The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-05-21


| dollar and substituted for 1t an
other subsidiary coin called the trade
/ dollar. containing 40 grains 81 st.hn.-iI
| silver and provided that % should De
| LEGAL tender 10 the amount OF five u0i-
/ lars and no more. committee or coz
| ference was appointed. the senate ailtHN-
| cd was agreed 10. ana the nlii p.l1.I. =,
] law by the approval Of president '5snl
/ on the 18th day Of February. lbi5- INES
/ brief historical statement OF the pfoletl-
/ ings. which fully sustained py lnS
official record, shows that u was W,I
understood 80 Congress inat inc oiu
| standard silver dollar OF AZ IL grams
was not 20 be thereafter coined az our
mlris and that the only oinefence OF
/ orinion that ever existed. even iemporar-
| uy. between the Senate and House was
! whether they would substitute ID IT'S pla.e
I a subsidiary coin containing - sfalti7,
or a subsidiary coin containing w grams
of silver No proposition was made ~
| either body 10 continue the colhaE" ga
| the old dollar or 20 make any SILVER
coin the unit Of value or fun lesal ten
der in the payment OF debts.
4 LrG4L RECOGNITION.
The plain truth d that this act Of 1873,
which has been the subject Of so mucn
misapprcnonsiOn and dcnunciaion, was
simply legal recognition OF a monetary
condition which had existed in iact ln 'hla
Itry for about thllil-nFr }+aia, Dl
ever since "a short time after the paHaa-t
OF the coinage act OF 1884. From apoNl
the year lh3S until after me laaedt. on
the Bland-Aliison Act ln hlo. no st.,i
dollars were in circulation in ms coeAtIii
and our whole currency con7lsied or Soil
coins and bank notes, cAf'p. i,i" l..-
10 ls1s when our active circulation, OUT
side OF California and iis helEHDDllnA
territory was all paper, There Wdr Jul
ing the latter period about s-lsv',-3 ii
gold in circulation on the faclhc yas,,
and the United States was coiiftithh
customs dues in gold and using it ln pay
mcnt Of interest on the PUBLIC dfni. bul
there was no silver in clicuiaNoh any
where in this country. not even lhe lsH'
weight subsidiary COINS. me NaiAt "l
the United States note or creenndck was
always measured by gold and NOT ny el,
yer. and commodities had eola price ana
paper price. but never silver price. n.
caf ee silver. except the half-uOllars. quar-
tors. and dimes coined under inc acl Oh l'-'
had been out ~ use here for more WV.
twenty years before the c0mntu liifiiN
OF the war. and even these slos-llafy
coins had not been in use for eleven
wears prior 20 1913. our own monetary
history had already furnished lW. mos
striking illustrations Of the operation OF
the natural law under which the CONS
which are ovcr-valuci Boy statnt" always
drive out of circulation the coins WI
are uudor-vaiucd. bur own cNper-ti
had AGAIN demonstrated what the bis
tory of the world already showed -that
whenever the coinage laws OF any cnu.-
try permit the free coinage OF hoih metals
with FUN legal-tenlcr qualities al RATIO
of value which does not conform slhsian-
tally 60 their intrinsic or comm'rcai
ratio in he markets pl ine "oiin' n.
kinds of coin cannot Doe kent in c-rcnlt-
ton at the same time. Inc reason 81
that. both being fun legal tender the
least valuable coin wild always Doe used
I'm making pavmonts. and win become The
sole measure OF value. and the most Ndlu-
able Will be boarded or sent ont OF th,
country into The markets whore iis real
our 0rst coinage law was PASSED in
1892 and 10 provided for full lcgal-iender
gold and silver coins at tne AUG or ID ="