Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-05-30

commercially I6 pounds of silver. coined or uns
Commercially ID pounds OF silver. coined or IN
coined, and, therefore, the coins OF the two
could not circulate together at that
ratio.
The authors and supporters OF this law well
knew what the effect OF such q legairatiow would
be in case IL did not conform TO the commercial
ratio, but the great object in view was the res
of gold to the circulation. ana all other
considerations were sYb0raina1ea to that
double standard could be maintained,
and that the coins of the two metals could be
but they were mistaken. Silver went out and
gold came In. The gold basis was established
In 1884, by the practical operation OF the ratio.
as completely and erectualy as II II had
been expressly declared In the statute. Here,
then, were two experiments in the free coinage
Of the two metals in this country, covering q
nearly corresponding to the real reiatiye Values
In the commercial world, and they both failed
one case because silver was overvalued
and in the other case because gold was over
valued. A very small percentage OF difference
between the legal ratio and the commercial
ratio has always been found sufficient in mod
ern times to drive the underVaiued metal en-
tirely out and substitute the other, or paper
based upon the other, In its place and no cos
gress or parliament can repeal or alter the
natural law of trade by which the movement of
the metals is governed.
THE ACT OF 1883
In 1888 congress. in order to maintain the
circulation of subsidiary coins-dalf-doilars
quarters ana ulIneS-feuuCeu LII Weight thO |
metal contained in them and made them legal
& aa a| oaas % f faSSes nj q snms a1 y a eHee ~ = Ing
bullion contained IN two hafLdolIars. four
quarters or ten dimes was not equal to the |
value of the bullion contained In either a gold
OR silver dollar. and consequently these small
limited legal-tender coins went into clreula-
tion and remained L in use until expelled by the
cheaper paper currency issued during the war; |
not being full legal tender, they could not
drive out the gold coins.
This was the condition of our monetary sys-
tenn at the time the act of 1873 was passed.
Our legal position was bimetallIc, but our &C
UuaI measure of value was gold, and our actual
Chasing bower measured by the gold standard.
We had no silver and II had no influence what
ever on our prices. or on our ability to pay
debts. The act of 1873, therefore did not and
could not take away from the people of the
United States any advantage they then pos
sessed. but it did reyent the coinage of full
legal-tender silver dollars thereafter, and the
act of 1874 destroye, the debt-paying power OF
the old standard dollar coined before 1873, ex-
cept in sums not exceeding 81 II there had
been any such dollars In circulation or in
existence here this latter act would have
abridged the ability of debtors to discharge
their obligations, but as there were none IL
had no practical effect at that time.
Thus we remained until 1873 We had tried
to keep the legal-tender coins Of the two met.
ais in circulation at the same time under a
system OF free coinage, but had utterly failed.
In 1873 "a new policy was adopted and it was de-
termined to restore the standard silver dollar
to the coinage and to circulation with full
legal-tl nder qualities, not by opening the
HILLS 10 lts IEtt wv uilltIlllttN NOlloBS III II
diyIdual account, as Is now proposed, but by
providing for the purchase and coinage of not
more than 81, 100000 worth nor less than s., 000,-
600 worth of silver bullion each month by the
government itself. Under this act, and the So
called Sherman act, and the act providing for
the recoinage OF trade dollars, there have been
coined at the minis of the United States and
put into circulation during seventeen years
1881, 49,, s73 in full legal-tender standard silver,
as against $S.030.0O coined during the
whole previous existence of the govern
ment-a period of ,eighty-nine years.
coined and put in circulation among the
people, in coin itself or in certificates issued
upon it, nearly fifty times as many full legal
| tender silver dollars as were produced at the
mints of the United States from 1872 to 1878,
and yet some gentlemen are writing books and
making speeches to convince their fellow-citi-
zens that silveris demonetized in this country.
There was never in our whole history one
third as much legal-tenders silver in use in the
United States at one time as there is now, and
1t is used without depriving us of all our gold,
which was never done before. Silver is not de-
monetiZed in this country, but its coinage has
| been so limited and regulated by law and the
| financial affairs of the government have been
so conducted that up to the present time It's
circulation to a large amount has been main
tanned concurrently with otherforms OF money,
Notwithstanding it has been coined at a ratio
which does not conform to the real value Of the
metal contained IN 1t.
SILVER NOT D-EMoNETIZED.
