Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-10-31
THAT rnADE-DoLLAn AGAIN.


Trade Dollar is called up for hearing.
The following is the "squib" from
the Democrat:
The PERRYsBURG JOURNAL has an
article from correspondent who
claims that because the old Trade Dol
lar OF 42O grains was not worth dollar
therefore we should have no more
coinage of silver. The Trade Dollar
is not legal tender, that is what was the
matter with it. Wheat Is not a legal
tender, therefore dollars worth of
wheat will not pay debt for a dollar
unless the creditor chooses to take it,
Now, really, the old man must haye
been out cheering for Bryan when that
thing was written, and the Office boy
tried his hand, Surely the erodite
editor OF the Democrat knows better
than that. He is a great fellow to give
advice to voters If he never read the
law creating theTrade Dollar. For his
enlightenment, | will be compelled to
quote Section l5, of the Act of Feb. IL,
1878. After reading it, he will kindly
inform us If he still thinks the Trade
Dollar was not legal tender. Here is
Section 10 in full, as it RELATES TO THE
TRADE DOLLAR:
"That the silver coins of the United
States shall be Trade Dollar,
half dollar, or fifty cent piece,
quarter dollar, or twenty-five cent
piece, dime or ten cent piece; AMI
the weight of the trade dollar shall
be four hundred and twenty grains
troy; the weight of the half-dollar
shall be twelve grams (grammes)
and one half of a gram (gramme0
the quarter-dollar and the dime
shall be, respectively, one half and
one fifth of said half-dollar; and
SAID COINS SHALL BE LEGAL
TENDER AT THEIR NOMINAL
VALUE"
The legal tender quality of the trade
doll lr was not taken from it for three
years, five months, and ten days after
its creation. On July %, 1876, Con-
gress passed a Joint resolution about
several things, but Section of this
resolution begins with these words:
That the trade dollar shall not
hereafter be legal tender"
If 1t never was legal tender, why
did Congress goto the trouble 10 s,opit?
No; the the cold hard facts still re-
main illuminated in all their ghastly
chilliness by the search-light of truth:
. fhnt t,1 4
once made dollar heavier and purer
than any other ever made; that it made
that dollar legal tender, but did not
allow 1T to circulate on par with gold,
(See Sec. 2S, Act of Feb. IL, 1879, and
the inevitable result was that it only
passed for its bullion value, which at
that time was but so or S5 cents. Had
the present market rates on silver bull
lion, sixty-four cents per ounce, pre-
vailed at that time, the trade dollar
would have passed for but fifty cents.
In moment of alteration, the editor
actually refers to wheat. OF all things
the Bryanite should steer clear of wheat
just now. That's toucby thing. You
see Mr.. Rryan and his followers have
been howllug all over the land that
"w wheat aud silvergo up and down in
value together, and if you bring silver
up which you can't wheat vii! go up
with it," Facts are queer things: sill
yer has fallen from SO cents per ounce
to GA cents per ounce in four weeks.
and wheat has simply doubled in value!
Thus fell the great iron-clad argu
m ,nG of The silyerite: OIL what IL fan
was there my countrymen!"
If the eleceiou could he put of until
d .cember, l believe that even that
mighty gap cut across the face of MIR.
Bryan. and which people take for his
mouth, would be contracted to an ORR
Fl te so small that not more than one
false statement could ooze out of it at
time
That wheat business is just to our
hand. The editor says that "wheat is
not legal tender, hence a dollars worth
of wheat will not pay debt of a dollar
unless the creditor chooses to take it,"
Do you suppose that if the govern
ment were to make wheat legal tender
that the creditor would take it? What
would he do? He would not allow you
to get Into debt to him, if he had to
take wheat and especially if he had
to take fifty cents worth of wheat and
call it dollars worth! He would
cease to do business. So would our
manufacturers cease if they were core
PEELED to take fifty cents worth of silver
and call it dollar. Making wheat, or
iron, or silver legal tender won't make
people do business in order to get it, i'll
they don't want it. Fifty cents worth
of silver will meyer go for a dollar to
any extent whatever, because people
don't want such pay, and will cease bus