Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-19
A MANIFEST ERROR.

Did the people of the United States
ever have free coinage of silver? Gov
ernor Oates says not. We quote from
his letter published in the State Herald
Tuesday morning as follows:
"A law for the free and unlimited coin
age of silver would be to allow every
owner of bullion to take it to the mint
and coin it into dollars at the ratio of
l6 to without paying anything therefor.
1t would be a new and untried expert
ment in this country. We never have
had law authorizing the free and I'M
limited coinage of silver
This statement was not made in the
heat of debate, but after mature delibera-
ton, in a written communication to the
press intended for the public. If the gov
ernor was in error about this matter, no
doubt he will be pleased to be put right
Let's see how this emphatic assertion of
an able lawyer a distinguished ex-con-
gresham, the worthy governor of great
state. who has stated that he made over
100 speeches to the people of Alabama
in opposition to the free coinage of silver
fallacy, contrasts with the following ex-
tracts from the statutes of the United
States:
TT shall be lawful for any person or
persons to bring to the said mint gold
and silver bullion in order to their being
coined, and the bullion so brought shall
be there assayed and coined as speedily
as may be after the receipt thereof, and
that free of expense to the person or per-
sons by whom the same shall have been
brought" (Section IA, act of April 2,
1892, l u. S. statutes, page 249)
This was the law of the land until the
act of January is, 1887 Section IA of this
act reads as follows:
THAT gold and silver bullion brought
TO the mint for coinage shall be received
and coined by the proper officers for the
benefit of the depositor. ="
Section IS of above named act reads
as follows:
THAT the only subjects of charge by
the mint to the depositor shall be the fol-
lowing: For refining when the bullion
is below standard; for toughening when
metals are contained in 1t which render
it unfit for coinage; for copper used for
alloy when the bullion is above standard;
for silver introduced into the alloy of
gold, and for separating the silver and
gold when these metals exist together in
the bullion, and that the rate of these
charges shall be fixed by the di-
rector, with the concurrence of the secre-
tary of the treasury, so as not to exceed,
in their Judgment, the actual expense to
the mint of the materials and labor en-
ployed in each of the cases aforemen-
toned" 6 u. S. statutes page 1881
This was the law, in substance the
same as the act of 1872, until it was re-
pealed by the act of February IL, 1873.
Under this law there were coined, free
of expense to the depositors of silver
bullion, S,O31,23 standard silver dollars
and over 1OoOO00OO of subsidiary silver
coins, which were full legal tender and
full weight until debased and demone-
tized by the act of February 81, 1873.
1t is always well enough to be accurate
iii these little matters and we feel that
we have done our honored governor SER
vice in calling hts attention to the dis
crepancy between his statement and the
declarations of the United States stat
utes.