The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-18
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SILVER.

MISCONCEPTIONS SILVER.
A correspondent asks: .Was not sill
yer d~enonetized in India nearly a year
ago. No; silver is the legal money Of
India now. but there is so much of it
in the country that the minis were
closed to its further coinage. The minis
were closed because silver bullion could
be purchased for what was equivalent
to IS cents an ounce in England and
taken to India and coined into an equiv
alent of about s1.25.
The next question is: us not the Re-
publican party committed to the free
coinage of silver by it's bimetallic plank
in then national platform of 1892 That
plank reads as follows:
The American people favor biinetallism,
and the Republican party demands the use
of both gold and silver as standard money,
with such restrictions and under such pro-
the parity of values of the two metals, so
that the purchasing power and the debt
silver or paper, shall be equal at all times.
We commend the wise steps taken
by the government to secure an interna-
tional conference to adopt such measures
as will insure a parity of gold and silver
for use as money throughout the world.
1t will be seen that the Republican
party is not committed to the free coin
age of silver, but TO a coinage with
such restrictions as will insure a parity
of values of the two metals" TIL next
question is quoted in full:
Is it not a fact that in 1873, when the
United States Congress ~demonetized silver,
the silver in a dollar was worth $1.02 and
an ounce of silver was worth $1.32? Up to
that time the silver dollar was the unit of
value in this country. but by this act gold
We m46nrfHa INIT Gf Uo1iln and silver he
came token money, no longer legal tender
except in debts less than S.?
First, as a matter of fact, silver has
never been demonetized. The standard
silver dollar of any date is and always
has been a legal tender. It's free coinage
was dropped. Second, the bullion in the
silver dollar vas worth more than the
bullion in a gold dollar in 1873, and be-
cause values in the markets of the world
were measured in gold then the bullion
value of the silver dollar was about
$1.02. In 1859, when the production of
gold was large. the silver dollar was
worth 1922 cents compared with the
gold. In fact, in all the years from 1884
to 1879 the silver dollar was worth the
most, and less than seven millions of
them were coined. This is because the
ratio in this country was made almost
sixteen Of silver to one of gold. while in
all the rest of the world the ratio was
fifteen and a half of silver to one of
gold. Silver went to the country where
it could be coined into the most money.
Third, the silver dollar was not a unit
of value until 1873 any more than the
gold dollar. FOURTH, silver token money
as legal tender was limited to SIS by the
act of February, 1855, because at that
time the weight of the silver halves and
quarters was reduced so that two halves
or -four quarters would weigh 1874 grains
of standard silver instead of 4121A. This
reduction was made because these SUBJ
sidiary coins, on the basis of 412h grains.
were worth more to export thar to cir
culate at their face value. Consequently,
in order to have any halves, quarters
and dimes for change the weight had to
be reduced so that they would be worth
more here than they would as bullion
abroad.
The difficulty with this correspondent
is that he assumes that silver was the
chief element in the money of the coun-
try until the legislation of 1873 dropped
the free coinage of silver. Such an as
sumption is false; the silver dollar was
rarely seen in circulation because it
was always worth more as bullion than
as coin. The owner of silver bullion
would have been a fool to have $1.O3 or
$1.o5 worth of silver bullion turned into
81. For that reason it was not coined,
but exported to countries where it's
coinage and bullion value were equal.
And it may be added hat all the talk
about the destruction of silver money in
this country is simply idiotic. There are
a thousand dollars of silver legal-tender
money in this country now where there
was not ten dollars in 1873. And it may
b. further added thai if intelligent men
would read as much of sound money
literature as they do of that which the
silver mine millionaires and spectators
are sending out they would have more
facts ands1ess misinformation.
The remedy is the establishment of a
ratio by international action by which
the parity of gold and silver shall be es-
tablished on some ratio which will make
one metal as good money as the other.
The indications abroad were never so
favorable for the restoration of silver;
Germany has already taken action in
favor of a conference. A few days since
the German Chancellor Hohenlohe. who
| speaks for the government, said re-
garding the proposed conference:
Without prejudicing our imperial currency,
one must confess that the differences in the
value of gold and silver continue to react
upon our commercial life. Following, there
fore, the tendencies which led to the APP
pointment of a silver commission, I am
ready to consider, in conjunction with the
federal governments, whether we cannot
enter upon a friendly Interchange of opin-
ion as to the common remedial measures
with the other states which are chiefly in
terested in maintaining the value of silver.
THE DEMAND UPON SPAIN.