Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-06-28
A CABINET Meeting
The Coinage of Silver and
Extension of Bonds Were
Discussed
Trade Dollars and Fractional
Coin Will Be Coined by
Order of Congress
San Francisco and Carson
Mints To Be Confined
to Gold

WAsHINGToN, June 27-The cabinet
meeting called today to consider financial
questions, was attended by Secretaries
Foster Tracy, Noble, Rusk and Post
master General Wanamaker Secretaries
Blaine and Proctor and Attorney General
Miller were absent. The questions dis
cussed were the coinage Of silver, extern
sions Of ~ bonds and the change in the
form of asset and liability statement.
Secretary Foster made this statement as
to the result of the meeting on the coin
age of silver:
after full consideration Of the law
relative to coinage OF silver, Secretary
Foster finds that the act of March 3, 1891,
requires that the secretary Of the treas
ury, as soon as practicable, shall coin
trade dollar bars into silver dollars. He
also finds that s15O,OOO have been appro-
priated for the re-coinage Of subsidiary
silver coin into such denominations as
will best give it circulation. There is a
constant demand for small coins, princi-
pally dimes, which we have not been able
10 supply. The secretary of the treasury
decided that his first duty in this matter
is to obey the direction Of congress, which
ordered the coinage Of trade dollar bars
into standard silver dollars
Coinage Of trade dollar bars in this
manner will transform what costs Sj,0S7,-
7gj into J.liS2Sl standard dollars The
secretary finds it will require perhaps four
months to perform the work Of coming
these bars into standard dollars and re-
coming subsidiary silver. Therefore the
question of the continued coinage Of silver
dollars as heretofore is not practical one
at present.
The cabinet also decided to change the
form Of the asset and liability statement
issued from the treaSurer's office daily at
the beginning Of each month. In the new
form Of statement the net surplus will dis
appear and only an available cash balance
will be carried. Other changes Of a minor
character will be made, but what they
will be has not yet been decided by Secre-
tary Foster. These changes 20 into effect
on the lst day OF July, the beginning Of
the next fiscal year. The extension Of the
four and a half bonds was not considered
at the meeting but will come up next
Tuesday.
The general impression prevails in Off
cial circles that the action of the cabinet
today postponed the consideration OF the
continued coinage Of silver for the present.
In lieu thereof trade dollar bullion will be
coined in an amount equal to monthly
coinage by the treasury during the pres
enJ fiscal year, which has been at the rate
of about 100000 ounces Of silver per
month. The trade dollar bullion now in
the treasury is stored at the mints at New
Orleans and Philadelphia, and results
from smelling trade dollars which were
redeemed under the act Of March 3, 1887.
The total number redeemed was 7.6S5,O36,
OF which a portion has been coined into
subsidiary coins, but the act Of March 3,
1891, provided that the balance on hand
should only be coined into standard silver
dollars and that as soon as practicable.
Owing to mandatory coinage OF 100000
ounces or 2.5S3,OOO silver dollars per
month, as required by the act Of July IA,
1890, until the first proXimo, 1t has been
limpractiCable to coin any OF this trade
dollar bullion. IL will take between three
and four months to complete the work Of
recoining trade dollar bullion at New
Orleans and about two months at Phila-
delphia In connection with the large
amount of recOinage OF subsidiary silver
and the continued coinage OF minor coins.
Congress at its last session made an ap-
preparation Of $l5O,OOO for the recovery OF
uncurrent fractional coins in the treasury
abraided below the limit Of tolerance.
This is about as much as has been ap-
proprated for this purpose during the
past five or six years. Much of this
abraided subsidiary silver will be coined
into dimes, for which there is a constant
and growing demand.
The coinage Of dimes during the last
three years has been 3,lG7, ,476, or 81 .674,
76O pieces. 1t Is proposed to distribute
this recOinage between San Francisco,
Philadelphia and New Orleans. by law
the minor coinage OF fve-cent pieces and
one-cent pieces is confined TO Philadel-
phia. The coinage at San Francisco and
Carson will be confined 10 regular gold
coinage and such subsidiary coin as may
be required on the Pacific coast. As a re-
suit a considerable reduction of force at
these two mints is probable at the begin
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