The National tribune., 1885-02-26
SILVER COINAGE.

! OF the coinage of the silver dollar. Under
the law of 1879 which prescribed the coin
age of s., SOC, 900 month of dollars of 4125
| grains of nine-tenths fine silver, there has
the Treasury in this city aud its branches in
| the leading cities Of the country. The hopes
the United States of the coinage Of what is
known as the dollar of the daddies," would
restore to silver the prestige Of which it had
been deprived by the demonstration ofsilver
by Germany and other European countries
have not been fulfilled The price of silver
has not risen in the markets of the world,
nor has the demand for the dollars by our
own people been what was anticipated. 1t
is hardly worth while to cirque the question
and say that it should be otherwise. The
Dollar of the Daddies is undoubtedly very
handsome coin, and there seems no reason
why it should not be as much Of a favorite
as q medium of exchange as it was before the
war; but the fact remains all the time that
1t Is not so, and every effort to put the coin
into general circulation has been a failure
Even the Governments offer to pay trans
portation Of small quantities to parties de-
string them has not been accepted to any
extent. People prefer bank notes to coin
for all the transactions of business, and inn
mediately return to merchants and bankers
the silver money paid 80 them.
In Europe during the same time the Latin
Union has been making an equally unavail-
ing effort TO enhance the appreciation OF
silver. This Union, as is well known, consists
of Italy, France, Switzerland, and some
| minor countries They mutually agree to
coin certain amount of silver per annum
and to accept each others coin at face valua-
ton, which is slightly in advance of the
market price of the metal. They estimate
the metal at trihe higher than we do, for
hhiiS olt idtiO II ~ OGDCSS va SiiNSL ici ciiS
of gold theirs is but 10! ounces They have
recently confessed that the outlook for silver
is not hopeful, and that they may have to
adopt some other policy. The majority of
the financiers OF this country are despond-
ent as regards silver, and fear that contin-
uance of the present coinage may result in
Cutting the country with coins of inferior
value so as to produce premium on gold.
IT is well-known fact that the cheaper
can always drive out the dearer. Naturally
man pays his debts in the cheapest money
that he can get, and as the law compels his
creditors to accept that cheap money, the
dearer money VIII be forced out of circula-
ton There is, on the other hand. an active
and determined party which has always
favored silver as a coin, and it has strenu-
ously resisted any stoppage of the coinage
or any other other restrictive measure which
they fear viii discredit silver in the estima-
ton of the wcrld, and number of schemes
have arisen out of this conflict of views
Congress and President-elect Cleveland
are being besieged with the holders of
these opposing views. One scheme, which
is being pressed by the Hon. w. Il. DORIS
heimer, is TO make new dollar, which
will have the weight Of troy ounce, or 4SO
grains, which would be 671 grains higher
than the present dollar. This represents
dollars worth of silver according to the av-
erage valuation Of the London market, and
it is claimed that giving the dollar an
amount of metal which would make its
intrinsic value equal its face value Ill the
culation everywhere and excite demand
for the product Of our mines, which would
relieve us of the glut of that metal. On the
other hand, it is alleged that if people will
not take silver money in this country. they
will not take it anywhere, and that the new
dollars would break down the Latin Union
and make the future of silver much less
hopeful than it is now. 1t certainly would
produce a confusion in our coinage that
might be detrimental 10 business interests
We would then be in the position Of having
one dollar which would have currency in
| the markets OF the world and another dol
lar which we could only use al home, and it
would seem that "a great many embarrass-
ments might arise out Of it, even Of much
more pronounced character than those which
attended the attempt to introduce the i'll fated
| trade-dollar The course Of the President
and Congress in the matter will be awaited
with much interest.
CHE ILLINOIS sENATORsHIP.
The Illinois Senatorship is in this posi-
70 damon Iacf Fall tho