The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1878-02-28
THE SILVER QUESTION IN CON
GRE,SN.


GRE,SN.
The Resumption act has been, in ono
aspect, ofsome Importance TO the people
drawing their attention to tho none
tary system Of our Union, Money is the
life blood Of the Nation and certainly
there is no subject OF more Importance
than that the people should be informed
Of ranics and sudden revulsions which
occasionally occur in commercial ana
manufacturing countries and which in
volve thousands in bankruptcy and
ruin. Important however, as this
knowledge is, il has hitherto been very
little attended 70. by the people, but rs
| this question is being discussed before
Congress, they learn that u reNulS'on
occurs, and by sudden change in the
quantity and value Of money effects
every individual and is always prodnc,
tive Of the more pcrnicious result.
Under our Constitution Congress has
the power to coin money. and regulate
the value thercofis true, ifby value be
intended only the denomination ofSuch
money, that is. the rate at what
any given quantity OF gold and silver
should be current within the |, ;, Eui
value" absolutely stated, is not a cor
rect expression. To alter the positive
intrinsic value Of the precious metals,
or make il other than il is by nature
and hv the relation which those metals
bear 10 other commodities, is a power
which Congress can not cons,i,uionally
exercise il value then be the offspring
Of congressional authority, there could
be no doubt, but that paper paste board
or other material might be raised by
tnat authority TO level with gold and
silver. The word value" is an inaccn-
racy which may lead 10 4 serious mis-
conception in case where the whole
controversy bears upon this single Ques
ton, whether there te or be not an IN
herent, inextinguishable value in the
precious metals, estimated according 10
| their relation to other commodities
generally throughout the world, and in
dependent Of any arbitrary valuation
which positive ediets or enactment can
hx upon them. There are some mem
bers in the present congress who claim
the right TO raise gold coin and lower
silver eoin-which they term "regulai-
| iug the value thereof" BY the act Of
1871 the gold dollar contained 2li grains
of pure gold by the act OF 1884 the gold
dollar contained 2Si Of pure gold, re-
duction Of 6s per cent, and those clip
pers Of the gold dollar assert 1t 10 be q
clear gain, inasmuch as 23 Is grains OF
| gold since 1884 is worth as much as 24{
grains used to be before the passage OF
that act now this assertion supposes
/ that people when they give commodl>
ties for gold give them not for specific
quantities Of metal, but for denomination.
Let Congress, for example, raise the
value Of coin by declaring that ton OF
iron should hereafter consist Of tilteen
hundred weight instead of twenty huns
dred weight. No one would pretend
that they could. as the intrinsic value Of
gold and silver are liable 10 be governed
by the basis which makes value depend
upon the proportion which the supply
bears 10 the demand. The attempt 10
make single standard metallic medium
and that 10 he gold, because England
has gold as her standard, therefore We
should adopt her fnAnoia...sys,em! In
Great Britain the standard in money is
now gold, but the purity Of gold IS not
estimated by the weight commonly IN
use, but by an Abyssinian weight called
a carat, the carats are subdiyided into
four parts called grains and these grains
in quarters. Gold OF the highest degree
of fneness is said 10 be q carais fine
at present the standard of gold IN Eng
land is 90 carats Of pure and two ofalloy
or Il parts Of fine gold to one par. OF
alloy; the pound troy contains 57Gl
grains troy, Of such standard gold diyid
ed into a! grains each. The sovereign
ofthe same fneness. 1t is not necessa
~ on this occasion 10 enter into de-
tailed account Of the changes which
have taken place in the currency Of the
different nations, it is sufficient for oul
purpose 10 state that when England
found erselfindebted in large sums oi
gold and silver, which she could not
conveniently pay, she resorted 10 the
expedient Of reducing and debasing hel
coins, retaining still the same dsnomina'
tion. The pound sterling was originally
q pound sterling silver, which was cut
into 20 pieces called shillinGs, and wa:
for this reason that 20 shillings made q
pound. BY successive reductions in the
weight of the shilling pound Of silver
is now coined into 66 shillings. Bu'
this is not all-of these shillings 81 are q
legal tender for debt of one pound ster
ling; the Bank of England, which is hei
Treasury, E1chequer, and fiscal agent
being unable TO redeem her notes in
gold and silver, in 1877 suspended and
refused payment Of her notes in coin
and this suspension, or restriction a:
they called it, continued until 1919, 1
period Of % years, yet she went on issu
ing her irredeemable notes was protected
by the King and Parliament OF England
laws were passed justifying the Bank
making the bank-note legal tender ir
payment Of all debts; making it pena
ofiense to export gold and silver and
bullion, also for selling guineas for more
than their nominal value in bank notes,
and on the resumption Of specie pay
ments, their gold became the standard
of value for the Kingdom. If we had
time, We would show the inancier
ing OF old England which the friends ot
the demonetizing OF our silver coins
wish US to follow. Ifthey would advise
Us TO adopt the financial policy of France
there might be some honesty in it. What
have we TO do with the standard Of Eng.
land? We have our own American
standard Of two-fold, gold and silver