Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-10-06
THE DOLLARS STAMP.

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sation had with one who believes in
taking from the national banks what
he regards as a very dangerous power.
that of contracting the amount of
money in circulation, and who yet
believes with all his soul that the sure
way out of the present money trouble
lies in the free coinage of silver. l
said, what is it you fellows want? :"
"We want the government to coin
our bullion into money"
do you want the government to
buy the silver bullion of you and then
mint it or coin it to money!"
"No, we don't ask, nor do we want,
to sell the bullion to the government,
all we want is to have it coined into
dollars; we want to convert bullion
into money and we want the govern
ment to do this for U.s."
Gas you simply wish it coined into
money, why not coin into francs and
florins as into dollars," they are
money ?"
"No sir, we have nothing to do
with the money coins of other coun-
tries, we want bullion coined into dol
lars each containing four hundred
twelve and half grains of standard
silver"
eff l understand you, you want
such as law will allow you, or any
one having 81 grains of fine silver
with enough copper alloy to make Az
and a half grains, to take or send it to
the mint and have 81 coined from it? :"
Yes sir, that's it."
Let us see, you don't want to sell
the bullion, you just want it made into
dollars; and your 412 and half grains
assuming the copper in it to be as
valuable as the silver is worth in the
market but 81 cents, now the dollar :"
into which it has been coined has a
purchasing power of 100 cents, isn't
that pretty raw margin?"
"No sir, it is not, do you know that
it costs about $l.29 to produce an
ounce of silver"
81 am not talking about ounces
(480 grains) but 412 and half grains,
which is Is per cent. short of an ounce;
the quantity of silver moreover, its
cost to produce, be it little or great is
of no Importance in this connection.
So long as the world says the silver
you have offered the mint is worth 81
cents that is all it is worth, and when
the government receives from your
hands 81 cents worth of bullion and
hands you in return coin bearing its
dollar stamp, it simply, markedly,
means that the rest of the people who
don't have bullion to coin in this way,
must make up to the government the
margin of 80 cents which you have re-
ceived. This is dead certain for there
is no money in the governments
hands that did not come there from
the pockets of the people. Let me
ask you, suppose time would come
when your bullion would sell for more
as bullion than you are getting for it
by having it coined into money, would
not refuse to have it coined 2"
Certainly, we would then sell it in
the form of bullion"
"Then, so long as your private in
terests and the needs of the country for
money go hand in hand you will let
the government coin your silver; if
from any cause an unusual demand
were created for silver, raising its
price, though the needs of the country
for money had not diminished, you
would let it 60 to the dogs for its cur
rency and sell your bullion"
eve would do as you would do,
consult our best interests; it is natural
for us to wish to get as much as pos
sible for our product. But why do
you say the rest of the people must
make up margin of 80 cents to the
government on each "dollar coined
for us; there is no such margin; when
the government stamps dollar on
our silver it is dollar"
"Don't fool yourself, if the govern
ment's stamp on 81 cents worth of
silver makes it worth a dollar Zone
hundred cents) then the same stamp
on cents worth of silver makes it,
too, dollar; indeed, if as you say,
when the government stamps "dollar'
on you silver it becomes dollar, then
by the same reasoning, if placed on a
piece of copper the same would be-
come dollar too"
We want no free coinage of silver
nor gold either, so far as that is con,
cerned; for the volume of money il
circulation must be placed as fal
apart as possible from the private in
terests of holders.
1t is clear enough why silver me1
wish free coinage at the present time
it is because they can realize more
from a certain number of grains 0.
silver in the form of a "dollar thar
they can to sell it for use in the arts
and for shipment.
Enough on the free coinage notion
That reasonable men should bt
found who harbor the notion that tht
government can in some mysterious
mechanical, way peculiar to itself
make money, is but to find that con
fused. vague notions of government
exist. Suppose we step into mint
for a moment, where the government
is coming silver dollars and gold
eagles (twenty-dollar pieces)
Seated before a stamping machine