The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-07-31

that wise monarch. That change is an
incident that attaches to any circulating
medium that man can devise. 1t has
happened even to gold; ana at this mo-
ment is not without material influence
on that metal in the same direction. 1t
would therefore be unwise, because un.
safe, to depart from the double stand
ard, which presents its own mutual
checks, one element as against the un.
due preponderance Of the other.
Under the Constitution OF the United
States 1t belongs to Congress to coin
money and regulate the value thereof;
and also to declare what besides gold and
silver shall constitute alegal tender for
the payment of debts. The States are
prohibited from making s'any thing but
gold and StIoer tender in payment OF
debts" This would imply that the sew
eral States.0say make silUer legal tender,
whether Congress do the same or not.
So doing would certainly not be. in con-
trayeption Of the Constitution; for silver
is specially excepted, as well as gold,
from the prohibtory clause of the Con-
sttution. From this it is manifest that
the Constitution never contemplated
that either silver or gold would ever
come to be demonetized. .
l Moreover, silver as our money unit Of
value is older than the Constitution;
and gold. thoughnot its subsidiary, was
nevertheless made only the auxiliary Of
silver. AS early as 1882, the year imme-
diately following the organization of the
| Government under the, Articles of Com
federation, Congress directed it's atJen-
tion to the subject of the circulating me.
dunn and currency of the seyeral States.
There was then no common unit Of value
in any two States, and all domestic ex-
changes were necessarily complicated
and confused. The matter was referred
to ROBERT MORRIS, then "Financier" Of
the new Government, with instructions
to report a table Of rates at which coins
should be accounted at the Treasury.
he speedily reported, urging the estab-
lishment of a standard OF value and the
adoption or money unit.
A In this report Mr.. MORRIS proposed
for the Unit such q fraction of pure silvea
as would be the common measure OF the
penny Of every State, without leaving a
fraction. This common divisor was
, found to be 1,1440 of dollar. The stand.
ard value OF the dollar was therefore
Iequal to LAO units, each unfit being one.
l,quarter OF grain of fine silver. Nc
faction of Congress was had. In 1883 he
ljagain urged the matter upon the atten.
ition Of the Congress. Early in 1874 Con-
IIgress appointed committee to consider
1.-THE report of Mr.. NORRIS. OF this Com
, mittee THOMAS JEFFERSON was mem
+ M Morris' principle, but deemed the unit
to minute for practical use. Mr.. JEFFER
tsoN then proposed the Spanish milled
ldollar as our unit Of account and pay
lment; with its fractional divisions by &
/. ldecimal ratio. Thereupon MIR. MoRRII
= modified his proposition so as to tax,
+ 100 grains of silver as the unit. TIT
lCommittee accepted this principle al
/, proposed by Jefferson, and reported &C
cordingly. This report was adopted by
Congress in 17s5, and has been SO con
tinued. So that, four years before the
: adoption of the Constitution, silver was
made our monetary unit and the basis
of our coinage.
q Under this adjustment Mr.. JEFFERSON
proposed the minting of four coins, th'
:, silver dollar as the unit, ten Of thes
! units in gold, the eagle, and one-tenth il
silver, or the dime, and one-hundredtl
q in copper, the cent. In 1887 the resou
tion was adopted by Congress for tn
n coinage of the silver dollar OF 1855
grains silver. This fixed the value Of
nd pound OF silver at S13.777, and gold a
! $2O9.77, or to IL, 225. In 1892, after tn
Organization of the. Government unde
n the Constitution, Congress establishe
# the United States Mint, and fixed tn
n value of the standard dollar at 1856
~ grains OF fine silver, and made the sam
b. legal tender in payment of debts. Thi
II coinage SO continued legal tender troI
10 1902 down to 1873, when it was deprive
n of its legal tender character by specie
r. of incidental legislation, which at tn
II time was almost unnoticed by the pull
lilo. It's effect we propose to conside
hereafter.