The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-07-26

the YrOubieSVmeT rRCie Dollar.
There is a great deal Of misinformation
regarding the Trade dollar. and the specu.
lators are interested in spreading it. The
first aim of these artistic m%anipula!oEs was
10 beat down tho market price Of the trade
dollar; and, strangely enough, they we're,
able 10 do this by telling the truth. They
warned The public that the disc was not q
Ia al tender dollar but Onlya commercial
token, worth the value Of the silver that
lain il and no more. Tradesmen began to
1eiuse them, and that was enough. No
body could be made TO receive them, and
they no longer pass for one hundred cents
tits believed that the Spectators have
laid up these dicSin large quantities, and
nov they are calling on the government to
redeem them dollar for dollar. Al'
Tho Secretary Of the, Treasury has
thought well 10 explain why thiscan not
he done as ali executive a~ct-Congress has
expressly declared that they arenot money,
and Congress alone can give them legal
tender power. The trade dollar was de-
vised 10 make q market for American silver
in China, where, because Of the convenience
in handling and the guarantee as to weight
and dueness, they proved very acceptable.
Then the trade dollar was worth about
lOi cents in gold, and the persons Tor
whose account they were coined had moth
ing 10 gain by putting them in circulation
Mt one hundred cents. SubsequentlysiIver
deprecated, 80 that there was 3 profit in
putting out the trade token as 4 silver
dollar. Accordingly they were put in circu'
ialion on the Pacific coast. The tiade
dollar was then legal tender for Ave dollars.
On July 20, 1876, Congress declared, with
out a dissenting voice, THAT the trade dol
lar shall not hereafter be a legal tender,
and the Secretary OF the Treasury is here
by authorized to limit, from time to TING,
the coinage thereof to such an amount as
he may deem sufficient to meet theexport
demand for the'ssme."
The paper dollar became Of greater value
than the trade dollar and in the fall Of
1877 the holders OF trades began once more
to force them into circulation..another
way to sell silver ut more than its market
price. To put a stop to this mischievous
business Secretary Sherman, in October Of
1877, ordered the mints to. discontinue the
coinage Of the commercial dollar. In a
letter now quoted BY Secretary Folger
Secretary Sherman said: ''lnf their use as
money our Department has never had any
interest or derived any profit; for the ex-
pense Of their coinage the owner OF the
bullion reimbursed the Government, and
this ended the connection Of the Cavern.
ment with the transaction. Atno time and
ON no account have they ever been receiv-
ed or paid out by the Treasury, and it is
a cause Of regret that 50 many Of our pee
pie should have accepted them ut their
face value, thus enabling their owners to
put them into circulation at a considerable
profit" I
1t is said that ths Government never
ought to have coined these discs. But
their character was we'll understood, and
the Government can not fairly be held re-
sponsible for the tricks OF speculators. 1t
would have been thought aneedler1 hard
ship II the Government had refused 10 help
American silver to find a market when it
could do 80 without cost to itself. 10. the
light OF experience, however seeing how
much confusion sheen caused by calling
by tho name Of dollar d thing which is not
u dollar at all, it Is probable that a similar
experiment would not now find favor. A
silver disc, weight and Gneness guaranteed,
and the dollar omitted, would answer
every purpose Of export
The Government ought not TO be, how
ever innocently, q party to u confusion OF
terms in a matter SO serious as the coinage.
1t may be that Congress will think It wise
to take some action in the premises. In
the meantime every one can protect his
W interests by remembering that the
trade dollar is not money, and the standard
dollar, though contsiniDg q grains less, is
a dollar With a legal tender value OF n
hundred cents. So,