The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-07-25
THE SILVER QUESTION.
An Able Discussion by a Dakota Ma

pealed Without Unlimited Coinage
Being Su6stituted-RepeGI Without
This VII Increase Failures and
Send Us to q Gold Basis Forever.
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE.
Bismarck, N. D., July 6, 1893.
Mr.. EDIToR In view of the pro
found seeming ignorance of many Of
our Congress, public men, newspapers,
and boards of trade. it is suggested that
Mr.. Bland remodel his bill to substitute
unlimited silver coinage in the place of
the existing Sherman coinage law, so
that it will be so specific and expana-
tory as to avoid the necessity of open
ing a school in Congress to last for
months to instruct Congressman as to
what unlimited coinage on Mr. BANDS
plan is, and what effect would arise
from its adoption.
There was never su h a thing in this
country as the coming Of SiLUer free Of
charge for bullion OUners, and no such
thing has ever been proposed, there,
fore the term Free Silver Coinage" is
misleading, and for it should be sub
stituted the words unlimited coinage
without purchase for one-tenth toll as
pay for the work and government
stamp to remove this misrepresentation.
The law of unlimited silver coinage
that prevailed with us until February,
1873, permitted any bullion owner to
bring 4121 grains of bar, or pure silver,
to any government mint and tender it
to the officer in charge who cut off
forty-o n and one-fourth grains and
put it in the government hopper as the
governments toll, which reduced what
was left to 3714 grains of pure silver,
and to this the government added a
mixture Of All grains called alloy.
Alloy is not a metal, but a mixture of
metals, and might be part copper and
part glass, and is placed with both sill
yer and gold bullion to harden it and
make it of the proper consistency to
wear as money. This alloy is very in
expensive, and the difference between
its value and that of the pure silver
bullion il displaces in a dollar is the
governments pay for minting the dol
lar; and hence comes the expression "a
silver dollar containing 3714 grains of
pure silver, or 4125 grains nine tenths
fine. In the nine tenth fine one tenth
of silver has been taken out by this
minting process and this cheap COM
bined substance called alloy substituted
in its place.
Should Congress repeal the Sherman
law and substitute Mr.. BANDS unlim-
tied coinage bill in its place and issue a
coin certificate to the man who brings
4121 grains of pure silver to the mint,
and all the silver money of the world
sh9G4dbe melted down into bullion and
brought to our minis for free coinage,
there would none of it be pure silver,
and under a bill properly drawn none
of it would be receivable, and the hold
ers of it would have to take it away
and first extract the 10 per cent. of
alloy in it, and then when they brought
it back again, after being separated
and purified, 10 per cent. more would
be taken out Of it by our government
as its toll for mintage, and nearly all
the silver money of the world is now
full legal tender in the payment of all
private and public debts, and it cannot
be had in those countries at the bullion
price of bar silver, but it costs it's face
value in gold as will be seen by the
following letter from the Secretary of
the Mint, and all the limited legal ten
der, which is less than $4O9, 900, 900,
takes the place of gold and is approx
mately pure:
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
Washington, D. c., March 10, 1892.
SIR:-In reply to your letter of the
of the testimony of the director of the
mint before the committee on coinage,
weights and measures of the Fifty first
Congress, in which you will find the
information you desired as to the
amounts of limited legal tender silver
In the various countries. In England
it is legal tender only to the amount of
two pounds; in Germany of twenty
marks, Of about five dollars; in Italy,
France, Spain, &c, it is unlimited
legal tender, as also in Switzerland,
Greece and Belgium.
There is no discount in these coun-
tries on the legal tender silver at the
banks. Respectfully yours,
r. E. PRESTON,
Acting Director of Mint.
The limited legal tender money of