New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-04-13

OF for ali States to say that silver shall be
q legal tender without any limit wnatso
ever, because the inhibition OF the conetltu'
tion is that no State shall make anything 9
legal tender but gold and silver. That
being so, they then can make gold ana sil'
ever. If all tho States were to make silver
Q legal tender equal to gold, it would be-
come the legal tender for the United States;
and it would not be competent for the fed
eral government to restrain the action of
the States. 1t therefore involves Q grave
constitutional question, besides q financial
question. have thought great deal upon
this subject, and am not able to see any
good reason why silver should not be made
9 legal tender to . very large amount, say
$1,000; but see great many good reasons
why it should be 60.
Mr.. Sargent was doubtful az to the proper
extent Of the tender; but the government
should control the coinage. 1t redeemed
sbraded coins because of the profit of coin
ing. In the trade dollar it had no margin
but simply stamped the bullion of other
parties. He also said:
That which we are trying to remedy in
this matter is q local trouble which has
arisen among the people OF the Pacific
they have bought of the government, pay
ing gold for, come millions OF silver sub
sidiary coinage. They are not able to procure
a dollar of that silver subsidiary coinage
from the government except by paying it's
full value in gold. The government came
in then, and while providing for trade
dollar which was to facilitate our commerce
with China, declared it should be legal
tender for s.; that is to say, it put it in a
a. IL al
jected this coin to the condition of the sub
sidiary silver coinage, without remember
ing that this was not q natural coin OF the
government, that it put no seigniOrage on
it at all aud made no profit on it. 1t simply
stamps it, for the accommodation Of parties
who have silver bullion, to give it cur
rency in China. As soon as this was
discovered, parties threw bullion in
immense quantities into the mints
form; they threw it out on the market, and
therefore began depreciating the millions
of subsidiary silver coinage which men had
paid gold for and were using in all the
avocations of life. The reeult was that
complaint came from wOrkmen that they
were paid in this deprecated silver coin
age; they could not pay their bills with it
to the amount Of over s.. We are thus
finding the effects of deprecated currency
the way along. The difficulty was in Civ
ing the legal tender quality to an article
which was not coined on government ac-
count, and the amount of the coinage Of
which the government can not regulate. In
reference to the subsidiary silver coinage
the government has the pow er in its hands
TO regulate it, to prescribe that not more
than q certain amount shall 60 out, and
only under conditions that keep it equal
for business purposes with gold.
BY law there has been no silver dollar
since 1873. 1t was discontinued since 1853,
but the power to issue it remained till the
later date. 1t was dropped because incon.
venient in size and form for ordinary coin
age and ordinary business. On this it was
suggested by Mr.. Jones that the reaeon
why it was dropped was because silver was
at premium at that time. and there was
no inducement to coin it. Mr.. Sherman
stated there was q bill to provide for
dollar equal to two half dollars; but had
nothing to do with the question on the
trade dollar, which was worth ninety. five
Or ninety six cents gold. He proposed the
dollar to be exactly equa! to two halves, four
quarters, ten dimee, etc.
Mr.. Jones said:
In order to monetize silver, or declare the
double standard, or carry out the views of
the Senator from Missouri, it would be
necessary to have bill that shonld be har-
n0nious in all its parts. This measure was
enacted only to protect the people of the
Pacific coast, who are on gold basis, from
severe alterations in the price of silver.
They have been obliged to use subsidiary
u small coinage to make change with. In
hat small coinage the two half dollars
,ontain but 3S5 grains of silver; the trade
]ollar contains 400 grains Of silver; but for
he reason that the two half dollars were
necessary and very convenient and |
portable, and were made q legal |
ender to the amount of s.. for the amount
hat was necessary to make the change |
If that community. sufficient of this debased |
PARITY with gold because it cost gold and |
vas necessary to make change with, and it |
lid not disturb the relations bet ween the |
etail and wholesale dealer of the Pacific |
,Oast. The trade dollar was made when it |
vas two or three per cent premium over |
,old. but by decline in silver tho trade |
lollar now is worth ninety-two, ninety
hree or ninety-f0ur cents in gold. By hav-
og the trade dollar legal tender for IS,
re now legal tender for. the effect is to
degrade the two half dollars that had cost
he citizen there 81 in gold, and upon whicn
10 was doing business. 1t degrades that |
ubsidiary coin to the bullion value of the
rade dollar.
The half dollar is as pure, nine-tenths
ne, as the trade dollar, but is not
alt as heavy. The two half dollars
ontain 1856 grains of standard silver.
/ half dollar, supposing it were made
n the basis of the trade dollar, would
therefore, l say that, silver having fallen in
alue, the business of that community being
one on coin basis, and you allowing per-
ons to buy silver and themselves take it to
he mint, the effect is to destroy the value
f the four or five millions of subsidiary
oins already purchased from the govern
lent for gold at their nominal rate, dollar
or dollar. 1t reduces the value of all sub
diary coins to the present bullion value Of
etween wholesale and retail dealers, much
, the inconvenience Of the people of that
oast. They have neither the one thing nor
le other. They are on gold basis for
Irge transactions and on 8 silver basis
'ithout scientific relation having been es-
ablished by the government between gold
nd silver for the subsidiary coin.
If the trade dollar is made legal tender
q injury is done those who pay gold for
ubsidiary silver coin.
Mr.. Jones contradicted the proposition of
IT. Bogy that "there could be no rise in
liver if you established the relative value
y law based on certain purity of coin.
ye. in the following remarks:
Mr.. Jones, of Nevada will state to my
lend that under the double standard in
rance three times in fifty years did the
slative value Of gold and silver change.
1hy! Because the legal tender value Of
old in the country was greater than it's