Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-07-12
rContfnued from 9th page.l

eat or small. Even copper, as abund-
. { as that was, had 50 changed III lts
f lue rs Il metal that Congress was COM
. lied. and compelled wisely, TO change
e amount of copper in the penny OF the
lifted States in order to keep 1t III CIR
.lation. otherwise it would all be taken
J lust as the copper which did not nave
e imprint of the United States had
en-. to be turned into the manufacturing
es of copper.
.|'Therefore, it seems to me, my fellow
Liens. that if there is any talth TO be
ID in human experience the truth OF
hat have said ought to teach us tllat
ither Congress or the mere will OF any
her body of men can make given
Mount of silver, or a given amount OF
Id, or given amount of copper worth
more, when it is printed at the mlnt'
! tn the stamp of the United States upon
r than it was before. All that the stamp
. the United States says upon the dollar
the eagle or the penny is the simple
ct that tits "A testimony that there are so
any grains of the fine silver or fine
lid or copper in those coins, and That
ey are legal tenders. They are not
|omises of the United States to pay
vthlng, but it is merely stamp upon
piece of metal. but that metal, being
. us stamped, the compulsory law says
ust be taken by every creditor from his
+ btor at what Is printed upon its face,
4 llar or an eagle or a half eagle or "A 20
MT piece or 5O-cent piece or penny.
that YOU will see, so far as the money
rt of this metal goes and its compul-
srv legal tender. it stands exactly
Il. Il efp1He If
the sovereign will that cOmpels the
editor to take it in payment OF de0t
F at his debtor owes. And beyond that
4 is like every other thing in the world,
commodity, the value and price OF
hich depend upon the general average
! the demand and supply of those things
i all the people of the world.
'There is another curious thing about
is silver cry of the passage of the act
1873, which stopped the coinage of
over permanently, that down to 1873,
. the almost hundred years of the exist
ICE on the statute books of the legal
nder dollar. there were only S,O33, 22S
bllar pieces struck at all the minis of
e United States, and long before 1870
4 ey were so rare that they were begin
ng to be picked up by the people who
muse themselves by making collections
old coins. They had disappeared
ON off the face of the earth and had
ben turned into metal for the same
iasons that led President Jefferson to
( axe this proclamation suspending their
bnage, because the silver in them was
orth more than the legal tender dollar.
hen the act of 1873 was passed silver
pillars had demOnetized themselves for
. period of more than half century.
.he coinage of the silver dollar was not
topped, for it had not been continued
pr half century. and all the dollars
. lat had beeen coined had gone into
j lid silver for use in the arts.
. This immense array of words would
)pear to be made to enforce the point,
at the ratio formerly existing between
bid and silver represented the difference
.etween the market value of these two
ticles. Perhaps it did. But when it
] ID it represented the difference when
hey were under the same conditions.
Inc pertinent facts are that when this
ito was established, both were used as
oney; and, second, that this ratio re-
aimed substantially the same for many
BARS, and until 1873, when the laws de-
Ionetizing silver in Germany and the
nited States, and. shortly AFTER, in
rance, Belgium. etc, were passed.
. he inference from this last is that if the
me countries should again give both
etals free coinage the proper ratio
. ould be as before, about lob or 1G to /.
neither the opening of the minis of the
nited States alone to them would ac-
Dmplish this is in doubt. Many think
would; some that it would not. 1t
Guild certainly reduce the ratio between
: ne two metals. And as such action
ould almost certainly be followed by
milar action of other countries, it is
easonably certain that the old ratio, il
Established, could be maintained. Bi
letallism is the free coinage of both
"Details at some ratio. Different con
itions may change the ratio. 1t doubt
Ess will be ultimately decided by
be market value Of both metals
md again we have the pertinent ques
s on, What decides the market value Of
old and silver? Mr.. Edmunds says
+ othing at all about this, only to restatt
nat the will of Congress or of any Other
ody of men cannot make giveI
mount of silver or gold worth any more
hich is not correct. 1t can. Had Mr.
4dmunds admitted this well known fac
e might have dispensed with a large
art of his speech. Indeed, he woulC
ardly have had any occasion to MAKE
he speech.
The United States in 1892 made tn,
alto Setween gold and silver ! to 10
he French or European ratio WAS Il
%, established in l7S5, and re-enactet
a 1903. The difference IN these ratio
las the ultimate cause of the silve
Ollar leaving the United States. Tina
it left the United States becaus
f the control of its value by tn
ws which regulated its use as money
Fhat impression Mr.. Edmunds means t,
onVey by saying it left this country a