Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-10-05
HON. W. t. CARTER,
Of PlatteYille,
REPLIES TO GEO. MILLS,
FACTS AND STATISTICS ABOUT
GOLD AND SILVER FROM EAR
I.Y TIMES TO THE PRESENT.

EDITOR OF THE HERALD: Mr.. Geo.
Mills does me the honor To reply. in
the issue of the Herald for Sept. l4th,
1898, to nv comments upon his previ
Gus communication upon the silver
question, and evidently for some reason
he has written his reply before reading
what | said. And evidently. so far as
! he had read, be was not pleased with
what 1 wrote.
He starts his reply by admitting that
! be stated ''that the standard money Of
the world from the time Of Abraham
down TO 1873 had been gold and silver, =
and he proceeds TO say that il | bad
consulted my dictionary TO determine
the meaning of the phrase standard
money, instead of gathering excerpts
! from encyclopedias upon the different
commodities used BY barter, | might
! have reserved q column or so tor The
discussion of more vital questions, etc.
He proceeds to say that 1.-The accepted
meaning of this term il. money of ulti-
mate redemption and which is received
in the settlement OF balances between
different peoples or nations.
| deeply regret that have not access
to he dictionary in which Mr.. Mills
seems to claim | would have found that
definition, and which he seems TO think
l was remiss in not consulting. 10 the
matter of dictionaries my possessions
are limited to the 1880 edition of Web
ster's Unabridged, and the Century
4 Dictionary. The last named is said TO
be the latest. fullest and most accurate
dictionary Of the English language yet
produced
The definition given by Webster IS as
follows: "a coinage The proportion
of fine metal aud alloy established by
authority" and by way of illustration
this quotation Is given. by the pres
ert standard of the coinage, siXty-two
sbllings is coined out of one pound
weight of silver" ".1rblthHOt y
The definition in the Century Die,
t;onany is as follows -, 10 coinage
the proportion of weight of fire metal
and alloy established by authority.
The standard of gold coins in Great
Britain is at present p carais- that is,
p parts of fine gold and ? of alloy; and
the sovereign should weigh 123 IA
\ R
coins is II ounces, pennywelghts Of
pure silver and Is pennYweghts OF
alloy, making together l pound troy.
and the shilling should weigh 81 273
grains. The gold and silver coins in
current use in the United States are all
of he fineness 900 parts of the precious
metal in 1000, the gold dollar weighing
%. 8 grains, and the silver dollar 412
grains.' Then by way of illustration
this is added, Chat precise weight
and tineness, by law appropriated 10
tie pieces of each denomination, is
called the standard y 'L0cbe, con
siderations concerning raising the value
of money" And again under The 4th
subdivision of Tho first general division
by way of illustration, We have these.
DOUBLE STANDARD, monetary
standard based upon both gold and
silver as the materials of the circulating
medium, as distinguished from a single
standard based upon either gold or sill
yer. GOLD STANDARD, a monetary
standard based upon gold as the ma
terial Of the unit of value. METAL
Lie STANDARD, gold or silver stan
dard = MULTIPLE STANDARD, a
monetary standard representing a
considerable number Of important ar
ticles in frequent use, the fluctuations
in their value neutralizing one anoth-
er, and thus causing substantial nm
iformity Of value among them.
"SILvER STANDARD, a monetary stan
dard based upon silver as the material
Of the monetary unit 1t is perfect
4 IN plain that in neither Of these defni-
tions is there the slightest resemblance
to what Mr.. Mills is so kind rs to tel
us is the accepted meaning Of term.
And it i equally plain that in neither
definition is there the slightest refer
ence To money of ultimate redemp-
ton, or the settlement Of balances
between different peoples or nations,
which Mr. Mills insists IS the accept
cd meaning On the contrary. the
definition given in Webster plainly
applies to I'll coins established by
authority. whether they possess the
legal tender quality or not, and nc
matter what the fine metal Of which
they are mainly composed may be- II
Il NkiC5SlN iuNtuett0 ina eiiNti GUNS ~
Great Britain. as standard money,
which for many years have neither
been legal tender, except for small
amounts, nor money Of ultimate re-
demption, as well as the gold coins q
that country And the same is true
Of the definition in the Century Die
tionary. and in that also. the silver
coins Of Great Britain are eXpres,ly
included as we'll as ourowu subsidiary
coins, which are not legal tender
am much inclined to think that Mr.
+ Mill. has either evolved the definition
Re gives from his own elmer con
+ sciou-ness. or he has found il in some
special Dictionary peculiar to the >il
yer statesmen. canfr-. THAT II Al
least 40 not Understand the meaning
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