Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1878-02-20

tive value of gold to silver In the roll
OF that day was to Is by law, NJ
he states tho actual average relati'
valne covering period OF years
1855 to Following this, In Decer
Der of 1888, the same gentleman
most distinct and emf hattie hi hiS view
y as to the purposes of the proposed lel
islation and in regard to SILVER us Il
standard. He unequivocally reco,
nizes and insists upon H.. His lal
guage is;
No purpose ia presumed TO be enterta ined
changing In any d-gree the standard measure
ysue residing In our silver coins. the acknow
edged hsgis Of contracts. To do thit, by iiiniI
ution Of the fine silver in those episs which col
stituie ihe measure Of value, would abvioasly pr
duce to that extent deterioration of the mel all
10 currency Both geld and silver have during II
n existence OF the government been general legt
ten Ter, while silver slone has besn the siandar
~ Of value iamiliar In our conception Of prce q
r. mod deation Of tbs gold coins ~, - % pssfe whic
r shall leave this standard f'gS-u nrbrs
and none could BE- contemplated without conc.r
. which would impair 1t. The design entertained
II therefore. in the change Of ratio nov proposed
that silver shall remain the hasis Il our oufren'
:, and the controlling standard OF value thai gol
shall be, as vi present, q legal. trndsr tor al
u amounts, but estimated in such q proportion /
- silver that the former will he exported by sgh
h preference when occasional circumsta noes shal
: Induce the export Of a portion Of the natiVus
D coins
: Acting upon this principle, III
9 weight oil the gold coins was reduce,
the eagle from 270 grains to 25i
grains, md the others proportionally
while the tineness was reduced iron
9l6s TO 1901. This, clearly, was Al
: adjustment Of gold to the silver basis
aud not of silver to gold. fbe act o.
1887 was recommended by the Di
rector OF the Mint. Its purpose wa,
TO adjust the standard OF fneness tc
round numbers. Gold was about 1891
parts in 1000, and it required no up
preciable change to fix 1t at BOO; bnl
silver, standing at S92 1928, required O
change in the number Of grains If il
was made equal to 900 parts in 1000
This was done, and tho silver dollar
Of 4l6 grains was made one Of 4l2l
This left The udiue of the silver dollar
precisely us il stood beforc.5 The ad.
dition to the ineness made up the 81
grains of weight taken from 4;
There was, therefore, nd change
whatever IL the unit of value, the sil
yer dollar, but the gold coins were by
these acts OF 1884 and 1897 reduced in
weight and tineneSs, ~ that the rela
tive value Of gold TO silver adjusted BY
the act OF 1902 AT Ia % was by this
process adjusted al to l59Ss OF near.
~ | to l6 This again demonstrates
the basis Of our ~ stem to BE- silver,
with gold as its auxiliary,
During these iour years 1884 to
1897 the silver dollar was worth an
average OF l0l 4 cents u gold aud
from 1887 to 1858 il ranged from l0l
to lOf. The quarter and hali dollar
were Of equal tiueness, and NJ result
OF this undervalue il became difficult
10 keep silver com in the country. II
was sold as bullion aud edltrom uS.
France and Germany bad aSrelaiive d
value of To l5!, and our silver stand
ing al B per cent. above this' made il
profitable to export. 1t was to RENE
dy this, and not 10 tend towad " gold
standard, that the quantity oi silver in
the I'll, er cuins |, s. than one dollar was
reduced by the act of 1852. frhe DI
rector OF the Mint in his report in Jan
uary, 1858, express y states the neces-
sity for such legislation, and instead Of
advising the gold standard, Mr.. Hun
ter, chairman OF the finance Commit.
tee Of the Senate, in bis report March
0 1852. emphatically asserts the ne
cesrIty for the double standard Of gold
and silver These were initntory TO
the Legislation Of 1858. This was amend
OF the legislation on tho subiect until
the act Of 1873; in il all, from begin.
ning to end, the silver dollar OF the
original value maintained its place as
the unit or value and base OF our sys-
tenn, and the astonishing fact is pre-
seDted that from 1892 up 10 and in.
clnding 1873, the years 1909, 1910. and
1915 are the only ones in which this
dollar has not been worth more than
100 cents IN gold The use OF Che word
"coin' in our statutes during the war
and since may be understood when we
recall the language OF the Director of
the Mint in his report in October, 1861.
He says: "Thc silver dollar as il now
is, has actually three yalues: /. II is
by law dollar simply or 100 units or
cents. 2. BY the Mint price Of silver
ii is lO3.98 cents, which is Its true com.
mcrcial value as compared with gold"
IL was, when the war began, worth
nearly tour cents more than gold
dollar. If gold was then the stand.
ard, why not say so in the statutes ?
Who required ''coin" TO be inserted (?
Perhaps in q review OF the legislation
and OF the truth that this dollar, II
coined, would flee from the countr,
because OF its actual value during all
Of those years, our friends will find
some reason for their cry that il was
obsolete, but can they give US any
reason why "coln' was the word used !
commend TO them the inquiry, was
Il not nm honest dollar when our credit
was pledged? From 1862 to 1873 the
silver dollar OF 4l23 grams was above
par IN gold WHEN our credit was
pledged II was All honest dollar, even
III tue sense ~ which onr friends ut
tempt to put thc case. E
Yon say we have not coined a silver
dollar for forty years. Why2l 1t was
} our undispnted unit Of value; Why
not coin aud pay it ont2 The answer
il, il cost too much gold was ohraper.
Yet the government that did this with
iis nndnubted standard would. N your