Daily Texarkana Democrat., 1893-05-29
SILVER COINAGE SUSPENDED.
No More Silver Dollars to be Coined
for Quite While.

1
for Quite While.
An official order, suspending the
coinage of silver dollars in the United
States mint at Cincinnati, after July
LIST, has been issued from the depart
ment at Washington. This action OF
the President and his advisers, while
not going to the extent generally con-
ceived, has yet given rise to much
speculation among the monied classes,
and is considered by the advocates OF
free silver as q straw to the wind
ward, showing the natural bent of
the President ON the silver question.
The immediate reason officially given
for the suspension of the minting of
silver dollars is that they are neither
needed Dor in demand, as there is
now no demand for the redemption
of treasury notes in silver dollars. 1t
is claimed, therefore, that it Is simply
useless to keep on piling up coins for
which there is neither demand nor use.
The order is also justified on the
ground of economy, as great saving
to the government can be effected by
closing down the various mints The
coinage of silver dollars has already
ceased at the mints in San Francisco,
New Orleans and practically so in
Philadelphia. The only coinage now
being executed is that of fractional
silver at Philadelphia, San Francisco
and New Orleans. The fractional sill
yer is made out of the worn and un-
currentable fractional silver coins
taken out of circulation, and the diff
ference in which is made up from sill
yer purchased by special appropria-
ton made by Congress for that pur-
pose. The number of silver dollars
coined since August 13, 1890, up to
July 1, 1891, was $27,292,475. Since
that day, until May l, 1898, the coin
age has been only $8,500000. After
July there will practically be no
coinage of silver dollars. The ex-
planation of the decrease is found in
section of the act of July IA, 1890,
which provides "that the secretary of
the treasury shall each month coin
100000 ounces of the silver bullion,
purchased under the provisions Of this
act, into standard silver dollars until
the first day of July, 1891. After that
time he shall coin of the silver bullion
purchased under the provisions of this
act as much as may be necessary to
provide for the redemption of treas
ury notes herein provided for" So
that as the only change now demanded
for what is known as the treasury
notes issued under the act of July 1,
1890, is gold the silver dollars are not
necessary.
The entire situation, from an admin
istrative point of view, Is thus
summed up:
The steady demand for gold in ex-
change for treasury notes is rapidly
converting the silver into gold, and
the secretary of the treasury has no
power to stop it without voting an
other provision of the same act which
directs him to maintain parity be-
tween gold and silver. If he insisted
on paying silver dollars for silver
notes or certificates, and the silver
should be constantly refused, as it
would be, in the leading financial CEN
ters, he would only be increasing the
unpopularity of silver and appreciat-
ing the value of gold. In other words,
If the secretary Of the treasury should
do what the radical silver men insist
he ought to do, he would be putting a
premium on gold which would still be
demanded, by discriminating in its
favor, he having no power to compel
the holders of silver notes to take sill
yer dollars. The immediate effect
would be that not only would the sill
yer dollar be refused, but the treasury
notes would also be rejected by all
bankers, and the only form of curren-
cy which they would recognize would
be greenbacks, gold certificates and
the gold coin. An effort has been
made to persuade the various clearing
houses to agree to hold and pay out
again silver notes, but they will have
nothing to do with them except to
convert them into gold, or its equiva-
lent, as fast as they are received. The
silver dollars already coined and the
bullion which is purchased under the
Sherman act will be stacked up in ex-
pensivo vaults and is of no more prac-
tical use to the government than SC
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