Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1895-07-17
MAKING MONEY.
TIE TRADE DOLLAR OBJECT LES
son.

Coins Issued for Private Individuals,
Without the Governments Pledge
20 Redeem In Lawful Money, Are
Worth Only Their Bullion Value.
II the Government can create
noney 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 OF legislated upon the sub
iect have been mistaken, and all
the labor and taxation to which the
people have been subjected In the
past have been unnecessary and IN
justi6able. (Applause.) The prom
ise Of the Government, or OF
an individual. to pay money Is quite
a different thing from a mere declara-
tion by law, or otherwise, that a GER
tain thing is money. The promise
NAV be good on account Of the solv-
ency and integrity Of the party that
makes it, and it may have a purchas-
inc power equal 10 the amount Of
money specified, but at last it can be
satisfied only by the payment Of actual
money. It is the promise Of the Gov
eminent, its pledge TO maintain the
parity Of the two metals, and Its de-
termination and ability 70 do so, that
o 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 III
dividuals and corporations, this
promise would cease, because the
Government would be under nc obi
CATION whatever, moral OF legal, to
tax the people at large "a order to
keep these private coins as good as
gold. lApplause.) The silver dollar
coined under such a 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 fat Of the
Government, the stamp of the mint,
should impart additional value to it.
That it would not do so was thorough
" demonstrated in the case Of trade
dollars coined under the act Of Febru-
AIRY IS. 1873. (Applause.)
They we're 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, OF ten dimes. The trade
dollar was q legal tender IN the pay
ment of all debts, public and private,
not exceeding S. Ia amount, Just as
the half-dollars, quarters and dimes
were under the statute then IN force.
Now, if the fiat of the Government, II
the stamp of the mint, is sufficient to
impart value % a coin here was an op-
p~ortunity to demonstrate the fact.
But what was the result The trade
dollar. as [ have said, was
coined for private individuals and
delivered to them for their own
use. Just what is now proposed
20 be done with the silver dollar; but
the small subsidiary coins were made
BY the Government on its own &C
count and paid out by 1t for Its own
benefit, with a pledge in the law to
redeem them on presentation IN law
ful money, and the result was that the
value of the great big trade dollar,
with precisely the same legal tender
quality as the small coins, and with
tho stamp of the United States Mint
upon 1t, declaring it to be 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 anil their full purchasing power
at all time. applause Secretary
Carlisle, ut Louisville, Ky.