The advocate., 1896-07-22
q JUST WHAT Is FREE SILVER COINAGE
Is TO l."

An lnEelllRenG T6hOoF WIAtoS w INV N"PsSA''
81 have asked many voters what does free COIN
age OF silver mean, and in no one instance
have had an intelligent or truthful reply 1t
is also true that every man to whom have
put the question is shouting for the Chicago
platform and Bryan" This gentleman asks
the Capital for a plain statement As to just
what free and unlimited coinage at 16 to 1, as
demanded by the Chicago platform, is
Then our neighbOr undertakes to in
form its correspondent what free coin
age is; and after ssying-"It is, in the
first place, something fundamentally
different from the purchase and coin
age of silver by the government, such
as this country has had from 1878 to
1885," it adds:
Free coinage is the coinage Of silver by the
government without charge. There has been
no such thing really in the whole history Of
the United States.
If the Capital will turn to act Of
Congress approved April 2, 1899, enti-
tied "An act establishing q mint and
regulating the coinage OF the United
States" it will find section IA begin
ming with this sentence: "Thst 1t shall
be lawful for any person or persons to
bring to the said mint gold and silver
bullion, in order to their being coined;
and that the bullion so brought shall
be there assayed and coined as speedily
as may be after the receipt thereof,
and that free Of egpe1aSe to the person
or persons by 10hOm the same shall haze
been brought" F"
We ask the attention of the Capital
to the italicized words in the above ex-
tract. 1t appears that free coinage Of
both metals was provided for In the
Grst mint and coinage act Of our Con.
gress. Will the Capital revise its
statement that ''there has been no such
thing really in the whole history Of the
country" as "colnsge of silver by the
government without charger"
That law (of April 2, 1892 remained
in torce, so far as free coinage of silver
dollars is concerned, until 1853.
by act of January IS, 1897, when the
ratio was changed from Is to to l6 to
l, the wording of the old law was
changed slightly, as follows:
That gold and silver bullion brought to the
mint for coinage, shall be received and coined,
by the proper officers for the benefit Of the
depositor.
That language appears as the first
sentence of section IA. 1t is provided
in section 49,
That the only subjects Of charge by the mint
to the depositor shall be the following: For
refining when the bullion is below standard
for toughening when IN stAls are contained in
1t which render 1t unfit for coinage; for copper
used for alloy when the bullion is above
Standard for silver introduced into the alloy
Of gold; and for separating the gold and silver
when these metals exist together in the bull
ion
BY act of February 2l, 1853, 1t was
provided In section 6 that charge "of
one.hslf of one per centum" should be
made on all coinage except half dollars,
quarters and dimes. And that charge
was lawful until the coinage act Of 1875
was passed, which dropped the silver
dollar out of our list of coins, and pro.
yided for the free coinage of gold
There has been no charge for coming
gold since that time.
Again, we ask the Capital to revise
its statement and tell itS readers plainly
what the law and the custom have
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