National Republican., 1877-11-19

mates in s0rdid seliishness, which is entitled
to very little consideration when taken in
connection with the public welfare. Money
is intended merely as furnishing medium
for the transaction of business in the ex-
change of commodities. There is not gold
enough in the country to subserve this end.
Indeed, there is only sufficient to excite to
cupidity and lead the gold men" to
speculate upon II by"a corner" or otherwise,
at the expense OF the great mas Of those en-
gagged in business pursuits. To neutral
ize this power of mischief an effort
is being made to remonetize that metal
which is conycntionally regarded us next to
gold in the scale of intrinsic values of the
precious metals. This naturally excites the
prejudice and hostility of those who seek
to make gain at the expense Of the mer-
chant, the manufacturer, or of any other
class engaged in the general enterprises of
the country. Inspired by strong desire to
this class now urge their own narrow views
upon the public mind, in the hope that they
may enlist fresh champions to their cause
and secure the defeat of measure that
looks toward a weakening Of their power
TO control the money of the country to an
extent that will bring wealth to their own
Golfers.
The Government of this country has as
sumed, under the Constitution, all the power
and responsibility Of furnishing to the peo-
fta tho nrtinla of Fnr tho
nience and accommodation of business in
all its branches. No matter whether this
money is made Of paper or Of the precious
metals, If it possesses value fixed by and
under the authority of law there is no
legitimate power to change that value ex-
cept that conferred upon Congress. All
other changes come through the money
changers and their contrivanccs for gratiiy
ing their own selfish greed. This is appa-
rent to them in this case, where there is
an effort TO remonetze silver and give it a
place in the scale ofpar currency, and hence
their opposition to a measure that promises
relief against the existing power Of money
speculation.
The silver dollar is no experiment in
finance. The Graphic, which is not parti
san of the silver measure, furnishes some
interesting facts which are of importance in
discussing this interesting question.
From 1902 up to 1873, 37l,25 grains of
pure silver-that is, 4l2 so grains of stand
ard silver when properly stamped-were
called and known us a dollar. During the
same period the dollar in gold was 2i.75
grains pure for about forty years; then, for
II few years, "the thing" behind the name
was 22.2O ssuins pure; and for the last forty
years it has stood at 23.22 grains pure. 1t
seems that one must say, over and over
again, for the benefit of the gold realists,
that 37l.25 grains of pure silver have AZ
much claim to he called dollar as 30
grains of pure gold. For eighty years the
name belonged interchangeably to either,
and all that the remonetizers-many of
whom are the only consistent nominalists
in fnance-ask is that the old name shall
be used in the old sense, and that new
and arbitrary sense shall not be given to it.
In 1873 new and arbitrary sense was
given to it. A dollar. as the unit of the
money OF account, was known be-
fore that time as either 412jO grains OF
standard silver or 1922 grains of pure gold.
The sO-called coinage act declared that
thereafter dollar could only mean dollar
in gold And now the rcalists say that q
dollar is 23.22 grains Of gold pure and can
he nothing else. In II word, that dollar
bears some occult relation to u certain num-
Der OF grains of gold, arbitrarily fixed, by
reason of which il becomes u kind OF sacri-
lege to Use the name in any sense but the
one clandestinely affixed to it three on four
years ago. Carried out TO its logical con-
cLr>ion. such reasoning would render il I'M
possible for any change to be ever made in
the weight of a gold dollar, though the
number Of grains oi pure gold contained in
il has been twice raised since the mint act
OF 1872 fixed it at 2i.75. A dollar is the
name of our unit OF money in account. 1t
is not a thing in itself For eighty years it
might be 37l.25 grains OF pure silver or Il
certain number Of grains of pure
gold, varying from 2475 to 2320,
and only for four years has
il been solely 23.22 grains Of pure gold. 1t
is within the power of Congress TO fix the
proper ratio between the two metals, and it
might il il saw nit. reduce the number OF
grains in the gold dollar or increase the
number Of grains in the silver dollar The
new dollar would still bc our unit OF money
in account and would retain its identity
No one would he injured provided
prior contracts were excepted from its opera
tion, contracting parties being bound to ,
strict performance of their explicit or I'M
plicit contracts On the other hand, the de
monctztiOn Of silver destroyed the identity
OF the dollar Of our fathers, which was, al
optiOn, gold or silvcr-it cut OFF one leg
and the rcmomctizcrs simply want to rcstor,
this option and the dismcmbered limb. Le
! those who are cndeavOriug to be nOminalist
in finance remember that "A dollar may he
certain number OF grains OF either gold o
silver, but il cannot lie gold alone or silvc
alone
The pending silver bill may have beel