The old Abe eagle. (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 189?-189?, 1893-07-06
JUGGLING WITH SILVER.
From Denver Eews.l


about silver, evidently made to promote
President Ceveland's purpose in behalf
of gold monometallism, was as unjust and
dsingenuous an utterance as ever came
from a United States official in high
place. 1t would be severe strain OF
language to call it honest.
One illustration Of this is the use Mr..
Carlisle makes of a plea against free coin
age, the dupliclty of which has been ex-
posed time and again. He adopts
staple argument of the gold trust money
lenders to show that the American peo-
pie do not want silver and never did, the
proof being that during the whole period
of free coinage, from 1892 to 1873, the
United States only coined S,045,838 sill
yer dollars. Mr. Carlisle knows very
we'll the explanation of this, but he with
holds his knowledge, presumably be.
cause by expressing 1t he would dissi-
pate the erroneous impression he in
tended to convey, or was not unwilling
his statement should carry with it.
The United States mint was estah-
lished in 1892, for the free coinage of
gold and silver, with the concurrence OF
all the statesmen of the day. Jefferson
had previously secured the adoption of
the United States silver dollar as our
unit OF account and in deliberating about
mintage, Hamilton-uhiversally conced-
ed to be one OF the greatest financiers of
history-had declared that "to annul the
use of either OF the metals MS money is
to abridge the quantity of the circulating
medium and is liable to all the objections
of comparison of the benefits of full
with the evils Of a scanty circulation"
While it is true that only little over
100000 silver dollars we're coined prior
to 1873, it is also true that between 1892
and 1870 the United States silver coin
age amounted to- S137, ,21O, ,349 so, the bulk
of it being in half dollars, quarters,
dimes and half dimes. nhistact has not
been paraded since the4gold trust COM
menced its reign at Washington, NOR has
/ it been exposed by Mr.. Carlisle Or others
in referring to the issue of only about
100000 silver dollars in eighty one
years, etc. Mr. Blain records it in his
Twenty Years of Congress" vol l, p. 614
Prior to 1852 United States silver coin
I ~ oil Accommodations ,voo fulIv uaiubtad
q and subsequent to 1893, when Europe
adopted the ratio of ISL to l, command
ed premium and was largely exported
: The law of 1852, reducing fractional coini
and limiting their tender, was designed
to stop this expectation OF silver coins
BY the laws of 1891 and 1897 the United
States ratio was made 16 to |, by reduc
ing the amount of metal in a gold dollar
and that turned silver from our mints il
response to a stimulated European de
mand, since it took half an ounce more
y OF silver to buy an ounce OF gold in thi
!, - country than was required to buy it il
ss Europe.
90 Thus it will be seen that the curtail
ment of silver coinage prior to 1873 wa
% not due to lack OF popularity of silve
~ or to lock Of demand for il in business
"a but to conditions that made it wort
a6 more to European nations than to TIL
% United States, and they consequent
absorbed all they could get.
This dram upon our supply OF eilve
go led to numerous acts of legislation lool
ls ing to a REMEDY. During all those year
w there WIS large supply offoreign silvt
coin circulating in this country and tn
=. necessity for silver compelled varior
acts giving ii full recognition. A law I
April 10, 1906, made the Spanish mile
NJ dollar and parts thereof legal tonde
That of June 25, 1894, gave the legal tel
der quality to silver dollars OF Mexlc
Peru, Chill aud Brazil, ms well as Il
y five franc piece of France. The leg
tender quality was not not taken iva
from these foreingn silver coins unt
February 81, 1851.
When these facts are considered toucI
ing the mintage and use of silver in u
United States while We had free coInag
the injustice OF the point TO which M
Carlisle gives the credit OF his Office vi
be apparent.
Another illustration OF Secretary Ca
isles attempt to sustain the mon'
lenders theory that the American pc
pc do not want silver coined IL found
his ststement that while about s390O0I
COO Of silver has been coined since lSI
only sjs0O0,00O If in actual circulatio
The rest is held as assets Of the Cover
mont, or represented by silver certiiicat,
Mr.. Carlisle does not say what the latt
amounts to. Is II because to do
would fruetrate the purpose he had
saying there was only tb3,0OOOO0 OF 9
:, ver In circulation? Yet he Ia we'll ava
:, " that every dollar in the form Of a silv
~ certificate is to all iutents and purpos
~ Nv u silver dollar in circulation, and
~, been put In that form merely iot |
"' greater convenience Of handling a
" carrying. When We would add the t5
= OO0.000 in silver TO the s327 600 600
silver certificates, we have an actual !
'" YER circulation Of sls5.90.o0O. ri
lrats 4 iiFe-tat face o. tn m tier.