National Republican., 1876-05-24
SILVER LEGIsLATI0N-A MIscHIEv0Us
ERROR CORRECTED. IN

A very interesting and, if true, instruct
i've article, giving 'some reasons why sill
yer does not circulate freely" appears in
the last number of the Nation of May II.
The only important fault to be found with
the article is the fact that it is based on q
false statement as to facts. It gives table
copied from the Boston Herald, itself
copied from other and perhaps higher au-
thority, purporting to give for each Of the
periods, 1871, 1872, 1878. 1874, 1875 and
three months of 1875, the gold value of a
''dolldr in subsidiary coin," (silver,) COM
pairing the same with the ''gold value of
greenbacks," and making 1t out that the
gold value of dollar in su6sidiary coin,
during the first quarter of 1876, incorrectly
alleged to be 1914 cents, is less than the
gold value of greenbacks for the same
period. correctly stated at Ss.1 cents.
The column of the table that processes
to give the value of ''dollar in subsidiary
coin" might be headed correctly, the mar
ket value of the quantity of silver bullion
contained in dollar Of subsidiary coin.
But the value of the bullion contained
in an overvalued silver token is no more
truly measure of the market value of the
coin itself, than is the price of the raw
nickel and copper contained in nickel
coin measure of the market value of the
coin itself, or the price of the raw material
(paper) of which greenback dollar is
made measure Of the market value of the
greenback dollar itself. or of its purchasing
power, or the price Of the paper on which
is printed an English ten pound note an
indication of the value in the market of
such paper when duly signed and issued
by the properly constituted authorities, or
the price of the paper on which is written
the note of hand of any respectable trader
an indication of the value in the market of
that security.
Ifthe Nation really wishes to give its
readers the value in the markets of New
York and San Francisco of the subsidiary
silver coin of the nation for the periods of
time specified, it will find the information
ready at hand in the current market quota
tions from time to time published by lead
ing and trustworthy journals of these two
cities. The expenditure of little time In
research in this direction would have pre-
vented the utterance of the false and absO-
lutely groundless statement that the gold
value in the market of dollar in subsid-
iary coin is now or had ever been below
the gold value Of greenbacks.
We do not think or mean to imply that
the Nata n in making these groundless and
mischievous statements intended to assert
what it knew to be false, or that this usually
careful journal stands alone in giving cur
rency to the incorrect statement that the
price of our subsidiary silver coin is truly
represented by the table in question. 1t is
true, as has been stated very generally
heretofore, that silver bullion has of late
fallen, greatly fallen, in price in the worlds
market, but the price Of the silver bullion
contained In an overvalued money token
should always be kept carefully distin-
guished from the market value of the token
itself.
This mischievous error is not that of
the Nation alone, but is one into which
the newspaper press generally has fallen,
and which has passed without contradic-
ton in all the debates on the silver ques-
ton which have taken place in the Senate
and House of Representatives during the
present session of Congress.