Irepeat that silver is not demonetized, and
the question presented to US by the agitation
now going on is not whether IL shall be de-
monetized in the future, but whether the minis
OF the United States shall be thrown open to
or corporation may desire TO nsve coined, free
of charge, into legal-tender doilars-that is,
legal tender in the United States-at the ratio
of 10 to l.. In order to discuss this subject in
telligently we must understand distinctly
what is proposed by our opponents and for,
tunateIy there is no difficulty upon this point.
Free and unlimited coinage OF fun legal-ten-'
der silver dollars at the ratio OF lb to l means
that our law shall be so changed that any
owner of silver bullion may send 1t TO the
minis and have it coined, at the public ex-
penSe, into dollars each containing 412h grains
OF standard silver, the dollars when coined to
be delivered to the owner Of the bullion, and
| all the people of the United States to be COM
peeled by law TO receive them as dollars in the
PAYMENT Of debts, although not intrinsically
worth more than 50 cents each. The 25:s grains
| of standard gold contained in a gold dollar Is
worth leo cents or the equivalent of 100 cents,
all over the world, in silver-standard countries
as well as in gclc-Standard countries, and 1t IS
worth just as much before 1t Is coined as after
wards; but the 412M Grains of standard silver
contained in a silver dollar is not worth any
where in the world more than about 80 cents:
Or, to put the statement in a different form, 10
pounds OF silver can not be exchanged for l
pound of gold anywhere in the world, put 1t re-
auires about 81 pounds of silver to procure /
pound of gold everywhere
But some one may say that this is not q fair
Statement, because it measures the value of
silver by gold. The answer to this objection Is
that the statement does not attempt TO meas
ure the value of either of the metals, but simply
to compare them, one with the other, and that
for the purpose of making the comparison the
| value of gold is determined by It's purchasing
mower in the markets of the world, and the
value of silver is determined in the same way
Sixteen pounds of silver bullion will purchase
only about one-half the quantity OF commodl
ties anywhere that / pound of gold bullion will
purchase, and this purchasing power is the
true test of their actual and relative values
In the United States 10 ponds of silver, coined
Into dollars, will now purchase as much as !
pound of gold coins, but this would not be the
case under a system OF free ana com
age on individual account.
THE coinage of silver dollars here has beer
limited by daw Ior nn n purpT Seva b ean cn'nes
+ by the government on its own account and paiC
out for public purposes as doi.ars OF fnll value
! and consequently the government Is bound Q,
! every consideration of good faith, to say moth
+ ing OF the,poSitlve declarations contained in th'
!. statutes, to keep them as good as gold, or, II
3 metals; and this it has done and VIII continue
to do as long as the present system exists. But
y If the present system is to be abolished and
new one established, SO that private indiyidu
| ais and corporations can have their own bul
= lion coined at the public expense and have tn
coins delivered to them for their private use
4 | the government would be under no obligatlo
t whatever, legal or equitable, TO keep them a
good as gold, and, in fact, 1t would be lmpos
Z sibIe for it to do SO, because the coinage woul
q | he m and the volume OF silver In c1rcu
o lation would become SO great In proportion t
: the gold the government could procure that tn
$ attempt would necessarily fali'
FREE COINAGE FALLICIEs.
The most extreme advocates of free coinag
I have not vet yentured to suggest that the gov
Q eminent would be under any obligation {
e guarantee or maintain the value OF silver dol
, lars coined without charge for private partie,
q and without such guarantee 10 Is clear the do
z lar would be worth no more than the CONNER
q cial value of the bullion contained in it, just q
the Mexican dollar Is now. l admit that If tn
United States could coin without charge to ID
owners all the silver in the world available &c
coinage purposes, 4l2M grains of standard 81
yer, in bullion, would be worth as much In tn
country as a silver dollar; but the real ques
- ton is, what would the silver dollar itself I
:, WORTH That it will not be equal to our pre-:
ent unit and standard Of value is not only at
ID mitted, but openly urged as one OF the chi
l. argument in favor of its free coinage. Every
$, where the people are being told that undt
lg free coinage it viii require twice as many do
E lars to procure any given quantity. Sf con
y modities as are required now, and this mean
\, of course, that the money VIII be only one-ha
~ as valuable as 1t is now. When the puol
1T Judgment is finally passed upon this subject
think it will be found that the people OF u
81 United States are determined not to have
IN deprecated dollar, whether 1t be gold silver
er paper. They are undoubtedly entitled to ha'
In for use in their business just as good money
n any other people in the world have, and no p
70 Hatton Happenings.