Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-10-03
GOLD n

Watts and Chilton's speeches. You
ay he boasts that the silver dollar is
llow as good as any other dollar, but
Itdroitly avoids telling the people
hat it is such by virtue of the fact
hat it has a redeemer-gold.' You
know there is not anything back Of
he silver dollar today, and the Gov
hrnment does not agree to redeem it.
|The law reads this way: Cold and
ilver dollars are not redeemable.'
II do not like for you to make such
statements as that for you know bet
er. And as for gold being worth 100
tents on the dollar, the banks here
weigh it. Last Saturday a gold hat
nan went in with a $40 gold coin.
The cashier threw it on the scales and
gave him $40. so for it. So the yell
ow hat was changed to a white one"
1t is evident that our correspondent
S slightly off as to the status of the
silver dollar. He is correct as to gold.
Under free coinage THE GOVERN
|MENT DOES NOT GUARANTEE
THE VALUE OF A COIN. 1t simply
guarantees its weight and %hneness,
(which are known by the number OF
~follars stamped upon it. For exam
|ple, Give dollars on a gold coin
means S times a5.8 grains of standard
gold, nine-tenths fine; or ''ten dol
liars" ten times 25.8 grains. When
Ia gold coin becomes abraded or worn
bit does not contain the full amount of
gold and is therefore no longer worth
fits face value. That is the penalty it
pays for enjoying the privilege Of free
|coinage. Any other provision would
|be unjust. Because of the value of
|the gold, were its full face value guar
|anteed rogues would be enabled to
|"wash off, a large portion and thus
|defraud the Government and people.
|By common consent banks weigh
|gold thereby removing the tempta-
|tion to williully debase the coin.
On the other hand the Government
does guarantee the value of the silver
dollar. 1t buys the bullion and says
that 37I.25 grains of pure silver, or
HAS grains of standard silver, is a
dollar. Silver may be worth but rs
cents an ounce, yet the silver dollar
passes for 100 cents by virtue of the
|law of November 1, 1893, and preced-
ng acts, which declare it ITO be the
policy of the United States to con-
inue the use of both gold and silver
rs standard money, and to coin both
gold and silver into money of equal
intrinsic and exchangeable value"
Had we free coinage of silver, it
would pass for its bullion value, the
sane as gold, and no more.
In order that our friend. and other
leaders as we'll, may fully understand
he real situation as to the silver dol
ar we give a brief history of the sill
yer policy of the Government, which
nay enlighten him to some ex-
emit and cause him to change his
mind as to the truthfulness of the
tatement we made in our criticism of
1essrs. Watts and Chiffon. 1t is as
blows:
From 1892 to 1858 the Government
oined both gold and silver for any
ne who presented the bullion for
UGH a purpose. The act OF February
I, 1858, however, stopped the free
oinage OF fractional silver and en-
powered the Director of the Mint to
purchase silver bullion for the Gov
rnment, to be used in minting coins
f a lower denomination than one dol
n.
The act of Febreary IL, 1873, stop
led the coinage Of the old standard
liver dollar of 4I2H grains and au-
horized the coinage Of the trade dol
ar of 42o grains, for private individ-
ais, making it a legal tender for S..
Nae trade dollar was deprived of its
Hgal tender feature by joint resolu-
on of July p, 1876, and dropped
ON the list of coins March 3, 1887.
On February IS, 1873, an act of
congress known as the Bland Act,
assed over the veto of the President,
estored the standard silver dollar of
I2H grains as a full legal tender
Din, and directed the purchase by the
overnment of 81, 900, 900 to $4,000
b worth of silver bullion per month
II coinage into dollars. Holders of
ne coin were authorized to deposit
ne same with the United States
treasurer and to receive therefor GER
fcaIes of deposit, known as silver
certificates. These certificates are
OF legal tender, although receivable
} n customs, taxes, and sllpublic dues
nd are redeemable only in silver.
On July IS, 1890, a law known as
lie Sherman Aet) stopped the COM
ulsory coinage of silver dollars, and
lcreased purchases of silver bullion
1880, 900 ounces per month,
gainst which treasury notes, re-
eemable in GOLD OR SILVER
DIN at the discretion of the Secre-