New-York tribune., 1874-12-25
,vDODTdNr TO C4LIFORtTfNS


Director of the Mint which MeSSrs. Clayton,
Page, and IIoughton, the Republican Congress-
men from California, will do well to study
before they vote for the proposed substitution
of silver for paper in the fractional currency.
California, Oregon, and Nevada. as our readers
know, have gold currency with which the
people Of the Pacific coast arc very well sails
fed and have reason to be. For small change
however, they arc obliged to use the SILVER
token coinage issued under the act OF lS1]'
and worth, at the present gold quotations Ior
silver bullion, only about ninc-tentls oil It's
face value The passage referred TO runs as
follows:
The bullion or export value OF subsidiary silver coins
with the price OF silver bullion at 12 cents per ounce
,taniaid wouii be 9Ot cents to the dollar Notwith
standing these coins are only worth, as Du'lop, ''l
cents, gold and about par currency, the market fa'o
for them Is 9j cents gold ami iOs cents, eur71IcT 10
the dollar The difference is due to the demand being 10
excess of the supply aud would rapidly disappear II the
market were freely supplied The demand Jor NE CONS
appeafs 10 come from Ire Pacic coast and Ieras @"ere
nru circulate as money! Tne frat effect Of any consd
cradle issue OF subsidiary silver coin would be the dis
appearsnce In the NewYJrk market OF the difference
betWeen the bullion and market value OF tho se CONS
Then n0ud nerl be sent 10 The PdrHc '0dst ana fos ~
nc gp,ouis 10 eompe merchants od others 10 "eo"
em,elres oC ne prorson Of tag hmi"g tie ieya Hndtr
Of such coins to $.
We invite the particular attention Of McssrS.
Clayton, Page. and ll0ughton to the sentences
IN italics. The Director of the Mint would
have come nearer to the fact, however, had
he said that the debased silver coin would
become Il nuisance i'll the Pacific States
and Texas before the difference between the
market and bullion values disappeared III
Ncw-YOrk. So long IA the small silver coins
could be passed off in san Francisco at par in
gold, so long would they be worth more than
their bullion value in Ncw-IOrk. So long as
o.. O4. or 9j cents in gold coin would buy i'll
Ncw-York what could be paid out i'll San
Francisco at its face value for gold, so long
would our dimes and quarters flow ia steady
stream to San francisco. The keepers OF
restaurants, the publishers of newspapers, the
ticket agents of railroads. and all other per-
sons receiving paym;n ntS in sums smaller than
five dollars, would handle nothing but the
subsidiary" silver coin, and the monetary
transactions of California and Oregon would
be thrown into confusion by the flood Of
silver tokens which would be turned upon
those States from the East.
monetary arrangements Of three States of the
Union are OF no consequence to caucus OF
politicians in comparison with the political
capital to be made out of newborn zeal for
specie payments, the silver experiment is eX-
posed to dangers equally serious from the
other side of the globe. The value Oi silver
in London, after having been for many years
above 60 pence per standard English ounce,
has now fallen below IS pence. He would be-
a bold man WHO would assert that the fall IL to BE-
permanent. But even ut the present low quo
tatiOn, caused as every one knows by apprc-
hcnsiOn OF tie effects Of the substitution Of
gold for silver Ivy the German Government
Us the standard of that county, legal tender
paper dollar, with gold at III and exchange
ut par, will not buy in London by nearly two
per cent the amount OF pure silver contained
in four of the quarters or ten of the dimes
which il is proposed to issue. Bat even If il
is maintained that the tLil in silver is pgrma-
ncnt not even the intrepid ignorance of II
cheap-imoncy Congressman will have the hardi-
hood to assert that the premium on gold may
noi be at amy point between no and l2O before
twelve months have passed. With gold at
l,J. exchange at par, and silver in London at
IS pence per ounce the pure silver III Il dollar
OK taa "slb>idLry" coins would he worth
II 06 IN LoJ,lou, which price would pay the
freight and IN ample profit To the exporter.
Gold coin of the new German coinage has
been bought in Berlin, sold in Paris, and
shipped via Belgium by the million at no
greater profit than onc-lifth OF one per cent,
and those who are curious in such matters
may see the details Of such an operation.
yielding profit of only IL per thousand. in
the Paris letter published in The Tendon Ic,n-
onist of December IL. We submit thai it is
hardly worth while for our Treasury TO enter
into transactions involving an expense OF ioriy
or fifty million dollars tor silver, simply to
enable the bullion dealers and exporters of
coin to exhibit their proficiency III similar
ODer,ltiOuS,