Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-05

affected by it. Precisely what the acs utu
was to authorize the coinage Of silver bait-
doIlars. quaftcr-dollars. and dimes, below
| the standard weight. and OF q new silver
coin for Asiatic commerce 20 be called Ine
"trade dollar" and to prohibit these par
tfcular coins from being legal tender tor
more than FIVE dollars IN any payment.
The act contained no prohibition 60
noD,ine of the continued coinage OF the
old sflver dollar, and that It did, by
omitting to authorize. In fact prohibit
that coinage escaped the attention OF the
people of the country who were TO De so
iniufiously affected by II through the gene,
rality Of the prohibitory words contained
IN the seventeenth section:
"Eo coins, either of gold, silver, or minor
coinage. shall hereafter be issued from the
mint. other than those Of the denomins-
lions. standards, and weights herein set
The act had provided for coming only
half and quarter-dollars, dimes. and trade
dollars.
The act Of February 70, 1873, did not de-
monetIze or affect in any way the legal
tender functions Of the full-weighted silver
coins that had been minted prior. to It's
passage. but the seventeenth section de-
priyed silver bullion of its previous right
of being coined into full iegal-tender
money on either government or private
In no section of the act was II especially
pointed ont or intimated that its effect
would be TO change the standard of values
from gold and silver TO gold alone. When
passed the act was not read except oy its
title, and it is notorious that this tran
scendant change in the money system OF
the country, affecting its most vital int
rests. was carried through Congress with
ont the knowledge or observation of the
country. IL it had been generally known
that any such vital question as the de
monetization of silver was lurking IN the
bill. nursed bv fitting agents of European
Landowners in the Hobbies of the Amerl-
can Capitol, il would have aroused the
most indignant discussion in the country ;
as was shown by the subsequent debate on
| the question of remonetlzing silver. Gen
eral Grant frequently protested that the
demonetizing feature was not made known
| to him when he signed the bill.
The disinherison of silver, coined and
| uncoined, was afiirmatively completed IN
June, 1874, when Congress enacted as
code of laws what are called the Revised
Statutes of the United States. The revisal
was committed to Mr.. Durant, under a
| law which confined the revisal to statutes
which were already laws of the United
States, and forbade any provision which
should have the effect OF new legislation.
Yet the reviser inserted section which
| had no sanction in any existing law OF
| Congress. 1t STANDS as section 1886. and Is
as follows;
1.-THE silver coin Of the United States
shall be legal tender at their nominal
value for any amount not exceeding hye
| dollars in any one payment"
This reduced all silver coin to the condi.
| ton of subsidiary money. No law was ever
passed by Congress of which this section
| is pretended to be q revision. The sectlo1
was not only thus surreptitiously intro
| duced but it decreed the demonetizatloI
| of silver, except for minor payments. by
| form of expression calculated to escape tine
| attention Of the legislative body.
| The Revised Statutes make very large
\ volume and were enacted in bulk. Con
press was assured by its committee OF re
| vision that no new matter had been intro
| duced into them. IL was not possible FOL
| Congress, or even its committee of reyisal
/ to have verified the exact accuracy or tine
| revision; and il is one of the mysteries OF
the age how it was that the United States
/ by the act of February IL, 1873, and by thli
section 1886 of the Revised Statues of 1877.
could have been deceived and defraudec
| AGAINST its will in violation of its settled
policy and against the interests of man
kind at large, into the demonstration Of
silver and tie discardal of the American
dollar.
Though one or two obscure bankers eager
| for notor1ety have claimed the authorship
of the legislation Of 1873 and 1874, the pub
lie have declined TO respect their claims
| for infamy, and like the miscreant whC
| fred the temple OF Diana, the real author
THE DEUS Ex MAcHrNA. HAS NEVER BEEN DIS
CLOSED.
The surreptitious passage of the act o.
| February u, 1873, and insertion OF section
| 1886 into the Revised Statutes of 1874 were
| as causeless as fraudulent. Up to thai
| time, which was simultaneous with the
| demonstration of silver by Germany, the
| commercial value of silver had ranged IL
! London at premiums above gold from
/ 10 s per cent. In 1884 its value was 101.62
| and in 1873, the year Of its demonetiza
| ton, it was 100.46.
| Not only was the work accomplished in
/ secrecy, but its accomplishment was con-
| cealed from the country. This was the
more easily done, because, for several
| years after 1878, we were still using paper
| money exclusively, under suspension o.
specie payments, which were not resumed
| until January 1, 1879. The fact did not be
| come even partially known to the public
| until 1875, when the subject was brought
| up in Congress.
| Very decisive votes on the subject were
taken on the 18th of June, 1876, when the
| House of Representatives voted ITO TO o.
| in favor of the proposition of MIR. Ian
| ders to resume the coinage of the silvel
| dollar as tender for all public and pri
| vate debts, and the Senate voted 18t IA II
| favor of the motion of Mr.. Bogyi to strike
out of a pending bill the twenty dollar
| limit of the legal-tender power OF the Sill
4 n. 81 20 4tlf ta1
| But the bill of 1876 failed. Parliamentary
| tactics, the early termination OF that SEES
sion of Congress, the obstruction TO bust
| ness at the next session. arising from the
| threatening aspects of disputed presl
| DENTAL election, and the resistance after
wards, pushed quite to the verge of th'
| Constitution. of the person TX. Il. Hayes
| who was declared to be chosen President
ALI these circumstances combined to pro
tract the formal closing of the contest un
til the 18th of February, 1873, when tn
| present law remonetizlng silver was passed
| 1t is none the less true that this lorna
closing was foregone conclusion twenty
| months before.
| Certain it is that victory perched on thu
| banner of silver in the succeeding Con
gress when the act known over the worlC
es the Bland act was passed.
I'VE had hoped to present Judg
Hughes's concluding article entire in thi
issue, but the exacting demands upon on
space compel Us to leave the history o
silver from the time of the passage of tn
Bland act" for publication in anothe
issue.l
Justice and Injustice.
| To ne Eiitor of TIE Dispdtch: