neighbor, Richard Roe, may have
an abundance of the golden eagles which
are current the world over. An even ex-
change will offer no great inducements to
Richard, and he will keep his coin, while
John will become an unwilling repudi-
ator. In financial point of view. it viii
be big thing for John, while Messrs.
Bull, Crapeaud s Co., will be unable to
perceive the beauty of the system. That,
iu the present State of the worlds COM
merce, gold is necessary for the transac-
ton of certain kinds of business, is one of
those fixed facts that are beyond, and
silence all argument. 1t may, perhaps, be
unfortunate for all the other nations of the
earth, that they are not all within the ju-
risdiction of the Government of Uncle
Sam, but, is nevertheless fact, and being
fact, the laws of the United States can
not, to any great extent, control or regu-
late the commerce of the world. Those
nations which do not recognize the paper
dollar of the United States as being OF
equal value with the gold coin of that de-
nomination, will be likely to conduct bust
ness upon the old standard of gold and
silver, and if the citizens of the United
States are declared by their Government
from engaging in commerce upon that
basis, the trade of the world will be likely
to wag along on the outside very much as
if nothing had happened. 1t might be
that the brokerage would be transferred
from wall street and conducted on the
farther side of the British frontier, and so
enable American merchants to trade with
the outside barbarians. If SO, We cannot
see that Mr.. Stevens bill will have accom-
plished any very important result. 1t
certainly cannot change the actual relative
value of the gold and paper dollar. 1t
will merely Danish the gold beyond the
Jurisdiction of Congress, and the premium
which it commands over the greenback in
| Canada, will govern our internal trade