The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-05-21


passed tho house by worry large major.
ity-in fact, tho opposition TO Il was so
woak that tho yeas and nays wero not
even called. Tho sonalc atruck ont the
5franc subsidiary dollar and substituted
for 1t another subsidiary coin. called tho
trado dollar, containing 420 grains of
standard ailvcr. and provided that 1t
should bo n legal tendor to tho amount
OF five dollars, and no more. A com.
mitteo OF conference WAS appointed,
tho senate amendment was agreed 10,
and the bill became law by tho ap.
rroyal' OF President Grant on tho 18th
day Of February, 1873. This brief his
torical statement OF the proceedings.
which 10 fully sustained by tho official
record, shows that II was we'll under
stood in Congress that tho old standard
silver dollar OF 4l2! grains was not 70
bo thereafter coined at our mints. and
that the only difference oI opinion that
ever existed. even temporarily, between
tho senate and house was whether thoy
would substitute 10 its place subsidi-
ary coin containing 3Si grains. or a sub
sidiaty coin contpiniug 40 grains OF all
ver. No proposition was made In either
body to continue tde coinage OF tho old
dollar. or to make nuy silver coin tho
unit Of value or full legal tender in
the payment Of dobts.
MERELY RECOGNIZED EXISTING CONDITIONS.
Tho plain truth is that this act OF
1873, which has been the subject OF 80
much Misrepresentation aud denuncia-
tion, was simply legal recognition OF
monetary condition which had existed
in fact in this country Tor about thirty
five years, or ever aimee short time Of.
TOR the passage OF the coinage act OF
1884 From about the year 1888 until
after tho passage OF the Blaud.Allison
act In 1873, no silver dollars were in cir
cula.ion In this country, and our whole
currency consisted Of gold coins and
bank notes, except from 1852 to 1878,
when our active circulation, outside OF
California and Its noighboring territory.
was all paper. There was during tho
latter period about S25, 100000 in gold
In circulation on the Pacific coast, and
the United States was collecting Gus.
toms dues in gold and using Il in the
payment OF interest on the public debt,
but there was no silver In circulation
anywhere in this country, not even the
lightweight subsidiary coins. The
value OF tho United States note or green
back was always measured by gold aud
no: by silver, and commodities had
gold price and PAGER price, but
never a silver price, because silver, ex.
copt the half.dollars, quarters. and
dimes coined under the act Of 1858.
had been out OF use here for more than
twenty years before the commence
ment OF the war, and even theae sub
sidiary coins had not been in use for
eleven years prior to 1873. Our own
monetary history has already furnished
two most striking illustrations Of tho op.
Grafton OF the natural law under which
tho coins which are over.valued by stat
ute always drive out OF circulation the
coins which are under-valued. Our own
experience had again demonstrated
what tho history OF the world already
showed-shat whenever the coinage
laws OF any country permit the free
coinage of both metals with full legal.
tender qualities at ratio OF value
which does not conform substantially to
their intrinsic or commercial ratio in
the markets OF the world. both kinds OF
coin cannot be kept in circulation at
the same time. The reason is that.
both being legal tender, the least valu-
able coin will always be used in making
payments, and will become the sole
measure OF value, and tho most valua.
BILE will DO boarded or sent out OF the
country into the markets where its real
value can be obtained.
HISTORY OF THE RATIO.
Our first coinage law was passed in
1892, and it provided for full leGal.tendor
gold and silver coins at the ratio OF Is
to /; that is to say, Is pounds OF silver
were to DO considered as equal in value
to pound OF gold, and the weights OF
the coins were adjusted to that rule.
In deciding upon this ratio. neither Mr..
Hamilton, who recommended it, nor tho
Congress which adopted it, supposed
they they were arbitrarily establishing
the relative values OF the two metals,
for no legislative authority could do
that, but it was supposed that they
were simply adopting and utilizing in
the statute law tho existing intrinsic or
commercial ratio between them. A
brief experience, however, showed that
a mistake had been made, and the in
evitable result followed. 1t soon be-
came evident that 10 pounds OF silver
were not in fact equal in value to
pound OF gold. and that no matter what
words were printed in the sta.ute.book
tho peoplo in the transaction OF their
business wholly disregarded tho lcga!
ratio and treated the metals according
to their relative commercial value, and
that thoy would not exchange pound
OF gold for 10 pounds of silver. either in
coin or bullion, nor use gold coins as
money whom the amount OF bullion in
tho coin was worth in tho market more
than the coin itself. In short, silver
had been over.valued and gold had been
under.valued in tho law, and the conse.
quence was that by the year 1872 gold
had disappeared from tho county, and
froni that tmo on until after the pas.
sage OF the act OF 1854 tho United States
had practically silver monometalism.
In May, 1905, President Jefferson stop.
ped tho coinage OF the silver dollar, and
during a period OF thirty.ono years
thereafter not single standard silver
dollar was coined at tho mints Of tho
United Statos; but under the act Of
1902; tho subsidiary coius were OF full
weight as compared with rho dollar and
wore legal tender, and these coins, with
Spanish dollars, French crowns or 5-iranc
pieces, and bank notes constituted our
circulating medium. Gold having dis
appeared from circulation, Congress
determined, in 1854, to bring it back bv
changing tho ratio. Tho act OF 1891,