The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-04

five dollars in any one payment" Re-
produced in Revised Statutes, Sections
3,5l3 and 3 $50, which was enacted on
juno %, 1874. An analysis Of the Sec
ton of the Act above quoted reveals
the fact that the Limitation of tender
applies only to the trade dollar and its
fractional parts.
The first part of the section in de-
scribing the silver coins is as follows:
1.-The silver coins Of the United States
shall be trade dollar"
The last part of the section reads:
"The silver coins of the United States
shall be legal tender, ETC." The CO.
Incidence of words is perfect. If there
is any doubt that the Limitation of legal
tender applies only to the trade dol!.r
| and its fractional parts and did not and
does not apply to the standard silver
| dollar, the 18th section of the Act re-
prod uced in the Revised Statutes, Sec
| ton 3, ,527, on June %, 1874, will dispel it.
Section. 3, 3,527, Revised Statutes, reads:
sSilver coins other than the trade dol
lar shall be paid out at the several
minis, and at the assay office in New
York city, in exchange for gold coins
at par in sums not less than one hun
dred dollars" This section of the Act
makes it perfectly clear that the legal
tender qualities of the standard silver
dollar was not impaired in any way.
The limitation of tender applied to the
trade dollar alone. The Act left the
standard silver dollar in the plenitude
of its debt-paying powers. One Of the
worst elements of crime in the enact
ment of the law of February y, 1873,
was the sneakirg attempt to change
the money dnit Of the nation from the
standard silver dollar 4l2 - grains
$40 fine, to the standard gold dollar
25 SO grains 8 10 fine. Section IA
reads:
THAT the gold coins of the United
States shall be a one dollar piece,
which at the standard weight of
twenty-five and eight-tenths grains
shall be the unit Of value"
This is an admission that the gold
dollar 25 $40 grains was not at tine
time and never had been the unit Of
money of the nation. Having shown
while the trainers of the Act of Feb
ruary 18th, 1878, dropped the stand
ard silver dollar from the list of coins
authorized to be struck and coined at
the mint and substituted for it an un-
known coin styled the trade dollar,
they utterly failed to impair its legal
tender qualities. I will now proceed
to show that the Act Of the 18th of
February, 1873, provides for the free
and unlimited coinage of silver.
Section 81 provides for deposits of
silver bullion, casting into bars or coin
ing into trade dollars and is reproduced
in Revised Statutes, Section $500, of the
Act of June 22d, 1874. 1t reads:
"Any owner of silver bullion may
deposit the same at any mint to be
formed into bars or into dollars of the
weight of four hundred and twenty
grains troy designated in this title as
trade dollars and no deposit of silver
for other coinage shall be received,
etc."
Section - provides for the weighing
of bullion and determining its fitness
and mode of melting and is reproduced
in Revised Statutes, Section 1921, Act
of June %, 1874. It reads:
when bullion is deposited in any
of the mints it shall be weighed by the
superintendent and when practicable
in the presence of the depositor to-
whom a receipt shall be given which
shall state the description and weight
of the bullion"
Section 25 provides for charges for
converting bullion into coin and the
preparation OF bars and is reproduced
10 Revised Statutes, Section 1924. It
reads:
"The charges for converting stand
ard silver into trade dollars, for melt
ing and refining when bullion is. below
standard, for toughening when met
ais are contained in it which render
it unfit for coinage, for copper used for
alloy when the bullion is above stand
ard, for separating the gold and silver
when these metals exist together in
the bullion and for the preparation of
bars, shall be fixed from time to time
by the director with the concurrence of
the Secretary of the Treasury, so as to
equal but not exceed, in thcirjudgnent,
the actual average loss to each mint
and assay office Of the material, labor,
wastage and use of machinery employed
ir each Of the cases aforementioned"
Section 4 of the Act of February 18th,
1878, defines the powers and duties Of
the superintendent, reproduced in the
Revised Statutes, Sections 3,503. 1854,
3,5O5, 3,5O6. Section 3,503 reads:
1.-The superintendent of. each. mint
shall have the control thereof, the su-
perintendence of the officers and per-
sops employed therein and the super
vision of the business thereof, subject
to the approval sof the director Of the
mint. He shall make reports to the
director of the mint at such times and
according to such forms as the director
may prescribe; which shall exhibit in
detail and under appropriate heads the
deposit of bullion, the amount Of gold,
silver and minor coinage and the
amount of impaired, standard and re-
fined bars issued and such other statis-
tics and information as may be re-
CURED"
| Section 3,504: HE shall keep and rem
der quarttr-yearly to the director Of
the mint for the purpose of adjustment
according to such forms as may be pre-
scribed by the Secretary Of the Treas
ury, regular and faithful accounts of
his transactions with the other officers
of the mint and the dapositors, etc. \ X
Section 3,50G: "The super
intendent shall receive all bullion
brought to the mint for assay or coin
age; Shall be the keeper of all bullion or
| coin in the mint, except while the
same is legally in the hands of ether
officers and all deliver all coins
struck at the mint to the persons to
whom they shall be legally payable"
! Section 45 provides for the payment
Ct coins or bars to depositors and is re-
produced in Revised Statutes, Section
544, 1t reads: When the coins or
bars which are the equivalent to any
deposit Of bullion are ready for de-
livery, they shall be paid to the deposi-
| tor or his order by the superintendent,
and the payments shall be made if de-
manded, in the order in which the
bullion hall have been brought to the
mint. In the denominations
of coin delivered, the superintendent
shall comply with the wishes OF the
depositor, except when practicable
or inconvepient TO do So" Nothing can
| he clea rer that the Act of February y,