The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-16
THE ANT1-sILvER CONSPIRACY.

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THE ANTT-sILVER CONSPIRACY.
II IL only the investigation Of the whole
coinage and currency questions OF the coun
try, developed by the discussion of the
silver bill, that has fully laid bare the con-
spiracy by which the old silver dollar was de-
monetized. When the matter was first
brought up for debate there was lamenta-
BILE ignorance on ill sides on this subject. A
radical change In the coinage and currency OF
Il the country, O change the cause OF many of
our woes, had been made and yet the very
men who sat in the Congress that made this
change were unable TO explain how 1t was
done. The probabilities are that many Of the
congressman who voted for the demonetiza-
ton Of the silver dollar were actually igno-
rant Of what they were doing, and Of the dam
age they were bringing on the country when
they voted for decentralization. The Mephis-
tophees who stood behind them the brokers
and bankers of Europe, and who were the real
dernonetizers of the silver dollar, coneocted this
ingenious conspiracy, which was SO nicely ar
ranged that 1t Is only by careful study Of
| the long prosy and complex coinage pro-
visions that the workings OF the conspiracy
can be seen.
1t was at the end of the war that the gold
conspiracy was first formed The debts owed
by this country to England we're immense,
and the English bankers saw that Ii they
could make us pay these debts in gold, which
they alone possessed and could furnish US,
they would be 50 much the richer. To do this
| 1t was necessary to demonetize silver, still
legal tender In the United States, which being
a production Of this country. could easily be
procured by us. As the people we're wholly ,ln-
acquainted with coin Of any kind almost
forgotten the very appearance of either Of the
precious metals--the manipulation OF the coin
age of the country without attracting public
attention was, they thought. easy enough.
The first attempt was made In 1858, when It
was proposed to make the gold dollar the
unit Of value and to make silver dollars legal
tender In sums OF ten dollars only. The
project, however, persisted at once as the
people opposed the idea of changing the
standard Of nation buried under prodi-
gious mass Of debts, and of contracting the
specie basis when there was no public COM
plant against our coinage.
Then the underhand work began. The
schemers, having the matter in charge, in
vented the revision Of the coinage regula-
tons. There was no need Of these reglila-
tions, as the coinage Of the country Was
small. but under cover Of this revision they
were able to demonetize the silver dollar,
These revisionary acts were made so
voluminous and complicated that it is no
wonder that the men who voted against sill
yer were unaware Of what they were doing.
The sole object Of this revised coinage law
was to omit mentioning the old silver dollar
as one Of the coins of the United States. Upon
this omission, which would not be noticed,
they could base subsequent legislation. The
act, therefore, Of February Il, 1873, provides
that "the silver coins Of the country shall be
the trade dollar, half dollar" etc. BY this act
the old silver dollar was dropped from the
coinage of the United States, although all of it's
fractions. half, quarter, dime, etc, were pre-
served as legal tender to the extent Of SIS only.
The place Of the silver dollar, which had been
legal tender for an unlimited amount, was
supplied by the trade dollar, which, however,
was legal dollar only to IS. This act was sup
plemented by an act next year making the
gold dollar the unit Of value. ..s
Every member Of Congress, whether gold
| or silver man. who has ever been interviewed
on the subject, confesses that he was unaware
Of what was done at the time. Yet many of
them to-day oppose the silver bill, which is
nothing more nor less than putting the silver
dollar just where it stood in 1873.
The great claim of the demonetizers is that
the silver dollar was obsolete at the time 1t was
demonetized, and that the law Of 1878 was
| simply q regulation conforming the law to
| the fact. In 1873, the very year that the
silver dollar was demonetized, the American
consuls in China reported the necessity Of a
silver currency for trade with China and these
reports were forwarded to Congress by Secre-
| tary Boutwell,, with a recommendation to
Congress to create a silver dollar nearer In
value to the Mexican dollar. The result was
the trade dollar (420 grains of silver, although
our old dollar was fully equal in value to the
Mexican dollar This was one of the means
Of demonetizing the old silver dollar.
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