Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-05-07
Democratic Northwest.
AND HENRY COUNTY NEWS.
The Meaning of 16 to 1.
columbus Press. ]

The meaning OF the phrase, "l6 10
/" as touching the relations of gold
and silver, is not fully comprehended
by persons, whose intelligence is great
er than their research. 1t might be
defined in few words by saying that
there are IN coined silver dollar
l6 times as many grains weight as in
a coined gold dollar.
That is the practical meaning of the
phrase. 1t required l6 ounces of sill
yer before silver was demonetized by
the act of February IL, 1873, to be
equal in value to one ounce of gold.
Prior to this act of 1873, striking
blow at silver, the silver dollar was
the unit of value which measured all
other values. This act accomplished
what las been called the "demonitiza.
tion of silver" by simply dropping
the silver dollar from the coinage.
That act provided that the silver COINS
of the United States should be the
half dollar, the quarter dollar, the
dime and the half dime. This pre-
verted the silver dollar from being
coined hereafter at the mints. AS the
coined silver dollar up to that time
had been the standard or unit of
measure, as there was to be no silver
dollars coined thereafter, it became
necessary as it was thought to fix the
standard or unit of value or measure
on the gold dollar as it then stood
was declared to be the unit of value.
Before 1873, in this country the val
ue of gold, both raw and coined, was
measured in terms of silver. But
now that the unit of value has been
transferred to the gold dollar, raw sill
yer being denied the privilege of
coinage has lost its relation to gold.
Prior to the act of 1873, one ounce
of raw gold was equal in value to
about l6 ounces of raw silver
Prior to 1875 enough raw silver to
make silver dollar was worth as
much as coined silver dollar, because
it could be exchanged at the mint for
q coined silver dollar. Prior to 1873
any one owning either gold mine or
a silver mine or who possessed either
raw gold or silver could take them to
the mint and have them coined into
money.
That privilege is still open to any.
body with raw gold. But the free
privilege of having raw silver coined
at the mint is denied. This may be
unjust to the owners of silver and sill
yer mines, but it is the law. Silver
being denied equal privileges at the
mint with gold has not kept its old
relation to gold. Sixteen ounces of
raw silver will not exchange for one
ounce of raw gold in this country.
While an ounce of raw silver is as
valuable now, and will purchase as
much of everything else In the world,
except gold, as it would in 1873, it
will not purchase as much gold as it
then would. Enough raw silver to
make a silver dollar in 1873 would
then exchange for enough gold to
make gold dollar, or even for a
coined gold dollar itself. But now
enough raw silver to make a coined
silver dollar will exchange for only
about enough of raw or coined gold
to make 60 cents measured by the
gold standard. If, however, given
quantity of raw silver in 1873 would
exchange for barrel of pork, ton
of hay or other commodities, and will
now even when measured in and by
gold, exchange for the same com
modities, this demonstrates that silver
has fallen in relation to nothing else