The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-08-14
II! HISTORY OF Cl!kAG
Sixty-Eight Years Unlimited Use
Of Both Metals.
Free Silver Has Not Seen cessfu
in Raising the Price OF the White
Metal. Fall in he Price of
Silver Accounted f,r. For
eign Money Laws.

ti hliicie suppofl Vi sllNeT 10 leC any
man who has silver bullion worth 30
cents have it stamped 100 cents, With
out government support 4l2ls graius OF
silver aud the new silver dollar would |
be of the Same exchangoable value. The
question. therefore, is, What effect
would free coinage have on silver bull
hdn2 Would 412k grains of silver be-
como worth Us much as 25.S grains of
gold? Would free coinage give it an ex-
chanSeable value equal TO orr present
dollar in the markets of the world? If
tlA value of silver is not doubled by free
coinage, then the o1changeablo value Of
our new silver dollar must drop to the
actual value of the silver put into it.
We would not have bimetallism, but
gold dollar worth twice as much rs
the silver dollar and the silver dollar
would become the standard measure Of
value, driving tho gold dollar out of cir.
culation. We would reduce our stand
ard oue-half
When the act of 1893 was passed. JEFF
8erson and Hamilton both determined
to make the new gold and silver dolla-
equal in value to the then standard of
measurement, which was dollar equal
to 2494 grains of gold. They recognized
tho fact TINT TIE cxchangeable value of
coined dollar must be controlled by
the commercial value of the bullion put
upon it. Therefore they undertook to
lind bow many grains Of silver uncoined
were commercially equal in value to
24M grains of gold. They decided that
it required Is times rs many and null
tiplying 242. by 10 placed 81 i, grains
of silver III a dollar.
This undervalued gold. For the first
Few years, owing largely to the lick of
quick, international communication, it
circulated to Il limited extent. and then
long before 1894, went entirely out of
circulation, and we were on tho silver
standard, In 1884 Jackson sought to re-
store bimetallisln but he was unwilling
tochange the standard upon which husi-
ness was then being done. He recog-
nlzed the danger to commerce Of chang
ing tho standard. He therefore reduced
tho amount of gold put into the dollar.
so that under the new coinage the bul.
lion value of both dollars would be lust
equal TO the dollar then in use. and at
his instance n new ratio of IG 10 | WAS
passed 1t was soon found that this new
ratio undervalued silver, and shortly
after 1884 this country went to the gold
standard OF 20. grains of gold to the dol
lar and has been on ii ever since, with
the exception of the time incident to the
war.
Under the new ratio, after 1884, even
fractional currency was worth moro
when melted than it's coinage value.
and therefore in 1853 it became neces-
sry to provide fractional currency.
containing reduced number Of grains
to the dollar, and their legal tender was
limited TO 50. The Spanish millad doll
lar was still in circulation, but the
highest amount of foreign silver by the
estimates Of the treasury department in
circulation at any time was $50, 600 900
In 1850 the gold circulation was
22l4,oG0,0 900 and subsidiary silver
&21 900, 600. While 4. 900. 600 silver dol
lars had been coined they have all gone
out OF circulation, being worth more
when melted as bar silver than their
face value.
These facts prove that free and unlim
1ted coinage of both metals by the Unit
ed States did not substantially affect
the bullion value of either metal: that
ahe cheaper metal became the standard
OF value, and the other went out of cir
culation
Ii oS years Of experience with FREQ
and unlimited coinage of both metals
showed that by free and unlimited coin
age we were unable TO affect, first, the
value of silver, TO make il equal to gold
at the ratio of 10 to /, or, second, the
valne OF gold, to make it equai TO silver
at 10 to /, when the difference in their
bullion value was only per cent, is it
not prepostercus to claim that free and
unlimited coinage now Will so increase
she value OF silver when the discrepancy
Is so per cent?
1t cannot be claimed that the lecisla-
ton by the United States in 1878 seri-
ously affected the commercial value OF
silver, for since that time we have fur
nished amprket for 5000, 600, 900 of sill
Yer, very much more in proportion to
our increasing commerce than Went
through our minis during the DAYS Of
Tree and unlimited coinage of silver.
The fall in the price of silver can
easily be accounted for. In 1878 the
worlds product OF silver at coinage
L