The herald., 1895-05-24
A FALLAcIoUs ILLUSTRATION

why not pass a law framed on the anti
silver Jaw OF 1878 forbidding the use OF
bread made OF anything but wheat flour?
Evening Exp-csS.
If the United States government had
been making for its citizens TWO kinds of
bread. wheat and rye. in the same way
that it had been coming two kinds OF
dollars-gold and silver-and the demand
for wheat bread had become so insigniti-
cant as to be practically no demand at all.
it would, if run along sound and sensi-
BILE business lines, cease the manufacture
OF that particular variety OF loif.
In 1873 it was deemed that the silver
dollar had fallen into state of ''innoc-
uous desuetude, and its coiange was dis
continued. That is the sum and the SUBJ
stance of the Crime" of 1873 From the
beginning Of the government down to the
year mentioned, only about $500, 900
standard silver dollars were issued and
during that period there was stretch of
thirty years without a single standard
dollar being minted. In 1905, after only
81, $50, 900 in silver had been coined,
Thomas Jefferson stopped the coinage
and it was not resumed for many years.
that Jefferson was mere tool of the
gold bugs, was playing into the hands of
foreign bondholders, was in fact an all
round. able oodied traitor to his
country; this is the Express and the
Stewart of it. Except for the few years
of suspension noted the people were as
free to have silver coined into standard
dollar at the United States min is, until
1873, as they could possibly be under any
measure proposed by the slverites now.
And yet they failed to avail themselves of
the privilege. Siblcy. Stewart, Warner
and the Express should have appeared
earlier in the nations career and warned
an Indifferent people against the ignoring
OF what it now appears was priceless
boon. The train of events that bore these
unsel6sh patriots to the scene of financial
action was too long overdue.
The silver dollar, like the other dol
lars. was and is a tool-not the tool, as
one might infer from the silver bugs
walls of trade, and like tool of agri.
culture, it IS possible to have too many
of them, either because of their falling
into disuse or the supply exceeding the
demand. 1t is to be treated as q tool !;
when the people have enough they should
stop the making Of them. This they did
when in 1878 the standard silver dollar
was omitted from the coinage act of that
year. and the trade dollar was put in as
q substitute. The standard dollar We did
not need-the trade dollar we did re-
quire for the Chinese export trade. There
was nothing any more sacred about the
standard silver dollar tool than there
was about any other tool. 1t had no
rights and has none now: men have
rights, but not tools and meta Is.
The standard silver dollars coined and
issued previous to 1873 were in no way
deprived OF the legal tender quality they
were endowed with; they were legal ten
der to the amount of $20 Since 1878 stand
ard silver dollars to the amount of S4l2.
676, ,49S have been coined, and these dol :
lars and those coined previous to 1873 were
made legal tender to an unlimited
amount. The act of 1878 did not demon.
etize silver in the sense of destroying in
any way the purchasing or debt paving
power OF the silver then coined. And if
it is Il fact that the silver dollar is a very
essential tool Of trade, and the omission
OF it in this act really meant great de-
privation, the error has been rectiIied and
the "crime' atoned for by the issue since
1878 OF over fifty timss as many as the
government turned out in all the wears
previous to the alleged characterization
The cry for more tools OF EXCHANGE IS
about as reasonable as would be n nrave-
Tor more plows' harrows and hoes by
mon without any land to employ the i'm.
rlcmcnts on.