Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-05-23
The Charge Of the Cuckoo.

Denver. Colo, defending the financial
policy of the administration, and in
cidentally pointing out some of the err
rors this particular silver lunatic has
fallen into, the Secretary leaves the
impression that he is not entirely can
did. He assures Mr.. Cherry that he
is mistaken when he says that prior
to 1873 the chief use of silver was for
coinage purposes. He argues that
this must be the case because only 312
silver dollars were coined in the United
States in the year 1905. and because
President jefferson in 1906 ordered all
the silver at the minis to be coined in
to subsidiary coin.
Now let US examine the facts, for
the entire case of silver rests upon
them.
The Statute of 1892 enacted that the
dollar should be the UNIT. That each
unit should be OF the value of the
Spanish milled dollar as was then
current, and should contain 81 16-1OO
grains Of pure silver. As we are in
formed. the Spanish milled dollar at
that time contained slightly less than
81 16-100 grains of pure silver, and
for that reason was referred to in fix
ing our monetary unit, and because it
was practically the same coin as our
own. Up to 1873 this Unit was not
changed. When a change was thought
desirable, the gold coins were made to
conform to it. but it was left intact.
Secretary Morton is right when he
says the ratio of 1892 was Is to 1, and
that it was ultimately changed to 16 to
/. but he fails to state that the gold in
the gold coin was reduced in quantity.
Congress, over the protest of Alexan-
der Hamilton, not only declared the
81 16-100 silver dollar to be the unit,
but further declared the eagle Tor ten
dollar gold piece s.should be Of the
Udlue of ten dollars or units" If the
gold coin was also the unit, there
would be no reason for this language.
So Mr.. Morton must be mistaken when
he says down to 1858 We had two
yardsticks of varying length. Gold
performed the function of money, but
had to conform to the silver unit.
Coming to the immediate question be-
tween Mr.. Cherry and Secretary Nor
ton, we find that there were 105 mil
lions of silver coined in the United
States. and eight millions of this sum
| were coined into silver dollars. Be-
sides the one hundred and five millions
that that we coined, about one hun
dred millions of foreign coin had found
its way into this country-principal
Spanish, Mexican and Canadian coin
all of which had been made legal
tender by Congress. This would make
something near two hundred and five
millions of silver used as coin in the
United States, most of which came in
to the country before our silver mines
were developed. So valuable was sill
yer, and so great was the demand for
it, that both jefferson and Jackson
recommended the coinage of half dol
lars. quarters and dimes as being bet
ter suited to the need of the people,
and to prevent the larger coin slipping
away from us into the commerce of the
world. Clearly the Secretary has been
misinformed upon this point.
There is another matter about which
the Secretary is also mistaken. He
says, in substance, that because the sill
yer dollar is not mentioned in the act
of 1873, therefore it's demonstration
could not have taken place at that
time, and that it was in 1858. when the
legal tender quality was taken away
of over five dollars in amount.
In 1858 ar act was passed in regard
to the smaller silver coins, making
them a legal tender for amounts of
FIVE dollars or less; but the unit was
not changed. Prior to 1878. whom
man promised to pay hundred dol
lars he promised to pay one hundred
times 371l grains of pure silver; by
the law of 1878 the Unit was changed
to the gold dollar containing twenty
five and eight tenths grains of gold,
and the coinage of silver was entirely
suspended and silver coins have since
been treated as promises to pay gold,
thus Transforming them from credit
to a debt So that the individual, cor
poratiou or government who in 1870
had debt of a thousand dollars, or
what was the same thing, thousand
times S714 grains of silver, if he still
carries that debt finds himself obliged
to pay over 742l grains of silver, or
over two thousand dollars. 1t should
be borne in mind that the bulk of the