The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-05-14
dollars wers issued they were exported

dollars wers issued they were exported
to be sold as bullion. Consequently r'es'
dent Jefferson in 1906, with no authority
TO do so. ordered the minis to cease com
ing dollars. and the country acqu'esc'"s
in the wisdom of his act. no more oo'iar
were coined thereafter until 1884, anu o''
few more thereafter until the coinage OF
1871 and 1872 already referred 10.
The coinage OF minor silver coins went
on, however, from 1872 to 1897. ana. thousn
these were slower In leaving the country
than the dollars, they left too. so that III
January. 1897. Congress revised the coih-
age laws again. The act or that year
changed the ratio from Is TO l to 10 70 l.
and made the dollar consist OF Az LIZ
grains, the half dollar Of 26 IA grains
the quarter Of i03 IA grains and the dimes
and half dimes to be in proportion. This
act continued the legal tender character
OF all the coins Heretofore struck ana II
provided that all minor coins thereafter
to be issued should be full legal tender
also, as we'll as the dollar pieces. But
even this act undervalued silver The
silver coins that 1t provided for were
worth intrinsically more than their cores
bonding gold coins so that all that were
issued continued to go out OF the country
10 be sold as bullion.
This brought on an intolerable evil. The
small silver coins being all exported.
there was no change left In the country
so that in 1853, under the guidance OF
Senator r. NJ. T. Hunter. chairman OF the
Senates Finance Committee. Congress re-
vised the subject again. 1t determined
to force the minor coins TO stay here by
making them worth really less than they
purported TO be worth. An act was ac-
cordingly passed in February. 1883 90
Stat. at Large. p. 160), which provided that
the dollar should remain Az IL grains,
but that the half dollar should contain
only 1872 grains. the quarter Sc grains, the
dimes and half dimes in the same ratio,
but 1t provided that the half dollars, quar-
tiers, etc, TO be thereafter coined should
be legal tender for sums OF five dollars
only. The law remained In exactly this
state until the act OF 1873.
We should now understand exactly what
the state Of the case was. All the minor
coins struck by the Government before
the act of 1853 amounting to 800 lOS,S6e.
were legal tender for any amounts. But,
being undervalued. they left the country
as soon as they were issued, so that none
Of them were here in 1873. Fifty-four mil
lions OF dollars Of minor coins were Is
sued between 1853 and 1873. under the
act Of 1853. but they were legal tender
for sums OF s. only. and, therefore, were
no part OF the monetary system OF the
country We come back then TO our orr
ginal proposition that there was no silver
in our currency in 1873 except the over
valued subsidiary coinage issued under
the act OF 1853, used as token coinage
for change. the Virginia Sun 10 the con-
trary notwithstanding. The half dollar Of
silver issued between 1897 and 1853 was
worth seven and a half cents more than
half dollar IN gold and all the other
minor silver coins were Of the proper
tionate value. That fact would tell an
intelligent man that thus undervalued
they would leave the country. and II Is
therefore unnecessary for us 70 go into
proof that the minor coinage Issued prior
TO 1853 all went out OF the country as fast
as II was issued. No historical fact OF the
day is better known. The newspapers
and magazines OF the day all tell the
story. The debates IN Congress are all
fun OF H.
Mr. Durham. OF Indiana, in bringing
forward the act Of 1853 for the Commit
fee on Coinage. in the course OF his re-
marks explaining the matter. said:
Every one who has given the least
attention to this subject must be satisfied
that some alteration i'm the relative value
OF our gold and silver coin is necessary
and must be made or that we shall soon
be without any OF the latter.
I wish before leaving this subject to again
call the attention OF the House 10 the
enormous coinage OF these deprecated
three-cent pieces-over half a million Of
dollars IN a single year. Why. SIR. n we
do not soon make some change I'm our other
silver coins the whole silver coinage Of
the country will soon consist Of these
three-cent coins. and the old worn out
clipped Spanish coins whose intrinsic
value is deprecated about IL per cent.
on an average"
There are many persons living to-day
who recollect perfectly how the country
was entirely without change In 1898.
and how this state of affairs brought on
the era OF shin-plasters.
And now, having disposed OF "the
abundance OF silver" idea when the
demonetizing act OF 1873 was passed, we
shall on Tuesday show from the records
that Congress knew perfectly well what
Il was doing when II passed the act.
The Chicago papers are very much
alarmed lest the Southern people, in