Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-12-19


debtors" This act provided for
minting gold coins, each coin to con-
tain q prescribed number of these
units, and to be made Of prescribed
weight and fineness. The ratio Of
their coin-value was based upon their
hen-supposed bullion or market val
ues, and was as l to 15; that il, ONE
ounce of gold was worth fifteen
ounces of silver. If the adjust
ment had been strictly accurate,
then these metals would have
circulated concurrently as mon
ey, and continue to 80 circu-
late go long as their relative coin val
ue should remain coincident with
their relative market value. At this
time tho money stock of the world
consisted of these two metals. In
some countries silver alone was used,
but in most, if not all, commercial
both gold and silver were
used. Gold was not exclusively used
In addition to the quail
ties they have in common to commend
their use as money, the more valua-
BILE of them, gold, is especially adapt
ed to large, andsilvcr to small trans
actions, and their joint use promotes
the permanence of the ratio between
money and other property, and con-
sequently the money and other prop
erty, and consequently the stability
of prices. The prices of each Of these
metals is variable, and governed by
causes that are peculiar to each, and
which, which canH4}tb a 4}br "a 4ss.sssgstsd os Sons
it may be difficult to secure their
concurrent circulation. When the
ideal unit Of value and account is rep
resented in the currency by each met
al, then if the bullion value Of one
by reason of q reduced supply, or be-
cause there is larger temporary de-
mand for it in foreign countries than
in our own, is raised above its mint
or coin value, it's place In the curren-
cy as il retires will be readily taken
by the other metal. The quantity of
the money stock will thereby be pre-
served, and prices remain unchanged.
To secure the use of either Of these
metals as money its coin value must
be at least equal to its market or bull
lion value, otherwise 1t will not 20 to
the mint nor remain in the form of
coin if coined. To secure their con-
current circulation as money, their
relative coin value was fixed by the
Coinage act at one to fifteen. This
corresponded to their then market
value. Within few years their rel
ative value, as determined by the
market, changed so that one ounce Of
gold instead Of being limited to If
teen ounces would buy fifteen and
half to sixteen ounces of silver in the
markets of Europe. Consequently
gold left us and silver remained. To
remedy this, by the law of 1884, the
weight OF the gold coin was reduced,
and by the act Of 1887 its fineness was
slightly reduced, while the silver coin
remained the same as before, the
slight increase of its purity to make
the percentage Of its alloy the same
as with that in the gold coin being
compensated by reduction OF its
weight from 4l6 to 41216 grains Of
standard metal. This added $3.50
per cent. to the coin value of gold
Their legal value then stood to each
other as l to 1888, instead Of to 15
as before. This change instead Of
making the mint value Of these met
ais cOincident with their relative
market value, proved to be an undue
increase of the coin value of gold, and
the bullion value of silver was conse-
quently higher than the value stamp
ed at the United States mint. Silver
has since been, until within . few
years, at q premium Of IL 10 3 per
cent. We are accustomed to regard
the governments of Europe - estab-
lished and administered In the inter-
est of the upper classes, in which are
found the capitalists, rather than the
common people. A few years ago Z
scheme was set ON foot in some OF
the countries Of Europe in the interest
Of the owners of money or creditor
classes, and those who lived ON fixed
incomes, to reduce the money stock
by demontizing ONE Of the metals and
thereby increase the value Of money
j The object which the promoters oi
Of this scheme had In view, and the
motives that inspired them, are clear.
iy stated in the following extract
from the ofiicisl resume Of the French
Monetary Commission of 1859, found
ON page l6 OF the report Of the None
tary Commission, created by Con
gress, Aug. 15, 1876: "The rise il
price which has taken place in til,
last twenty years in . great number
of articles Of merchandise, is evident
ly due to many causes, such rs war
bad harvests, and increase In con
sumption; but 1t is very probabl,
, that the depreciation Of the preciou
, metals has contributed to II, sine,
there is a striking coincidence be
. tween the rise of prices and the pro
, ductiOn of the new mines Of gold ant
I silver. The annual production of tn
! two metals which was only $780, 600,
: 600 in 1S47, exceeds now 500 O00, ,O0(
, 1t has nearly tripled and 1t ID easy 4
i | see that the real value Of the two met
ais has diminished. It is difficult 4
: estimate exactly what the dimuniti0
!. lis; but whatever 1t may be 1t de
: lmands the attention Of government
a | because il affects unfavOrably all ths
! portion Of the population whose in
! come, remaining nominally the samt
: Iundergoes yearly dimunition of th
Z purchasing power. Az government
4 control the weight and standard {
1 ftmoney, they ought so far as possibl,
0 to assure its value, and, as II 10 ai
a United that the tendency Of the me
Q lAls is to depreciate, this tendenc
i lshoull be arrested by demOnetizin
e lone Of them." They determined
. discard silver, and accordingly Gel
. many decreed the demonstration I
% this metal in 1871, the decree to tai
; effect in 1878, and its coinage Wi
i discontinued in France. To csrry o,
+ the scheme Il was necessary to secul
d the cooperation OF this countr
lsIwhose annual product Of silver
& greater than the joint product Of I
Z other nations. On the 18th Of Eel
d 1873, An ACT was passed by our Co
y gress, entitled, "An act reyising On
. amending ~ laws relative to u
II mints, ase19-ofacea and coinage
J, no United olps,' = and ~ sct 90