The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-09
THE DOLLAR OF THE DADpIEs.

That was smart scheme of the mine
owners when they discovered that the out
put OF the mines of the world was outrun-
ming the demand, and the price of silver
was declining rapidly, to try to create a de-
mand where none had ever existed; hence,
presuming on the ignorance and gullibiity
of the average American, they raised the
hue and cry that they had been robbed of
the dollar of the daddes because the gov
eminent had ceased to coin silver dollars.
The mine owners knew all the time that
hardly single dollar had ever been coined
from native silver and not many from any
silver except the old smooth quarters and
bits and pistareens and marks and francs
that had found their way TO this country,
chiefly through immigrants, and which. be-
ing uncurrent were turned into the mint at
prices that they could afford to put 41212
grains of 1t into single dollar; and these
mine owners knew, also, that hardly a sin
gle dollar thus coined ever went into cir
culation. but, being intrinsicalIy worth
more than gold dollar, they were all Elk
ported for the bullion that was in them or
they were converted into silverware at
home and that the only dollar the daddies
ever saw WAS the spanish LlllleQ dOIIdT,
worth IS cents in gold. or the 5-franc,
worth about the same, and not one of these
even had been seen for thirteen years
more. They knew too, that while the
mint was running and was not only willing
but anxious to take their silver and coin il
free, and without limit, they would not fur
nsh an ounce Of it without the mint's pay
ing from l to 5b per cent premium for it.
The miners were not to blame for this.
They could get from S1.02 to $1.05a for 412l5
grains of silver as bullion, and their pa
triotism and love for the daddies never
once suggested turning it over to make
dollars OF for somebody else 70 sell a these
figures after being coined. In 1870, when
the bill to cease coming money was first
introduced 41219 grains of silver was worth
in bullion $1.021 and it had not been cheap
er than that for twenty years, and then
only for short time, ur der exceptional
circumstances. the average for more than
a hundred years being about five cents
above a dollar in gold 1t was this fact
which made Senator Stewart, himself a
mine owner, favor the bill and deliver that
famous speech in favor of the gold dollar
as the one standard. There were at that
time no indications visible to any one that
the almost uniform ratio of about 1872 for
nearly two hundred years would ever be
changed hence no remonstrance was heard
from mine owners or anybody else and the
bill passed, after more than two years of
discussion. But when. four years later, sill
yer had declined until it would be profitable
to have it coined free, they all at once dis
covered that by a great crime the dollar of
the daddieS had disappeared, and they
found echoes who took up the refrain, and
now that they can get only fifty-three cents
for what they once refused to take a hun
dred cents, they are heartbroken over the
fact that the dollar OF the daddies, the old
Spanish miled dollar is no more forever
1t alleviates their grief not little bit that
500, 900 of silver dollars have been coined
in eighteen years, as against 5000 900 in the
preceding eighty years. They still want
the dollar of the daddies; that is they
want to sell fifty-three cents worth of sill
yer for one hundred cents They will never
do it.