The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-16

change, England, n 1916, adopted gold
as the single standard in that country
and silver as subsidiary cein.
In 1884, during the administration
of President Jackson, and under the
leadership of Daniel Webster and
Thomas. H. Benton, congress adopted
the ratio Of sixteen ounces of silver to
one of gold, by reducing tae number of
grains in the gold coin. AS silver was
thus slightly under-valued it was not
largely coined
Silver could be coined n France at
the ratio Of i51s to 1, and the owner OF
silver bullion could send it TO France
and have it converted into coin al that
ratio, receiving about So cents more for
his bullion than if coined st the Amer
lean ratio Of 16 to l. Gold became
THE ONLY AMERICAN COIN
in circulation, and the avowed purpose
Of the passage Of the law OF 1894 was
TO make gold the standard This was
declared by the committee of the mouse
of representatives, who had charge of
the bill, who said in their report;
1.-The committee think that the de-
sideratum in the money system is a
standard of uniform value; they s,an-
not ascertain that both metals have
ever circulated simultaneously. concur
rently and indiscriminately in any
country where there are banks or
money dealers, and they entertain the
conviction that the nearest approach
to an invariaaole standard is its es-
adjustment in one metal, which metal
shall compose exclusively the currency
for large payments
This law, heartily approved by An
drew Jackson, would now be called the
crime Of 1894 In 1853, upon the re-
nf
was president, and when all branches
of the government were under Demo-
cratic control. congress reduced the
quantity of silver in the fractional
coins {half dimes, dime, quarters and
half dollars) more than 6 per cent;
directed TO purchase the silver for
their coinage on government account,
ABOLISHED THE LAW
legal tender for SIS only, leaving gold
still practically the only full legal ten
der United States coin. Al this time
the silver dollar, which had disappear
ed from the current coins OF the Uni
ted States, was practically and pur-
posely demonetized. This, I suppose,
would now be called the ''crime of
1858 Silver was practically demone-
tized by this act and the act of 1884
1T is certain that from 1901. when
Mr. Jefferson became president, to the
close OF Buchanans administration in
1861, the Democratic party was a gold
party, opposed to silver and all fo-ms
of paper money.
When the Republican party came
into power in 1861, by the election of
Mr.. Lincoln, il had to face foqrmid-
able rebellion. Gold and silver were
alike banisted from circulation, and
i1Tedeemable paper money Of all de-
nominetione from ten cents to ten
thousand dollars, substituted in place
of coin. When the war was over. the
Repu blican party sought to restore spe-
Gle payments as soon as practicable. In
March, 169, it pledged the
FAITH OF THE NATION
to payment in coin or its equivalent of
all bonds Of the United States and to re-
deem the United States notes at the
earliest practicable moment in coin.
In order to carry out this pledge
it became necessary 60 revise the va1i-
Gus coinage laws of the United States
This was promptly and very carefully
done by a bill framed in the treasury
department while Mr.. Boutelle was sec
Rotary. This bill omitted from the
coins Of the United States the silver
dollar, precisely as was done in 1853,
but provided for the coinage of the
fractional parts of the dollar in &C
cordance with the act of that year.
This bili was pending in congress for
three years, was carefully considered in
both houses, and special attention was
called to the omission of the 4I2k
grains silver dollar which was never
in the bill at any stage, and the rea-
sons for this omission given. The bill
passed both houses and became a law
Feb. u, 1877, by practically unanimous
vote of both parties, and was especially
supported by the senators and mem
ber1s from the silver states. This has
been called
THE CRIME OF 1872
and as the bill was under my charge
nthe senate, I was held to be the
chief criminal 1t was in fact. wise
measure of public policy, carefully dis
cussed and considered during three
years.
ct is strange that the very men who
supported the coinage of 1878, and de-
manded the exclusive use of gold are
the very men who demand the free
coinage of silver and denounce as
'goldites' and robbers all those who
believe in the coinage of both gold
and Silver"
Senator Sherman quoted from speech
es delivered in 1874 by Senators Jones
and Stewart, one favcring e, gold stand
ard and continued:
Senators Jones and Stewart and all
the representatives and senators of the
silver states, were urgent and honest
in saying than gold was the best and
only standard of value, but they chang
ed their minds when the largely in
creased and increasing production of
silver in Nevada and other states re-
duced the market va.s-e of silver below
that of gold at the established ratio of
f6 to / When the coinage Ia. wof 1873
was enacted, neither gold nor silver
was used in domestic transactions, but
we collected our customs duties in gold
coin and conducted our foreign COM
MERGE in gold, the money of the world.
1t was not until January, 1873, that the
first step was taken to resume specie
payments nor did we resume until
January, 1879.
During this period silver rapidly
fell in market value below gold at the
ratio of 16 to l. Prior and subsequent
to 1878 many
CHANGES WERE MADE IN COIN
ACE
by the leading countries of the world,
and gold became the standard OF val
ues in those countries, but in all silver
was coined and largely used as a sub
sidiary coin, precisely as in the United
States. The Bland bill, it if had be-
come a law as it passed the house,
would have demonetized gold. When
the bill came to the senate, an amend
ment was made. on the motion of Sen
TOR Allison which changed the scOne