The American guide., 1896-08-22

ship of Daniel Wehst( and Thomas u.
Benton, congress adorfd the ratio OF 10
of silver to Of gold. byt 9ducins he rrm-
ber Of grains In the gf coin AS SILVER
was thus slightly unde4falueu' II was not
largely coined.
silver could be coind in France at tho
ratio OF i5,i to 1. and ~ owner Of silver
bullion could send It v France and have
IL converted into coin II hat ratio, thus rc-
ceiving about 3 per ceI more Tor MS oui.
lion than II coined at American ratio OF
1G to !. Gold becameI he only American
coin IN circulation. AZ the avowel pur-
nose OF the passage o1the law OF 1884 was
to make gold the STANDARD. This was de-
clared by the commiYse OF the house OF
representatives who Ind charge OF the
bfll, who said in lrIe7ort;
'The committee thlk that the desid-
cratum In the monetafJ system Is stann-
ard OF uniform value they cannot ascer-
tain that both metat nave ever circu-
lated simultaneously, I,ncurrently and In
discriminatory in any iountry where there
are banks or money 4alers, and they en-
tertain the conviction hat the nearest hp-
proach to an Invariably standard Is us cs-
tabishment In one petal whleh meta
shall compose exclusi'fly the currency Tor
large payments"
,rhla law. heartily tlproved by Andrew
jackson. would now " called the crime
OF 1894" In 1863. upon lhe report OF senator
Hunter, when Pierce, was president ana
when all branches z government were
under democratic co1trol. congress re-
duced the quantity q silver in the frac-
tional coins thalf diifes, dimes, quarters
| md half dollars) moo than per cent,
directed the purchase OF silver Tor thelr
| coinage on government account, abolished
| The law for their fro coinage and made
them a legal tender ;or IS only. leaving
gold still practically tho only full legal
tender United States t,lns AT this time the
silver dollar had tiisa reared from the cur
rent coins of the urlted States and was
practically and purpfsely demonotlzed.
The purpose OF thiHact Is thus stated by
| the chairman of the Committee having the
bill In charge In the pouse Of representa-
tivcs:
I'VE propose, so fIr as these coins are
| concerned, to make Silver subvcrslve TO
the gold coin OF the ciuntry. We intend TO
do what the best VIZ \Ts on political ccono-
| my have approved, / experience where
the experiment hd tried, has demon
| stratcd to he tho md what the COM
mittce believes Il y kcssary and proper
| to make but-In1o- Hlard OF currency
| and to makei 9th slibservlent to II.
We mean to/ ko go|d tpe standard coin.
This, / pose, You'd now be called
"the crlu 0f 1S5s'l Silver was prncti-
cally denaN etixed by this act and the act
1t Is ain that f,pm 1901, when Mr., Jef.
fcrson .I<came president. TO the close OF
puehaNan's admin ii.ration In 1861, the
Democratic party WIS a gold party, op-
posed to silver anl all forms OF paper
l}ainoney. As have nirsady stated, Mfr. Jof-
ferson in 1850 susr ndr1 the coinage OF
silver dollars, and r0m1ined suspended
for more than 80 y ars The act OF CON
| errss OF lsSt estublis cd r0l1 as practically
| the only coin an clfullaiion. Gold coins
were Bonton's "mht l.1rs" Al demo
Gratis were then 'xol hur Senator Hunt
er. In 1879, durlhg stesee0 administration
secured the passafY OF law which re-
duccd the silver In thc half dimes, dimes,
quarters and half dollars mailing them
subsidiary coins. 2Alished their free coin
age and Am!,e@ Legal lender ,tni, to ~ ~
practically was {. Ied froA coinage OF
| circulation--yct now the democratic party
upon tho demand Of tn, populist party,
and whom silver has fallen in market value
to nearly onc-half It's former value, seeks
to demoRtizc gold and to establish silver
as the sole standard Of value.
Whom tho republican party came into
power In 1851 by the election Of Mr.. Lin
coin It Ind to face n formidable rebel
lion. Gold and silver were alike BAN
ishcd from circulation, and rrcdccmablc
paper money Of all denominations, from
10 cents to sl,Go, was substituted In
place OF coin. When tho war was over the
republican party sought to restore specie
payment as soon as practicable. In March,
lS69. II pledged the faith of the nation ia
payment In coin or Its equivalent OF al
bonds Of the United States and TO redeem
tho United statcs notes at the earliest
practicable moment In coin.
In order to carry out this pledge II be.
camo necessary to revise the various coin.
age laws OF the United States This was
promptly and vcrY carefully done by q
bill framed In The treasury department
while MIR. BOUTWELL, was secretary. /,
was thoroughly Considered by the expert,
OF that departme and was printed and
submitted TO all persons in tho United
States who were supposed to bc familiar
with the coinage laws. The bill. contain
ing 81 sections, accompanied by q mass Of
Information that nils volume, was sent
to congress April 25 iSo, by Secretary
| noutwoli and ia passage was strongly
recommended by him. This bill omitted
from the coins Of the United States tho
silver dollar, precisely as was done In 1853
but provided for the coinage OF the frac-
tional parts Of the dollar In accordance
with the act OF that year This bll was
pending IN congress for three yc0rs-wa'
carefully considered In both houses, and
! special attention was called to the oinis'
sion Of the il2la grains SILVER dollar which
was never In the hill at any stage, and tho
reasons for this omission given. 1t was
| finally determined at the urgent request
| OF members from tho Pacific coast to In.
sort among the silver coins a trade dollar
containing e, grains OF standard silver,
but this dollar was made like tho minor
coins, a legal tender for 81 only There was
but one yea and nay vote upon the blll, and
tha, was on the proposition to repeal the
| charge made by the mint for the coinage
Of gold voted against Its repeal Tn,
I'm passed both houses and became n law
February 49, 1873, by practically a unnnl'
nous vote OF both parties and was special
ly supported and voted for by the senator's
and members from the silver states,
Thla has been called the "crlmo Of is7a. -
and as tho bill was under my charge In the
senate was hold to be the chief criminal
| II was. In fact, a wise measure Of public
policy, carefully discussed and considered
during three years.
When We test this outcry against this act
with the sober facts shown by official rec
ords. II appears somewhat ludicrous. The
total number OF silver dollars coined from
I7p? to is7s was s,uai.?ss while the number
| OF trade dollars issued under tho coinage
act Of is7a containing ~ grains more sill
yer than the old dollar. was 80, o65.pei and
the number OF standard silver dollars
| coined under tho Blnnd-Allson act of iSs
was $50, 7sOoil, or "a times the number Is
sued before is73.
II Is strange that tho very men who sup
ported and urged this coinage law Of 1874
and demanded tho exclusive coinage Of
gold are the very men who now demand
tho FREQ coinage Of silver and dcnounce
as ''goldites'' and ''robbers" all those who
believe In the coinage Of both gold and
silver.
1t has been said that tho dropping OF
tho silver dollar In tho coinage act OF iS7,
was surrcptitlously done. This charge ID
shown TO be false by the debates In con.
gross, and especially by the declarations
OF tho men who now make tho charge. six-
teen months after the passage Of that act
Senator Jones, Of Nevada, In a debate In
the senate Juno II. 1874. said:
II am opposed to any proposition, come