Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-07-05
TRADE DOLLAR OBJECT LESSON.

III the Government can create
money, or which is the same thing,
give it a value Independently of
the actual value of the material
of which it is composed, then all
the philosophers and statesmen
and political economists who have
written or legislated upon the sub
ject have been mistaken, and all
the labor and taxation to which the
people have been subjected in the
past have been unnecessary and I'M
%iustifable. (Applauso) The prom
Use of the Government, or Of
An individual, to pay money is quite
q different thing from a mere declara-
ton by law, or otherwise, that O GER
tain thing is money. The promise
may be good on account of the solv-
ency and integrity Of the party that
makes it, and it may have q purchas-
ing power equal to the amount Of
money specified, but at last it can be
satisfied only by the payment of actual
money. 1t is the promise of the Gov
eminent, its pledge to maintain the
parity Of the two metals, and its de-
termination and ability to do SO, that
now keep the purchasing power Of the
silver dollar equal to the purchasing
power of the gold dollar; but the
moment free coinage is established
for the benefit of private In
dividuals and corporations, this
promise would cease, because the
Government would be under no obli-
CATION whatever, moral or legal, to
tax the people at large in order to
keep these private coins as good az
gold. (Applause.) The silver dollar
coined under such q policy-that is,
coined for private persons and not on
account of the Government-would be
OF no greater value than the bullion
contained in 1t, unless the fiat OF the
Government, the stamp of the mint,
should impart additional value to il.
That il would not do so was thorough
ly demonstrated In the case of trade
dollars coined under the act Of Febru-
airy 13, 1873. (Applause.)
They were coined free of charge and
delivered without expense to the own.
ers of the bullion from which they
were made, and they contained 42O
grains OF standard silver, or thirty-six
grains more than the quantity con.
tanned in two half dollars, or four
quarters, or ten dimes The trade
dollar was q legal tender in the pay.
ment of all debts, public and private,
aot exceeding S. in amount, just as
the half-dollars, quarters and dime:
were under the statute then in force.
Now, if the fiat OF the Government, il
the stamp Of the mint, is sufficient to
impart value to q coin here was an op'
portunity to demonstrate the fact.
But what was the result The trad.
dollar, as / have said, wa
coined for private individuals anC
delivered to them for their owl
use, just what is now proposet
to be done with the silver dollar buI
the small subsidiary coins were made
by the Government On its own &C
count and paid out by it for its owl
benefit, with q pledge in the law te
redeem them OF presentation in law
full money, and the result was that the
value OF the great big trade dollar,
with precisely the same legal tender
quality as the email coins, and with
the stamp Of the United States Mint
upon it, declaring it to DO a dollar,
went down to less than eighty cents.
corresponding exactly with the actual
value at that time Of the metal con.
tanned in it, while the little coins,
with the promise Of the Government
behind them, have maintained their
value and their full purchasing power
at all time. tApplause. Seer etary
Carlisle. at Louisville, x.