The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-09-26

Gt0H8H 10 GutS Dsss As5ysstIo'A VI Csun pCNa.
;In one opinion. thoush, they aIl agreed that
resumption must waie upon shs remonettza-
Is Congress saw tit To disregard the za!ua-
sb!e suggestions OF their Uommlssion and 70
carye aut ,aslsae of policy baaaa.gpog !aelE
~ Fss, S VINCE tEs w FEB
kruaryf28, 1878; entitled an ssAetto autho-
rize the coinage of ti1ee,standnrd silver
dollar and to restore its ilegal-tender char
acter," which HAD aworsea effect than
though they had withheld legislation on the
subject altogether for the result Y has
been to unsettie the silvermarket and make
a shayiug.shop Of the Government mint,
where they buy silver rs n commodity at q
,haif.cent per ounce less than the London
quotation, and return nit to the people In
coin at q clear profitin the transacticn'o OF
between II and - cents! on each dollar at
the present English quotation OF 5lsd. per
ounce inuother Words they pay FOR 4S0
grains lone onnceJjlof pure silver about
81 IA, and then get one dollar Tor 37l4
grains {Yhichis the amount OF pure silver
in leeal.tendertdoiar).' Inthec subsidiary
SILVER coinage the seignorage; or profit they
make is between Is and 10 cents on each
dollar. ----.---.
Let US glance for a moment at the proba-
| Bile condition Of things had the suggestions
OF the Monetary Commission been adopted
by Congress and d law in pursuance Thereon
been framed. Let us suppose law IN eX-
tistenee for the unrestricted coinage OF sill
}Ver-tbat producers could take their silver
totlie mint and have it assayed and coined
| in legal-tender dollars for their own bene-
/ fit, in the same way they DO gold, at cost
only OF assay and coinage, which Is for the
former not much over one cent per ounce,
what would be the effect? The value OF
fine silver in. the market would rise, from
s1.12A or S1,13 fits present New York quo
tation) TO from S1.27to SIPS per ounce
the legal.tender valuation OF an ounce OF
| pure Silver being S1.294. 1t, would also
| send up The price in England, for, buyers
would be on the market there, ior. ship
ment to this country, thus creating
demand, until the difference in price
| between the two countries was too slight TO
promise profit, which would probably
occur in very short time, as the
amount Of silver on hand in Europe over
| and above a necessary supply for tue wear
Of their subsidiary coinage and demands
for Eastern shipments and for manufac-
lures Is not large, and shipments entrench-
| ing on what would be considered a neces-
sary supply would be In all likelihood re-
sisted, as England has several times done
with regard TO large shipments OF gold
when the balance of exchange has been in
favor of this country. There would be, no
from Europe, for the law Of equilibrium,
which has in the past so nicely bal
anced the delicate question OF the re-
Ilative value OF the two metals, gold
and silver. and international exchange
would not fail in this case to produce the
same results" The further effect OF such q
law would be to put into active, circulation
three or four million dollars OF currency a
month, which is the present amount pro-
duced by this country alone. This decided
action on the part Of The United States
would strongly tend to arrest the dsafec-
ton towards silver as money in Europe;
and it is not improbable that it might be
again renonetized by those countries which
have discarded it, as the growing demand
for coin throughout the world for its in-
creasng business cannot be adequately met
by the present annual gold production,
which has been decreasing steadily Tor the
last twenty years. and has fallen off from
s2OO,000,000 to SlO0,00O,0o0 in that length
OF time. ... ......
Apart from the gross injustice to pro-
ducers by tile restrictive feature OF the re-
cent act on the coinage OF the silver dollar.
the; effect has been to Gtrange business and.
create an uncertainty with regard to the
actual value OF silver which has reached to
the humblest dwellings in the land. Trade
and Mexican dollars are passed about at
SIS to 30 cents each flat at the valuation Of
the fegal-tendcr dollar are worth from i to
II per cent. premium. and il the free
coinage law were in existence would pass
current Mt once for one dollar each, which
would be then their bullion value, the pre-
-mium paying for recoinage. ,,,
/ In summing UP conclusions it Is reasona-
bic to believe that ii the country is to profit
by the labors Of these skilled men who have
presented .matured plan to Congress,
after years careful study OF the subject,
we cannot do better than 10 expect OF our
Representatives in Congress their efforts to
see the plan carried out, and we may rest
assured that il we properly regulate the
bases OF value, paper prudently issued on
those bases will take care OF itself, and a
just appreciation Of all values, with re-
viyal OF business followed by general pros
perity, will be the result. J. r.
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