The San Francisco call., 1895-12-19
Some Free Coinage That Is
Causing Considerable
:.s> Comment.
"Ex.CoINER COLBURN's VIEWS
Governor Jones and Secretary of State
- HowellS Preserve Dignifed
:-@ Silence.


the State treasury of the silver State
Nv hich. have the appearance of having been
DUMPED in there fresh from the United
.:States mint.
=. L nder~ ordinary circumstances this con-
.:dftion OF affairs would not cause any spec
-uJalion as to the cause of its arrival or
:when.it occurred, but the fact of most of
=:it being brand new and devoid of that ap-
::pFarahee so common to coin circulation is
what dlsturbs the State Board of Exam
liners.
-. lt-certainly could not have come from
1.-The mlhtas taxes, for that institution, be-
t:Irg Government property is beyond taxa
zion, and 1t can also be said with truth
that the amount of gold expected to be on
;. hand%when the State officials of the silver
: *uarty went into the capital was not app ar
: ent; This should not be miseonstrued into
Il be.belief that there was a shortage for
|Egch: vas not the case. The required
'.dnf0unt Of legal tender necessary to bal
-ance the report of the State Controller and
the State Treasurer was on hand to a cent,
but the enormous supply of silver dollars,
"a bearing the date of 1898, was something
il; OF a. shock to the officials who count the
:moTIey in the treasury each month.
: wv hen the present State Treasurer, W. J.
.Westerfield, went into Office the 1st of
. last January it was near the time of con-
yenihg the last session of the Legislature,
and consequently considerable money had
.:to:be put out for salaries, mileage, fees of
attaches; etc. He found at that time
. about $4,000 in silver tied up in sacks,
p. each sack containing $1,000. In order to
reduce this silver surplus Mr.. Westerfield
paid it out as rapidly as possible, and the
appearance of so many bright, new dollars
from the State treasury caused no little
comment at that time. chow did it get
there ?" was the query, and many theories
: were advanced, the most startling OF which
was to the effect that the United States
mint. machinery had been used to coin
. bullion purchased at 81 cents per ounce
Into dollars that were worth 100 cents, and
: that the silver had been pat in the treasury
-: in place of gold that had been taken out.
: The State papers took the matter up and
editoriaIIy inquired whether or not any
.sGe could explain how the new, unused
=:c5 got into the treasury.
:: LEX State Treasurer Richards was offered
::a4E the space he desired in various journals
10 make an explanation, but be refused to
::discuss the matter. The presence of suf-
#tiCient funds to balance his accounts would
.&cquit him of anything like dishonesty,
=: but how the coin got in there without his
Sanction was a mystery. Rumors thick
-:ened regarding the number of public Of
.ficias, both Federal and State, who were
= implicated in the deal, which was looked
upon as an exceptionally clever way of
J.: turning few thousands on a 80 per cent
:. basis.
= The alarmists said: "Did State Treas
qirer Richards exchange gold for silver
and if so, who received the gold? Was
:.he connected with the mint, and if not,
where did he get those new dollars?'
:: Nobody seemed able to answer the ques-
tTons and the State Treasurer treated the
queries with Indifference. Some people
were: OF the opinion that the silver was
"paid into the treasury as taxes in the regu-
= ar course of business, but the alarmists
answered that the money collected direct
:-iFOm' the taxpayers was paid into the
treasury and that a very inconsiderable
Iiartof it was silver, and furthermore, that
there were not $4,000 silver dollars in cir
:cttlation in the State of Nevada, bearing
current date, in the year 1893.
- Charles H. Colburn, who was head coiner
*of :the mint at Carson in 1893. stated.to
CALL reporter yesterday in an interview at
the Palace Hotel that he thought most all
the money coined by him in 1898 was still
irl>.the vaults of the mint, yet 1t is claimed
>blv others that tne State was flooded with
it and: that most of the coin got into the
State. treasury through the regular tax
paying channel.
. : Mi. .Colburn was not at all surprised at
the in formation given him yesterday. 81
heard of this some months ago. but it was
hot so generally hawked about as now,"
said he. $50 far as l am personally con-
cerned l am disposed to discredit the state
nnient that the machinery of the Govern
snent was used to coin bullion into dollars,
and: do not see how it could have oc-
CURED Let me show you where it would
be difficult and l might say an impossi-
=bIething to coin bullion there without the
assistance of at least three of the e7>ecu-
tive. heads knowing just what was being
done. In the first place all the bullion re-
ceived by the superintendent OF the mint
is receipted for by him. and as fast as he
turns any of it over TO the conner that
official gives receipt, and when 1t Is
turned back to the superintendent in the
shape of coin it must balance in weight
with the amount named in the receipt
given the superintendent by the coiner
upon receiving the bullion from him In
the first place. Another reason that would
have made it impossible for me to have
coined any money on that basis was the
small force happened to have under me. I
AS it was found my hands full getting
out the money required by the Mint Direc-
tor. Sometimes there was demand Tor
$500, 900 in gold and from $4,000 to szoo,- 4
600 in,silver.: Silver coinage was suspended
along about May and up to that time
was extremely busy meeting the demand
of the Government"
-. Suppose, as sugges ted by people IN Ne
yada, several officials in the mint were
associated in the deal. could it have then
been done?"
~ think possibly it could, but then that
would hardly be probable, for the gains
would not justify such risk. | do not
think any man would permit himself to
ha a nartv tn such chicanery for the profit