The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-15
| THE FINANCIAL FORUM |
DOLLAR OF OUR DADDIEs.
Some History About the Law for Its
Coinage.

To the Editor of the Globe.
some one has said that the American peo-
PIE cannot clearly remember past events
longer than six months. In the light of cur
rent political discussion, 1t would seem that
the people of today have quite forgotten the
events IF at least eighteen years ago.
In the present campaign there is not made
a single argument charge or assertion
against the free coinage of silver that was
nor made over and over and in the same
terms, against the Bland Allison bill for the
Emited coinage OF silver which became a
law In the winter of 1873 II was the paeeay4
OF that bill, after thorough discussion and
over the veto of President Hayes which
gave us the silver dollars in existence and
clreulatiSn today. 1t did not matter that
this was not free and unlirriifet. coinage
bill; it was considered just az vicious and
generally bad, and the theories. assumptions
ana postf'lates Of the gold "a .,iaId men Of
nsSo are o., n;ecsely those OF the cord standard
men OF 1878. Today they are only thresh-
ing over tho old and worthless straw ~
eighteen years ago
The partisans of Mckinley AMI the gold
standard claim that they have been the
friends Of the silver dollar. 5ecausa a. thav
say, PRIOR to 1873 only about ; G00 en- NJ
them had been coined while since that time
4zV,ooe'cC9 have been put into circulafion
~ - oauiiaoiy Dy their permission. Il is fact
that there is not single American silver
uoIar IN existence that was 1ot cofned
against the vehement and repeated nrotests
OF the gold men. If they had been given
. .neir way all along for the past eighteen
years there would not be a single silver dol
lar IN circulation or existence
LOOK over the volumes of the Congressional
record ana the files of the newspapers for
.he winter OF 1878 and see what filey con-
tam on this subject. One can fill every col
umn OF the o b for a went's issues
WIN the arguments and assertions of fine
Soiu men against the Bland-Allison bill when
ana was before congress. Every argument
ana assertion, every solemn warning and
every dlreful prediction that has been and
Is Delng made as to the effects of free coin
age VIII be found to have then been made
silver dollars. iS
In lS77-S gold standard congressman and
a. SORTS OF writers Of that ilk said and to
rmelr own satisfaction demonstrated that the
PoSsase OF the Dill for the coinage of the dol
Iar OF our daddies''-as they called them ar
times, the clipped dollar" as thew were fond
~ ealing them at all times-wouId bring
me greatest disaster upon the country IF
would be fraud, because for one reason +ba
1nn IN silver dollar was not then worth
c cov cents. L would in few years flood the
1srs . MIN depased currency with dol
Ials worth less than half their face, II
would be Reputation in its worst forms ;;
enaphhg not only private debtors but the gov
.I c1inead user, to discharge obligations in
ciippeo DOLLARS 1t would drive gold out
VI tle country and keep it out 1t would
create ana protract panics The poor work
iingni1n, the widows and orphans, the saw
ings pank depositors, the insurance benefc-
i t.il the farmers, mechanics and everybody
put the silver miners would suffer the direSt
misery, want and distress nv Oii 0S
The chambers of commerce of Nav, Wi,
Philadelphia, Boston and many other citian..
banking associations insurance con1nanias
ana money-changers of every sort petifioned
congress not to pass the bill WARNINGS and
threatenings came I'D from every Gnar rlsr
against It, Speakers acclaimed and editors
wrote IN its denunciation. But the neonle
mau risen, ana the congress was in sympathy
WIN them and passed the BILL McKinIev
Yoteq for IT, so did every member of the Min
i delegatlon-all Republicans-in each
frnns ne except Dr. Stewart the representative
t Iio5n the 81. raul district. One ST. Paul paper
nau al along denounced the bill 1t asserted
s mat eastern capital would be withdrawn
from from this section and that st. Paul then a
town OF about 35,000 and Minnesota would
GO to the dogs. so to speak ~
- lreslaent hayes vetoed the bill, saving that
II was fraud and that it would bring dis
grace ana disaster upon the country When
the veto message was read in the housa cI,n
SET Cox jumped up and having in mind
hayes Eyes questionable title, called out: TT is
a charge of fraud by a fraudtp Roth housaS
OF congress promptly voted to pass the hiII
Dy big two-thirds vote over the presidents
veto t,e Mckinley again voted AYE" So did
1me minnesota delegation, except Dr. Stewart
Inc Eastern members, Democrats as well AZ
Repuohcans, generally voted to sustain the
veto. Cox and others were with the silver
So the bill became q law and the ootn-
age of the old dollars of. the fathers was
t negun again The common people received
deridad gi tbay put the gold men hooted and
fairly plentiful.
"A And loi not a single woful prophecy that
t Deen made came to pass On the con-
Irary, good times came and in 1880 yeritabIe
Doom set in all over the country esneciaIiv
In the west and Northwest. Money of ali
xmas was abundant and easy to get Not
creditor has ever lost a penny by having
ms credits paid to him in silver
Inc S0-cent dollars" continued to flow and
nd Nnrfbx
Jonah's gourd The years 1852 1889 and 1894
came and the good times continued In 1884
mere was surplus of over $500, O0O, 900 in the
national treasury. No bond issues then Sill
the silver dollars were flowing. cleveland
became president and the four wears of his
nrst administration constitute the gold and
silver age of the country
st. Paul. Minneapolis. Omaha Kansas c,;4,,
ana an the great West were being DEVELOPED
as cities and countries were never deyeIonad
P Ha1r everybody had work at good wages
ngnt, SO busy were carpenters and house
pullders. Farms were opened, cities and
t t0wns sprung up everywhere. And all the
tlme the silver stream was flowing
From 1880 to 1890 ST. Paul grew from a mn
population to 600. Other cities grew al
last. The g ! o b e sold readily by thousands
ture was erected bearing its name for its
quarters. During the ten years mentioned
sao1 FL gold came into the United States by
$225 O00,OOO than went out. And all the TINA
the stream of silver dollars was gteadIIv
moving into the country and fecking the cir
culation with white -
Oh. for one year of those good times again.
say from 1886 to 1887, when the 'SO-cent dol
lars" were coming steadiest and fastest
Inc coinage OF silver dollars was ordered
stopped in 1891. The war on them began two
years before. Since then; but that is an
other story. Anybody can tell it.
AS the prophecies of the gold standard men
in 1873 came to naught, I cannot believe them
when they are again made in 1896
"A Democrat.