, 1880-12-07
changed" Tho Secretary tl'ts gives vcr-
Rion Of what llas bcen .lone fn tl!is country

changed" Tho Secretary thsts gives vcr-
Rion Of what has beer, .lone fn tl!is country
OH this subjects:
Unl!cr this authnrity Congress- provided IN 17H1
thlt thu rntlo should ip ns,r n,lnec Of gull IL
tfice,l t,lcrs Of silver: and on tho 18th af tlnr.
tEIl It chnnEri tho ratio IL ono ousce Of Goia to
Bixtccn OUNCES or silver. ~
Technically tltts VERSION is correct, bIt It Is
fallacIo,'s to tic extent TINT It lcavcs tho III.
ferenro tlat Congress Mt so1,lc t1.l!o chnngett
the weight of allycr III tho silver do!lar.
Tint IIas leyer been changed sitlcu IL wns
established in l1ej. THIN tic 37i!l KsalMs of
pnrc silver was DECLARED To be tic standard
dollar OF the United Statcs and It has re-
mained unchanged. The do1!nr Of tho United
States from tint tnte to the present, except
during tho rertud when Its abolition WIS I'LL
known tn tho cD,,ntry, hns always been tho
sa'nc. III 1871 Congress reduced the weight
or Eotd II, tic poli cuins, Int never dis
turhcI tho weight Of The silver ttolar, which
was tho "tlollar of tho Tinted States.
This business Of ltukcrlng al to coins Is
not new 10 Mr.. Sherman. in lsts lle pro-
W,sctl Il bill In the Srnato to abolish tho
silver dOllar because 1t Ind too 1nucl. silver
in 1t 1T was then worth I'M in gold},.
n,ltl because the country was so
heavily in debt" tho creditors ought
to consent to his Bit, which proposed
10 rc.iucc the weight II, Tic gold cuin j lIcr
cent; TINT IL, to abolish thu silver tnllar alto.
gcihcr md rccoin all tl!o gold coin, taking
out per cent OF the go't,l Both nj these
absurd measures were Of course suppressed,
-s.inetl Gy the Senate.
Tho game scheme, only lit another form, Is
now proposed by tho Sccretnry. Tlleh he
demanded that tllo silver dullar he abolished
| brcal1se 1t la.l too much silver IN 1t,-loro
| than tho country contd afford to give Its
crctlitors,-anu now he insists that tho silver
! dollar shall bu abolished because 1t hns nut
got enough silver In 1t, though It Is Of tic
cxact weight and size 1t las always becn,-
for two centuries.
The relative weight Of silver lii tho coins
/ Of Europe is 8 per cent less ttn1 In thu
! American dollar. III this country We give
I III ounces of silver 10 ounce 0f gold III ous
coin. In Europe they only give l515 olitccs
| OF silver to ottnco IF gold. Our silver coin
| IL therefore 8 por cent heavier than Is tho
silver coin OF Europe. But no Gnyerlllnetlt0f
Europe proposes or has prnposcd to enlarge
the weight Of It's silver coin; the weight
| OF that kind OF coin remains unchanged, ainl
I this notwithstanding the fact TINT France
alone has more lreal-tender silver In pro-
norton To o,r s11vrr rain linn wo,td eounf
aur co}unpe If IL we're nix ,i,ucs ns greas.
r:yen England ],ns sloo, ooo 900 of ,tglt silver
coin. ]rgal.tentler to tho sum of $40,
which Is nearly n, much rs nil tho
silver coin of all kinds 1T this country. Ger
| mnny bas still twfce 10 thrco t1,ues ns muc,,
1reul.trn,Icr silver If HIGHT weight as va
haye Of ereator weight In this country, hut
no nato, Inns yct ,,rouosrd to nut more metal
into lis coin 10 coualtzc its bullion yaIuu with
gold: md no Flnn,,ru Minister in Europe has
vet pruposcd In admit Il system OF coin llle
weiuhta of which ura to bo chaueed every
tNtrty or ninety days, according to tic lluctu-
ut,ons In tl,e value of bullion.
Tba general suupty nj silver Iii the world
il mt Increasing: cycu In this country tho
stack ayaiiub1c for cotnagc has not uatcrtal-
! " Increased of latc, I1as thc Secretary of tho
Trens,,ry estimated tl,o consequences OF
o,1nntInr his n1an of changing the
weight Of metal In the silver
| cotns to meet every change III
t1,o bu11lon prtco of silver in Iouilon9 Sun.