The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-10-11

the DECENTRALIZATION OF silver. ana
| the falling of OF the supply OF gold;
| be persisted In OF substituting gold ior
silver and thus displacing silver from the
position IL has always held. no one can
| possibly tell TO what extent g9in WA WA
thereby be appreciated, ana the prices M
values OF everything else In the worid
depressed. 60 80 60 ~ the
relative value OF gold. Its absolute o
coinage value. as | have SHOWN "'N
always remaining the same. oraarce
l IL these conclusions are In ACCRUE q =
with the facts. and II would seem 20.
such a tribunal could hardly DE III os,,ion
in this regard, / submit th aa ,n needs
OF The Times on these que'
considerable amendment
Very truly yours. O. BOSWELL.
Marganna, oct. 5. 1884 ,,e what
II is more important to exam" porl,,.
Mr.. Boswell says Of the ACT zoe ba
ment that nxes the value OF So ,a.,ar
Thinks. than anything else !" ho s.vs
for the fallacy OF everythihe 90 80
viii be easily deduciole ifo'" vic
sure OF his fallacy In TINS. .ors >,
The act Of Parliament mat ne "a
Heouires the Bank OF England 10 give 1'
lie ad of coined money ioi
ounce Of gold brought 10
:. h,cb has been assayed by her
It's assayers. and stamped by them
a. oa,.,st Of eleven parts of pure goid
ord one part alloy. which Is the stahoaru
90 r,,gl,sh gold coin. Why Is TINS re-
,,,rod Of the bank? IL II were no more
,bo, a requirement that a certain num-
,or NJ grains of gold should be exchanged
Tor the same number OF grains of gold OF
Tho same dneness, II Is obvious that IL
would require a vain thing to be oo"e.
II on the other hand, the ACT requ'i' u
the bank to give more grains OF soiu ioi
what was given TO 1t than what was given
IL contained, the act would PLAINLY ioo
the bank. But no Engnsh eeohoh''0
statutes are founded either IN lo'y VI
I'm Injustice. They are all fouhdeo )"
common sense and fairness ana "ilen '',''
ono Go examined Il will be found 10 De
a conspicuous example OF both. All ou"''
of gold contains $50 grains anu l"e''
coin I'D into g, IFS, 10 I'D. When' 'heie-
fore. the act of Parliament requires the
bank to give 60, u.s., ID. for an ounce oi
gold. II REQUIRES II TO give what
the bank has no sort OF opJec-
ton to giving. because what
gives is worth one and one-haif penny.
or three cents of our money, less man
what 1t receives TO be exact TO- 49,
10 I'D. containing $50 and l7-looo grains
and e, IFS, Cd. contain .7'O0o grams
less. which the bank makes every time
Il buvs an ounce Of gold under this re-
ouiremenO. Now why is this required
Of the bank? For this reason:
Coinage of gold Is free In England, ana
whoever has gold bullion can take II 10
the mint and get coin for 1t. But Eng
land Is a very democratic country, ana
she administers the mint strictly upon the
principle OF FIRST come, first served.
Coinage is a slow process. You take your
bullion to the yint, get a receipt for IL.
and when its turn comes 1t Is coined 1or
Won. and the coins win be delivered TO
YOU when you return the receipt. THIS
is both slow and vexatious to the man
who has infrequent transactions The
Government therefore says to the bank:
Il give you valuable privileges. re-
ouire. you therefore. to take on your
self. as part payment for those privileges,
all the trouble and annoyance of convert
ing the peoples bullion into coin. The
pubic Sitii' pay yON'
trouble In the premises, at the rate or
a penny and a half TO the ounce Ana
there is the whole business. 1T is not an
act of Parliament, as Mr.. Boswell sup
poses, DIES. ,;ned to establish price for
gold (Which is quite an inconceivable
thing. II all that is done Is to exchange
$50 grains of gold for 40 grains Of goid)'
but an act which shall make the Gov
ernment's fiscal agent assume all the iaDor
and trouble OF converting the bullion or
the people into coined money, but which
shall. nevertheless. compensate II for It's
lal and trouble. leaving the ciuzen,
no n, free TO undertake that labor and
trouble for himself, with exactly the
same result. If he is economically dis
posed, and prefers to save his penny and
a half in every ounce. 1t is most wise,
common-sense and just law. We take
the following account of 1T from the En-
cyclopedia Britannica, word mint:
"Gold bullion for coinage is supplied 10
the mint almost entirely by the Bank of
England, the bank being bound by law
TO purchase at the rate of 10, us, yd.. an
ounce, any gold bullion OF the legal stan
dard which the public may bring II Tor
sale. Private individuals are permitted
10 bring bullion 10 the mint and to re-
ceive back the full amount (at f3, us.
10 I'D. an ounce converted into coin,
free of any charge for loss or manufac-
ture: but as they are subject to con-
siderable delay, all importations of bull
lion being converted into coin in the order
in which they are brought to the mint.
the public practically prefer to sell their
bullion to the bank and receive its value
without delay. In order to be accepted
by the bank, the bullion must be cast
into ingots and assayed, a guarantee be
ing given by certain recognized assayers
that the gold is of a certain standard
fineness."
We discussed the other points made by
Mt. Boswell in our issue of the Attn, In
the article upon one Of Senator HIS ut
terances In the Senate.