Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-10-03
GOLD OR SILVER.
Which Kind of Money Do You
Prefer2

ment in issuing money Of any kint
: when the first one was n total failure.
Ono experiment in issuing "unback
ed" silver dollars, which seems to have
been overlooked, was tried, and now
with no new ideas, no new material
and under no new conditions, one
branch OF the Democratic Party has
the infinite assurance to ask us to try
another on a grander scale.
The "Trade Dollar" was Dollar
just as much as any other dollar, taking
the place, as it did, of the standard
dollar in our monetary system. 1t was
"unbacked" by gold, or by anything
except the government stamp upon it,
and by Sec. Is OF the act OF Feb IS, 1878,
it was made legal tender along with all
other silver coins, to no more limited
sum than any other silver coins OF that
date.
1t is useless to say that it was de-
signed for use in our Oriental trade.
The law which gave it being does not
even hint any such use, and there exists
no legal reason for saying that it was
designed until we find it, three years
after the birth oi the Trade Dollar, in
directly limited at in the last paragraph
of the Joint Resolution of July %, 1876.
section 2.
Was the "Trade Dollar, then, Il
"dollar"? Let us see it's relationship
by the history OF the American Silver
Dollar:
The Silver Dollar was established by
the act of Apr. 3, 1892, Sec. 8, at 4l6
grains of standard silver, of fueness
of S9.242 per cent; janis, 1897, the 9th
section of the coinage act changed the
dollar to 4l2! grains, 80 per cent of this
being pure silver; the act of Feb. II,
1878, Sec. 2l, and Sec. Is, changed this
to 420 grains, 80 per cent fine; the
Joint Resolution of July %, 1876, Sec. .
took away the legal tender powers of
this last dollar, 1.-THE so called Trade
Dollar; this 450 grain dollar hung in a
comatose condition until Feb. 10, 1887,
when the government bought them in
at face value, and stopped their coin
age by an act a few days later March
3, 1887
All these coins were ''dollars", so
designated by the law. and all having
the word dollar stamped upon their
surfaces; yet one of them, the 420 grain
dollar meyer had gold backing, or a
circulation at par with gold. Sec. 2S of
the act of Feb. II, 1873, says they have
no gold backing, while the half dollars,
quarters, and dimes are allowed to
remain backed up by gold.
How did the dollar work? Itwas the
most valuable dollar ever issued; it
contained nearly grains more of
standard silver than our present dollar,
and 4 grains more than the original
dollar of 1892.
AT first it circulated freely at par
with all other dollars, being legal
tender. People had not discovered
that it was only piece of silver, and
had only the value given it by the
scales and the market quotations.
Almost anything will circulate for
m oney among the ignorant. Kings for
merly made their money hall lead on
the sly, and it circulated until the
people found it out, then it was worth
just half as much.
Just as soon as it was found out to be
"unbacked" except by Uncle Sans ipse
dixlt, and its own weight. it fell to its
bullion value of so or So cents.
1t thus became sore on Congress,
and one which the people refused to
salve, and on Feb. 10, 1887, the Trade
Dollar was killed, and whateyer guam
Titles the people had on hand were
called in and honesty redeemed on a
gold basis.
Do you want any more such variable,
unsettled chunks of silver for dollars?
Do you want to have your pay weighed
out to you on the scales? Do you want
to have 16 ounces of silver in your house
worth Sl1.04 to-day, and worth perhaps
tomorrow when the market report
comes out in the morning newspaper,
$1,000 or 1855?
Don't you want it to be $11.04 to-day;
$lI.N tomorrow, and $11.04 with the
added interest next year?
If you do, vote for sound money, and
avoid pitfalls set for the unthoughtful.
S.
| East ToledO Sent 90 1900