Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-01-23

unlimited amount Of grecnbacks, say
two billions. Such inconsistency and
political demagougeism needs no
comment.
Our Friends In a MIDDLE.
The Davenport Gazette, gold organ,
(though latterly it has softened into
admitting the use of silver, only it
wants the dollar about the size of a
cart wheeD, in its issue Of the 18th
inst, says: .... -.
"Why don'tthe silver mine advocates
tell the truth to their followers? If
they did so they would admit that
since 1853 silver has been legal ten
der only to the amount of five dol
lars. Their pretense is that they wish
to restore "the dollar Sc it was prior
to 1873; whereas they really want,
as per the Bland bill, to make the sill
yer dollar of 4l2.O05 grains, now
worth 81 cents, an unlimited legal
tender for all amounts"
The Burlington Ha,ckeye of the
same date Of issue with the Gazette,
says, speaking Of the silver dollar:
"That it was not demonetized, and
that 1t is still a legal tender, is con-
conclusively settled by the decision
Of the secretary of the treasury,
whose letter to the editor of the
HAwKEYE upon this subject we pub
| fish this morning.
Here is the Secretary's letter refer.
red to: ...
TREASURY DEPARTMENT.,
WASHINGTON, Jan. Is, 1S7S.{
DEAR SIR Your note is received.
| am much obliged to you for the
kindness evinccd in your editorial.
have noticed the injustice which
you SO clearly point. but have been
SO busy lave paid but little atten-
ton to it and know that in the end
public sentiment will correct any err
rors of the public press. The old
silver dollar, ifthere are any in exist
ence, coined before 1873, is a legal
tender for all sums, but, practically,
there have been none in circulation
since 1887, when the change was made
in the standard from fifteen Of silver
to one of gold to sixteen to one, but
all silver coins are now a legal tender
to the extent Of five dollars. We
were on the high road to resumption
and real prosperity when the agita-
ton of the repeal of the resumption
act and the passage of the silver bill
commenced, and has already done
more harm to the people of the Unit
ed States than can be estimated. You
rightly say that am simply execut-
ing laws and would be plainly guilty
of an Improbable offence if did not
obey and try to execute these laws,
and yet am denounced for doing
what, If did not, would make me
criminal. I am very truly yonrs,
| JOHN SHERMAN.
1t seems to us to be inexcusable ig.
norancs in the Gazette to say that sill
yer has only been legal tender for
$500 since 1853. 1t was only the sub.
sidiary coin that was thus limited in
its legal tender quality.
In reply to the position of the
Hawkeye based upon the letter OF
Secretary Sherman, we say that We
never claimed the law of 1873 de.
monetized in fact the old silver dol.
lar, but that it was done SO far as an
act of Congress could do it in 1874 by
another act which was clause insert
ed in the revision of the United
States laws. This Revision was
passed in lump and how
the few lines got in there
which struck at the old silver dollar
and which Congress never motto.
ed, some cunning fellow can tell, blu,
no doubt the knowledge of it was
very limited. We publish a briel
history of this demonetizing silver
business, which we gave to our read
ers month ago:
On the 18th of February 1873, m
act was passed by our Congress, en-.
titled, "An act revising and amend.
ing the laws relative to the mints, as.
say-offices, and coinage of the United
ed States" and the act contained six.
ty-seven, sections. 1t authorized the
coinage of fractions of the silver dol
lar, below standard weight, as subsid
larry coins: Also rev coin to BIZ
called the trade dollar and to contain
APO grains of silver, never intended
for circulation in this country, bu,
for Asiatic commerce, and prohibited
these particular coins from being q
lnro1 xnn1nr 60 IN ora xha, a. IL
lars in any one payment. No allusion
whatever, calculated to arrest atten.
ton, was made in the act to our sill.
yer dollar, and it would have been
unaffected by it but for the seven.
teenth section, which is in these
words: "No coins, either of gold,
silver, or minor coinage, shall hereaf.
ter be issued from the mint other
than those Of the denominations,
standards, and weights herein sci
forth" The coinage Of the silver
dollar was here covertly smothered.
Under a rule adroitly invoked and
enforced, the bill was not even read
on its passage through the House,
and this provision, fraught with such
serious consequences, passed sub ST.
lentio into law. 1t is not pretended
anywhere, that the authors and pro.
moters of this measure did not know
at the time that it would have the of.
feet of demonetizing silver, and they
were the only persons in the country
who did know it. tits manifest that
the President, Gen. Grant, who ap.
proved the bill, did not know it, fol
in his letter to Mr.. Cowdry, written
Oct. Q, 1873, some 8. months after il
became law, he says: / wonder
that silver is not already coming into
market to supply the deficiency in the
circulating medium.
confess to q desire to see limited
hoarding of money but want to see
a boarding of something that is a
standard of value the world over
}, Silver is this. Our mines
are now producing almost unlimited
amounts of silver, and it is becoming
a question, "What shall we do with
it," suggest here solution which
will answer for some years: To put
it in circulation, keeping it there un.
til it is fixed, and then we will find
other markets." Nor is this all. The
dollar that had been coined prior to
the act, and which then remained,
were not affected by it.. They were
still legal tender. To put them out
of the way the following section was
placed in the revision of our laws,
which was passed in 1874, upon an
assurance given by the revisors that il
was merely revision Of existing laws
without any change or introduction
of new matter. '"The silver coins OF
the United States shall be legal
tender at their nominal value for any
amount not exceeding S. in any one
payment"
| Now we take issue with Secretary
Sherman upon this subject and say
that so far as an act of Congress can
do go, silver coins of all kinds and