Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-06-11
SOME HARD FACTS.
THEY NIT TELLING BLOWS AGAINST
Free COINAGE At is TO 1.

FREE COINAGE At is TO /.
Secretary Hole Smith Makes One q His
Bese spesches Rlaicules ths Proposed
Eree Coinage- Pictures shs Awful Routs
We Must Travel 60 Resch silver Basia.
would Finally Have . Dollar u Unoer-
tain value which Would Hamper Beeh
Domestic and Foreign Trade.
The Hon. Hoke Smith. secretary of
the interior. delivered speech in New
York ON May l6 on tho currency ques-
ton. It is q speech that should be read
by all who buy and sell and who vote
or have Influence with voters It is as
follows:
The people of this country make their
contracts payable In dollars They do
business in dollars Uncertainty az to
tho meaning Of the word dollar must
create doubt as to the effect Of con-
tracts and general distrust In business
Tho dollar Of the United States ut
present has distinct meaning Il in
equivalent to %. % grains OF pure gold
Paper dollars arc Nero promises to pay
In coin. Silver dollars. while they con-
tain bullion worth only about 50 cents
each, have been surrounded by safe
guards Of legislation limiting the num-
Der coined and supporting them by the
credit Of tho government, 80 that they
have been kept ON parity with gold
dollars Twenty-three-twenty -two-one-
hundredths grains Of gold therefore
measure tho value of what ia meant by
q dollar, when the term is used for
trade here, and this has been true for
about 80 years, with the exception Of
the period during which paper dollars
were deprecated
Upon the floor Of. the house Of repre-
sentatives in 1853, when the bill was
pending which made fractional cur
rency subsidiary, Cyrus L. Durham Of
Indiana, who had charge Of the bill,
said:
AN objection urged against this pro-
posed change is that it gives us q gold
standard only. sss Gentlemen talk
about double standard Of gold and sill
yer as thing that exists, and that we
propose to change We have had but q
single standard for the last three or four
years; this has been and now is gold; we
propose to let it remain SO and adapt sill
yer to and regulate it by gold. "
After this long experience in the use
Of dollars based upon %. 20 grains Of
gold the advocates Of silver demand its
free, unlimited and independents coinage
at the present ratio
This is really proposition to remove
from silver dollars the safeguards Of leg
islation which surround them, to with
draw the limit and to take from them
the support Of the government Il IL an
effort to reach bimetallic currency by
the free and unlimited coinage Of two
metals at fixed ratio which places 100
cents worth Of bullion In the gold dol
lar and so cents worth Of bullion In
the silver dollar.
The experience Of every country which
has attempted the free and unlimited
coinage Of two metals ut ratio disre-
garding the commercial value Of the
bullion Of each metal put into dollar
has been the coinage and use Of the
cheaper metal and the loss as money Of
the more valuable metal The principle
is thus expressed BY Sir Isaac Gresham:
IF debased coin is attempted to be
circulated with full valued coin, all at
the latter will disappear from circula-
ton, and the overvalued and debased
coin will alone remain, to the ruin Of
our commerce and business "
This indisputable doctrine was taught
in the fourteenth century by Nicholas
Oresme and again in the sixteenth cen-
tury by Nicholas Oopernicua Coming
down to 1717. Sir Isaac Newton, at that
time director Of the mint OF England,
declared:
IF silver leaves the shores Of England
In crowns or In ingotA the produce ct
coins remelted. and gives place to gold,
| it IL because the value which the none
tary legislation assigns to II. In relation
to gold, is not correct .
Apply the lesson practically 10 our
own money With free and unlimited
coinage Of gold and silver at the ratio Of
| l6 to silver monometallism would re-
suit and the measure Il the value Of
our dollar would be 87lH grains of dl-
yer, worth about Is grains Of gold
But the advocates OF silver coinage
insist that with S71N grains Of silver
admitted in unlimited quantities to the
mints for coinage. free Of charge. tbs
bullion value of this number Of grains
would necessarily DO equal before coin
aga to tho coined dollar. This IL true;
and Il would be equally true ct 100
| grains, or OF grain, il admitted free
and In unlimited quantities to coinage
Indeed. IL chips were admitted free and
IN unlimited quantities to the privilege
Of being stamped into dollars, the chips,
before they were stamped, would be
worth o. much as the dollars after they
were stamped, but unfortunately the
dollars would be worth no more than
chipa
| Another favorite argument Of the free
silver advocates refers to the experience
4 - 4 49,, -, -