The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-03-11
A VERY VALUABLE DOLLAR.

During the recent bankers conven-
ton reference was made a number of
times to the seventy,cen silver dollar.
No doubt it will be profitable to the
readers of the Economist to examine
the reason why it can be called by
that name. The coinage act Of 1892
made 3l4 grains of pure silver the
American dollar and unit of Ameri-
can money. 1t also made the eagle
(gold) of the value of ten dollars or
units, and it's divisions to be of cores
ponding value in units. This made
silver the unit and gold the ratio.
This condition remained until 1884,
when it was found that the amount of
gold in the gold dollar sold for more
in England than the amount of silver
in the silver dollar. In order to rem
edy this, after a long discussion, it
was resolved by Congress to reduce
the amount of gold in the ratio, in
order to have it conform to the unit.
This was done by taking 1.55 grains
of pure gold from the gold dollar. In
1887 it was ascertained that too much
gold had been taken from the gold
dollar, andin order to make the unit and
ratio conform .O2 per cent. of a grain
of pure gold was added. This relative
value continued until 1873, with the
exception that in 1852 the silver half.
dollars, quarters and dimes were de-
based in order to prevent expectation.
No silver dollars were being coined as
the bullion was worth more than the
coined dollars. In 1873 a general
coinage act was passed without debate
or being printed, on the simple word
of John Sherman that cit had practi-
cally passed Congress at the last ses-
sion, except it enlarged the duties and
increased the salaries of the officers of
the mint" The truth was that the
bill dropped the silver dollar from the
list of American coins and practically
demonetized it, and actually changed
the unit of money from 374 grains of
silver to 1922 grains of gold. At
that time there was not five men in
Congress aside from John Sherman
who knew what the bill contained, and
it was not until 1876 that Senator
Conkling, by a direct question to Sen
ator Sherman, disclosed to the people
that there Lad been no American
silver dollars for nearly three years.
President Grant did not know it when
he signed the bill. In 1873 the Bland
bill was passed, which rcmonetized
silver and obliged the coinage of at
least two millions per month. The
question might be asked, Why was
the unit changed? because gold had
become scarce, and, like potatoes
under similar conditions, had ad-
vanced in price. The relative
value between silver and gold
had changed. The whole bonded
debt was then payable in coin, and
coin sold in the markets Of the world
by weight like pork or wheat. If
silver was continued the unit more
gold would have to be taken from the
gold dollar. If gold was the unit
then more silver would have to be put
into the silver dollar. In 1884 gold
was taken out, and in 1897 gold was
added to the gold dollar in order to
keep up the relative value. 1t there
fore resolved itself into this simple
proposition. Shall the bondholders
receive 80 many grains of gold less
for their bonds, or shall the people
give them so much more silver ? The
bondholders had been preparing for
this. When the funding act of 1870
passed, it provided that they should be
paid of the then weight and fneness.
Nothing escapes them. The unit was
changed, and the difference is this: if
we are compelled to sell silver to Eng.
land, as we do now, to buy gold to
pay the bonds it will take 8 ,463, SAL
pounds of silver more to make this
seventy.cent dollar pay our debts than
it would if silver had remained the
unit. With silver the unit it would
take 2,166, $50 pounds of gold less.
This is the whole secret connected
with the changing of the unit of
money.-NaGonal Economist.