Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-08-22
Coinage Legislation-A Summary.
NUMBER X.

From the St. Louis Journal of Agriculture.
| Following the demonetization act of
1872, the only act passed prior to the
act revising the statutes in 1874, was
one authorizing the coinage of foreign
coins at the mints of the United States.
| Specie payments were resumed jan
uary IA, 1874. The issue of silver GER
tificated for the redemption of fraction
al currency was authorized. 1t was
provided that after January 1. 1879 the
secretary of the treasury should re-
deem the treasury notes IN coin-that
is silver or gold-and the secretary
was authorized to issue and sell bonds
to get coin with which to redeem the
United States notes.
The act of March 3, 1875, authorized
the coinage of 20 cent piece of silver.
The act of April II, 1876 pertained to
the Issue of fractional currency. The
act of July %. 1876. provided for the
| issue of silver coin in exchange for le-
| gal tender notes. Section two of the
| same act provided that the trade dol
lar should not any longer be a legal
| tender.
| 1t will be remembered that in 1857
the laws making foreign coins a legal
| tender were repealed. then in 1878 the
gold dollar was made the unit of value.
the standard dollar dropped from the
coinage and the trade dollar substitut-
ed; then July %, 1876. the trade dol
lar was knocked out. 1t will also be
remembered that the law of 1870 pro-
| vided that no silver bullion should be
received for coinage except into trade
dollars. Now with the trade dollar
knocked out, the mints got no silver
except what the secretary bought for
minor coins. These are the successive
steps that were taken to bull the price
of gold and thereby add to the profits
of the creditor class.
| The goldites, however, had run
things with a high hand long enough.
The people became aroused and under
the pressure Congress, February %,
1878. passed the Bland-Allison act,
providing that not less than s., 200, 900,
and not more than 81 900. 900 worth of
silver, should be purchased each month
and coined into standard dollars of 412R
grains. Thus was limited coinage of
the standard dollar restored, but one
trouble with this law was that coinage
above $4,000, 900 month was at the
discretion of the secretary of the treas
ury, and he used his influence and his
discretion in favor of the the money
power. The same influence and the
same interests that profess to want an
international conference now, played
the same game then, and this act of
| 1878 had clause authorizing the pres
j ident to invite the countries composing
| the Latin Union to a conference to
and silver. Those who want an inter-
national conference hope either to
delay bimetallism or to increase the
ratio to prop gold values up. This
act, however, providing limited coin
age made too much concession to tn
people. and President Hayes vetoed it,
but both houses of congress by two
thirds majority passed it over his veto.
This showed that the people were not
absolutely in the grasp of plutocracy
at that time.
The acts passed between 1873 and
1890 were of comparatively minor i'm
portance. The people were not salts
fed with limited coinage. and in 1890
again. A free silver bill was making |
rapid headway toward becomming a |
law, but Senator Sherman who had |
stood by the banks for so long came to |
their rescue again and introduced the |
bullion purchase measure as a compro- !
mise to sidetrack the free silver meas |
ure This act repealed the Bland act
of 1873 which provided for the coinage |
of at least 50, 900. 900 standard dollars |
per month, and provided instead that
the secretary should purchase $4.O00.- |
900 of silver bullion per month; but
another section provided that only $2,-
900, 900 should be coined each month. |
and that only till July 1, 1891; SO that, |
as the secretary refused to redeem the
silver treasury notes in anything but
gold, silver coinage was virtually |
stopped under this act in less than |
eleven months after the law was passed. |
The gold conspirators had the matter
arranged, no doubt, with the proper
officials so that they knew the law Of
1890 meant less to the people than was
generally believed.
The act of 1890. being the only law |
standing between the people and the
absolute gold standard when Wall |
street attempted. in 1898, to have it