Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-09-17

In 1884, during the administration Of
President Jackson and under the leader
ship of Daniel Webster and Thomas Fl.
Benton, congress- adopted the rntio Of is Of
silver 10 Of gold by reducing the num-
Der of grains in the gold coin. AS silver
was thus slightly undervalued 1t was not
largely coined.
Gold Basis Established.
Silver could be coined in France Mt tho
rntio of 1914 to 1, and the owner Of silver
bullion could send it to France and have it
converted into coin at that ratio, thus re-
ceivins about per cent more for his bull
lion than IL coined ut tie American ratio
of IS to !. Gold became the only Au,cri
can coin In circulation, and the nvowc d
purpose OF the passage Of the law Of 1884
was to make gold the standard. This was
declared by the committee Of the house Of
representatives who had charge of the bill.
who said in their report:
The committee think that the dcsider-
alum In the monetary 8. stem IL Il standard
Of uniform value. They ennnot ascertain
that both metals have c;cr circulated
simultaneously, conveniently and indis-
criminately In any country where there aro
banks CT money dealers, and they enter
tain the conviction that the Nearest ap-
proach to an invarinblc standard is it's
establishment in one metal, which metal
shall compose exclusively the currency for
large payments"
This law. heartily approved by Andrew
jackson, would now he called "thc crime
Of 1884" In 1858, upon the report of Sen
ntor Hunter when Pierce vas IrcsiGt Mt,
G::G = zen all branches OF the government
~c:s ar Democratic control, congress
r-&t'ec'SX,e quantity OF silver in the frnc-
tion.l coins (half dimes, dimes, quarters
and half dollars) more than per cent, d.
rcctcd the purchase of the silver for their
coinage on government account, abolished
the law for their free coinage and made
them legal tender for So only, leaving
gold still practically the only full legal
tender United States coin. At this time
the silver dollar had disappeared from the
current coins OF the United States and was
practically and purposcly dc"onctized.
The purpose of this act is nus stated by
the chairman Of the commit havin. the
bill in charge in the house of representa-
tives:
1--WE propose, so far as those coins are
concerned, to make silver sul,scr> lent to
the gold coin of the country. We intend to
omy have approved; what experience.
where the experiment has been tried, has
demonstrated to lc the best and what the
committee lciievcS To lie TO cSSHry and
propcr-to make Lat one standard of cur
rcncy and TO make all others subscrvient
to 1t. We mean to make gold the standard
cOin."
Democratic Party Once IA Gold Party.
This l suppose would now be called
"thc crime of 1858" Silver was l,r;., teal
~ dcmonctizcG by this act and the act of
1884.
1t is certain that from 1901, when Mr..
Jefferson became president, to the close of
Buchanan's administration in 1861, the
Democratic party was gold party, opposed
to silver and all forms Of paper money. AS
l have already stated, Mr.. jefferson, in
1906, suspended the coinage Of silver dol
lars, and it remained suspended for more
than 80 years The act of congress of 1884
established gold as practically the only coin
in circulation. Gold coins were Bentons
mint drops" All Democrats were then
"goldbugs. ~ Senator Hunter In 1858,
during Pierce's administration, secured tho
passage of u law which reduced the silver
In the half dimes, dimes, quarters and half
dollars, making them subsidiary coins,
abolished their free coinage and limited
their legal tender to IS. The silver dollar
was not mentioned and practically was ex-
cluded from coinage or circulation-yet
now the Democratic party, upon the de-
mand of the Populist party, and when sill
yer has fallen in market value to nearly
one half it's former value, seeks to demone-
tie gold and to establish silver as the sole
standard of value.
When the Republican party came into
power in 1851 by the election Of Mr.. Lin
coin, 1t had to face a formidable rebellion.
Gold and silver were alike banished from
circulation, and irredeemable paper money
Of all denominations, from 10 cents to ST.
900, was substituted in place of coin. When
the war was over, the Republican party
sought to restore specie payment as soon
as practicable. In March, 1869, it pledged
the faith of the nation to payment in coin
or its equivalent of all bonds of the United
States and to redeem the United States
notes at the earliest practicable moment
in coin.
The Law of 1873.
In order to carry out this pledge it be-
came necessary to revise the various coin
age laws of the United States. This was
promptly and very carefully done by bill
framed in the treasury department while
Mr.. Boutwell, was secretary 1t was thor
oughly considered by the experts of that
department and was printed and submitted
to all persons in the United States who
were supposed to be familiar with the
coinage laws. The bill, containing 81 Sec
lions, accompanied by mass of informa-
ton that fills volume, was sent to con-
gress April 90, 1870, by Secretary Bout
well, and its passage was strongly recon-
mended by him. This bill omitted from
the coins of the United States the silver
dollar, precisely as was done in 1858, but
provided for the coinage of the fractional
parts of the dollar in accordance with the
act of that year. This bill was pending in
congress for three years-was carefully
considered in both houses and special at
tention was called to the omission of the
412% grain silver dollar, which was never
in the bill at any stage, and the reasons for
this omission given. 1t was finally deter
mined, at the urgent request of members
from the Pacific coast, to insert among
the silver coins trade dollar containing
400 grains of standard silver, but this dol.
lar was made, like the minor coins, legal
tender for So only There was but one yea
and nay vote on the bill, and that was on
the rrOnOSitiOn tO reDnal the charge made