Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-10-15

price could be paid if II were the law,
There Is no coin of the name Of pound
sterling" in existence, yet all the cotton
and other commodities which are sold by
the people of the State Of Texas TO the
people of Great Britain ure paid for by
the measure of the pound sterling. The
bills of exchange are drawn under the
name or title of ''pound sterling" They
are liquidated In gold and there is no act
of legal tender, no force bill and no treaty
affecting these GALES, contracts or bills of
exchange. Pound sterling is nothing but
a weight standard.
The name pound sterling" was origi-
nally applied to Troy pound of silver.
The Troy pound was the pound of Troyes,
France. 1t contains $3.50 grains. The
grain is the unit Of weight in English and
American coinage. 1t was originally de-
rived by balancing grain of metal
against IL grain of barley. The pound
sterling received its name in England, so
far us | can find out, ia the days of the
steel yard which was the place Of trade
and deposit Of the goods of the Hanse
towns. The merchants were called the
''Easterlings." They kept their accounts
in the pound Troy of silver; hence .'sterl-
ing" a contraction for 'easterling."
When or how the pound sterling ceased
to be II true Troy pound of silver by
weight is not important to this discussion,
The first great frauds practiced upon the
people of many lands have consisted in
taking out part Of the weight from the
coin and then forcing the acceptance of
such debased coin under force bill Or act
of legal tender. Suffice il, that after the
pound had long ceased to be pound of
silver through the successive frauds prac-
ticed upon the English people by their
rulers, the lawful pound sterling became
established as the name Of 113.0016 grains
of gold. 1t follows that the people of
Texas now sell the greater part of their
cotton and many other goods to their
British customers for fixed weight of
pure gold under the name of pound ster-
ling" without any act of legal tender and
without any act of legislation, except Brit
ish legislation on which to define the
words.
Now TO the point of fixing the price of
gold. The Bank of England is the fiscal
agent of the British government. The
| interest on the public debt is paid through
| its agency. There is no sub-trcasury in
England. There is no other place than
the Bank of England at which the debts
of the British government are liquidated.
Ihe Bank of England is also the agent of
the mint. Any person who takes one
ounce of standard gold, that is to say, gold
alleged SO as to make II fit for coinage
elevcn-twelfths fine, is entitled to receive
the coin known as sovereign" which,
when first coined, CONTAINS 113.OOtG
grains of gold, three sovereigns, seventeen
shillings and nine pence. The seventeen
shillings and nine pence in multiplies OF
even sums are convertible on demanth,into
sovereigns, so that the exchange is only
an exchange of a fixed weight of gold un.
coined for fixed weight of gold coined
not quite equal to the quantity which has
been brought to the mint. If the man
who takes the bullion to the Bank of Eng
land does not require nm immediate ex
change of his bullion into sovereigns ht
can leave his gold. 1t will take about sis
weeks to convert it into coin and ther
when he presents his list he will receive
weight OF gold in the coin which, under
the name of pound sterling" is expressed
at three pounds, seventeen shillings, tel
and half pence.
The same rule holds good in this coun
try. Any one who takes standard gold
that is to say, gold prepared for coinag,
with an alloy, nine-ttnths fine, will receiv,
from the mint eighteen dollars. sixt,
cents and four-tcnths in the coin. III,
sixty cents and four-tenths in multipl:n
can again be converted into gold so til,
exchange is one of uncoined bullion int,
coined bullion, weight for weight III,
government under the Constitution regu
lates the value, not attempting to fix il
of the pound sterling and the American
dollar. That regulation Is published fouI
times year for tie use of the custom
houses of the land. The weight is regu
lated by estimating the exact quantity o
pure gold in the sovereign or pound ster
ling with the quantity in the dollar; til,
ratio by weight being one pound sterlin,
or one sovereign of full weight to 81. ST, d
That is all that there is in the alleged fix
ing of the price of gold. Men are confuse,
by the use of language and for want o
the definition of words. Judge Reagan
is conspicuous example of the confusion
OF mind resulting from the confusion o
language.
Now let it be assumed that the minis O
tne United States are open to an eXchang,
OF -FOUR hundred and twelve and hal
grains OF silver, nine-tenths fine, for ,
piece OF money named silver dollar
That exchange is simply an exchange o
weight for weight. The value is not fixed
What that dollar is worth is what pcopl
Will give for it. No government in til,
world ever did fix the value of a coin an,
no one within my knowledge has eve
Ventured to assume that the value of ,
coin could be fixed by law until that con
ception was presented first, by Mr.. New
lands, the representative of the silye
miners; second, by Mr.. Bryan, and nov
by Judge Reagan. The only way in whicl
the value of that silver dollar has beer
hNed in the markets of the world is b,
what the bullion will bring, namely, to-da,
about fifty cents or 4ritie more. The onl,
way by which il can be put into circula
ton is by the force of legal tender act
1t is bad money because it does not stan,
the test so well defined by the ablest hi
metallist of the world, Henri Cernuschi.
1T is by the ordeal of fire that none,
may be tried. The coins which, beini
melted down, retain the entire value fo
! which they were legal tender before the
We're melted down are good money. Thos
which do not retain II are not GOO
money"
The three questions bring the issu
squarely to the front. Although .Judg
Reagan appears to deny that the Chicag
. platform as construed by Candidat
{ Bryan, is intended to take away from til
people of this country any choice an
distinctly to put stop to special contract
in terms of gold, Candidate Bryan has an
/ nonnced that purpose in his speeches an
| nj I.