Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-03-08
THE PRESTDRNTS MESSAGE.
To the House of Representatives.

To the House Of Representatives:
After very careful consideration
of the House bill, l,O93, entitled an
act to authorize the coinage of the
silver dollar, and to restore its legal
tender character, feel compelled to
return it to the House of Represen-
tatives, in which it originated, With
my objections to its passage. Hold
ing the opinion which l expressed in
my annual message that neither the
interests Of the Government nor the
people of the United States would
be promoted by disparaging silver
as one of the two precious metals
which furnish the coinage of the
world, and that legislation which
looks to maintaining the volume of
intrinsic money to as full measure
of both metals as their relative COM
mercial value will permit would be
neither unjust or inexpedient. It
has been my earnest desire to concur
with Congress in the adoption of
such measures to increase the silver
coinage of the country as would not
impair the obligation of contracts.
either public or private, nor iniuri-
ously effect the public credit. 1t is
only upon the conviction that this
bill does not meet these essential re-
quirements that l feel it my duty to
withhold from it my approval. Ny
present official duty as to this bill
permits only an attention to the spe-
cifc objections to its passage, which
seem to me so important as to iusti-
fly me in asking from the wisdom
and duty of Congress that further
consideration of the bill for which
the Constitution has in such cases
provided. The DILL provides for the
coinage of silver dollar of the
weight of 4l24 grains each of stand
ard silver, to be legal tender at
nominal value for all debts and du-
ties, public or private, except where
otherwise expressly stipulated in the
contract. 1t is well known that the
market value of that number of
grains of standard silver during the
past year has been from 90 to 90
cents as compared with the standard
gold dollar. Thus the silver dollar
authorized by this bill is worth from
eight to ten per cent. less than it
purports to be worth, and is made a
legal tender for debts contracted
when the law did not recognize such
coins as lawful money. The right
to pay duties in silver or in certif-
Gates of silver deposit will, when is
sued in a sufficient amount to circu-
late, put an end to the receipt of
revenue in gold, and thus compel the
payment of silver for both the prin-
cipal and interest of the public debt.
One billion one hundred and forty
three millions four hundred aud
ninety-three thousand four hundred
dollars of the bounded debt now
outstanding was issued prior to Feb
ruary, 1875, when the silver dollar
was unknown in the circulation of
this country, and was only conven-
lent form of silver bullion for expOr-
tation. $3.50, ,44o,85O of the funded
debt has been issued since February,
1873, when gold alone was the coin,
for which the bonds were sold, and
gold alone was the coin in>which both
parties to the contract understood
that the bonds would be paid. Those
bonds entered into the markets of
the world. They were paid for in
gold when silver had greatly depre-
ciated, and when no one would have
bought them if it had been under
$40, SIood they would be paid in silver
Inc sum of 1925, 100000 of these
ponds has been sold during my Ad-
mInlstration for gold coin, and the
United States received the benefit of
those sales by reduction of the rate
of interest to four per cent.