, 1877-12-03
THE SILVER QUESTION.
Another Letter from ThurfoW
Weed.
4, Explains low ihe Dtmoneii1ing Fraud Nas
Perpetrattd.
fen. Grant on Silver as q Stand-
ard.

of he Nsm Iork Tribune: I find myself
unexpectedly stgmatzcd as an "lnl1a-
Zionist" and "RepudIator." say
unexpecteflly, becausc, during c0nsttlcr-
ably more thnn latt q century Of journalism,
u,y efforts wcro uniformly in favor of a sound
currency and aEninst reptldIatio1I. Conscious
only Of desire To be useful, can afford to bo
misunderstood, or even 1nl,rcprcsented espc-
cai.y 40 willie advocating silver standard, the
authority for doing so being derived frurn tho
Constitution Of the United States. Unher that
authority tho Government Inns borrowed AMI
pad thousands OF millions OF dollars in coin.
No one qucsttoncd the money value Of silver.
II waa equally precious with gold, until In 1878
IL was secretly dcmonctfzcd. A bill ostenslblY
intended to regulate tho Government
minta contained a clause dcmonettzfng
silver, hut 50 cautiously drawn as to
conceal its purpose. Nothing appears IN tho
debate showing that any member Of Congress
was aware that bill, apparently harmlcsss, not
only deprived the country Of onc-halt its H,onc-
tary power, but was in violation Of the Coneti-
tuition. Tic titlo Of the law Of 1878, as will be
seen, furnished no intmation that 1t contained
such sweeping clause! "An net rcvieing and
amending tho laws relative to tho mints, assay
o,ires, and cotnaut Of the United states.n The
thoy p,iesrcd ty lie act Of 1si5 The following
section found Its way into thu Revised Statutes,
wh!cl, wtre enactcd in bulk in 1874;
Tho eIlscr coins of the United States shall be q
lerat tender. At theF nominal vnlne for any amount
nut exceeding 81 In any ono payment.
The Chairman OF the Committee, who SUBJ
mtttcd the report, assured tie llouss that 1t
contained nothing nut what was found In tie
And yct there was nothing IN any act of Con-
rrcss giving tic acubhncn Of authority for thu
scstion above quoted. Thu double frauds were
perpctrated without the knowledxe u those
attention Of newspaper correspondents. Nor
a. t"s g ! s ;ns s:a s5
blov at tile interests Of the country anu tlIe
Gen. Grant, dated OSe. ., le'3, scycn montl's
after the passage OF the law relating to mints,
ETC.. he snid:
the Market to supply the icacicne5 ii Inc crealst
Ing medium. Expcr!cnca has proved that
ittakcs ABOUT s41, ooo ooo OF fractional currency
10 msss tna sMai cnanye @ iof ss! H. s
1,her Iii. becomo nm te ssndarM of ynlac1 rhIe
w,i' hs boarded In 4 small wnv. I estimate shat
his vii, Consume from $500 Cl)0 600 to $500 OOO
100 In tlmc Of thIs apecla. Of our circulating me.
Hum. !. confesa to q desire tu sec \ lin
led boarding OF money. Isut ! want to zee .
boarding, of aometl!in9 that u standard OF valuc
he world oysr sssf y s on, mins1 g,
IT. nov htoa.cts s,.u nnstn WSu; mi, II
rl answer for some Years to nut it in cIrculasion
Teepng It there until II il axcd and then We Will
Ind other markets.
moved and signed D bill prohibiting the coinagc
Il currcncy he ynlucd 60 hleblyI It was NOT
until 1874, when tile Code was adopted, Tint tic
coinage oi subsidiary silver was authorized, at,l
hecan1e lcral.tcptler for Is, Aul tltlally ;yfou
ihesc frauds, perpetralctl to keep gold At pre-
inium for thc benefit OF bondhoIdcrs, bcca,no
Known, no word Of rcproba,.on has been heard.