The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-09-27
HISTORY OF THE
SILVER DOLLAR
Graphic Account Of the Origin and
Passage Of the Act
Of 1878.
ORIGINATED IN TREASURY
Drafted By Or. Linderman and Revised
by Controller KnoK-No Conceal
ment about the Matter, Which
Was Above Board.


Was Above Board.
Astoria. September 20 ITO the EdltorJ
THE declaration that the act of 1873
was crime against silver. and demon
etized IL. has always seemed 50 absurd
TO me that ] never thought OF giving
1t serious consideration: hct its dam
nable iteration" as Prince Hal says.
moves me to give you some OF my own
personal recoIlections Of the matter.
Occupying a position OF considerable
responsibility at the capital for period
Of eighteen years. ! was naturally
thrown In contact with most Of the
principal officers OF the government,
and among them none more intimately !
than with the Hon. John J. Knox, |
when deputy. and subsequently as
comptroller OF the currency. We visi-
ted each other often socially and
saw him daily. He was a practical
banker, a close student OF political
economy. and withal a pronounced ad-
vocate OF bImetallIsm. 7 was frequent
ly At his bachelor rooms and at his
residence when married. and in 1870
and succeeding years have heard him
converse with Mr. Linderman. director
OF the mint, upon the subject Of the
coinage law. repeatedly The reputa-
ton Of both these officers for integrity,
as well as for profound knowledge OF
the laws OF finance, coinage and circu-
lation. was undisputed,
Prior to the passage Of the act OF
1873, which act. you will remember, was
simply one providing for a general re-
vision and codihcation OF the laws re-
lating TO the mint, the silver dollar
OF the United States was practically
out OF circulation (save possibly on the
Pacific coast, and not in favor there).
The director OF the mint. in his report
of 1861, had recommended a reform in
the coinage laws. among other matters
proposing 10 drop from coinage the sill
yer dollar or make II a subsidiary coin,
and again in 1866 the director OF the
mint repeated this recommendation. 1t
was not however, until 1870 that the
bill was drafted. Comptroller Knox
and Director Linderman were OF one
mind on the subject The bill did not
originate in congress, but in the treas !
ury department. The draft was made |
by DR.. Linderman and revised by !
Comptroller Knox, and during its prep !
aration and subsequently these gentle |
men solicited opinions from many per
sons who understood coinage and !
money matters. Its passage was rec
commended by the secretary Of the
treasury in his annual report, and the |
widest possible notice was given and
criticism invited Mr., Knox, in his
published report to congress, fully ex-
planned the fact. and the purpose Of
dropping the coinage of the silver dol |
lar, and II was universally conceded |
to be measure of wise public policy. |
No thought of concealment ever en-
tered the minds OF its authors or of |
any of the large number of persons /
who knew about It, 1t received uni |
versal commentator, and the reasons |
for II appeared to them ample and con-
elusive. 1t was conceded that since the |
of the government there |
had always been difficulty in keeping !
silver dollars in circulation. and that
up to 1870 but about 100000 of them |
had been coined. That they were then |
out of circulation because at pre-
MUM. and therefore boarded. That
they were not adapted for currency in
sums over five dollars on account Of |
their size and weight, and there was
no demand for them for circulation. |
That the country had not come to spe- |
Gle payment. In short, that they were
utterly Improbable and useless to the
government or the citizen and must |
be made a subsidiary coin like the half
dollar If they were to be kept in circu-
ation. 1t never occurred to either |
Knox or Director Linder-
man that anyone would doubt the fact
that gold was the standard Of the Uni
ted States at that time.
Knox admitted that we had been
on gold basis since 1884,
and he was, as 1 have said, a bimetal-
list of the most earnest type, as was
his friend, General Francis A. Walker,
hen census commissioner. Silver at this
time had not begun to fall in price, but
discussions as to its demonetization in
Europe were the subject of daily con-
and Knox would have been
utterly opposed to the adoption of a
single standard, either of gold or silver.
AS to Earnest Seyd, the distinguished
European bimetallst, whom It is said
4 syndicate of English bankers sent
here to bribe congressman to pass the
act of 1873, he was well acquainted
with Comptroller Knox, and perfectly
aware that they occupied common
ground on the subject of bimetallism,
and Mr.. Seyd was strongly opposed to
the dropping of the silver dollar from
coinage as to which he disagreed with
Knox
Continued on Fourth Page.) !