Evening star., 1896-08-15
SHERMAN ON SILVER.
Continued from First Page.)

CONTINUED from First Page.)
the problem may be- 1t 50 happens that at
the coming presidential election there will
questions one Of which is whether any
holder Of silver bullion may deposit 1t at
the mints of the United States and have it
coined for his benefit and without cost to
him. into silver dollars, each Of the weight
of 412 1-2 grains Of standard silver. nine
tenths fine, and may tender them for any
debt public or private.
The other question Is whether In levying
duties or taxes on imported goods we
should only consider the revenue required,
or whether. while raising the needed rev.
encourage domestic Industries; the one is
called revenue tariff and the other a pro-
tective tariff. Both the silver and tariff are
vital questions of domestic policy, of equal
Importance but propose on this occasion
10 conhne my remarks mainly to what is
known as the free coinage of silver at the
ratio or sixteen parts Of silver to one of
gold. Ihis issue is thrust upon us by the
democratic party, or. rather. by the popu-
ilstlc branch of the democratic party.
Best Standards Of Value.
Gold and silver coins are recognized by
all commercial nations Of the world as the
pest standards of value. as the measure of
every article of desire, of everything that
Is bought or sold. These two metals not
only measure all other things but they
measure each other
Inelr relative value constantly changes
ans' y-lnree years ago sixteen ounces of
slVer were worth more than one ounce of
gold NOW thirtyone ounces of silver can
De bought by one ounce of gold This f1uc-
,cation OF value cannot be prevented by
1a~. IA =. II Is beyond the reach of legislation
II is caused by the changing demands for
ara the increasing supply of these metals
from the mines. Both are necessary as
money. silver to supply the daily wants of
Dn1 tn
tions of business. especially in exchanges
with foreign nations. How to maintain the
parity Of the two metals at a fixed ratio
has been. Is and always will be a difficult
In the civilized world.
1t was one of the first questions to occupy
the attention of American statesmen, after
the adoption of the Constitution, and Is now
one OF the most pressing after more than
lOO years OF national growth.
Establishing the Ratio.
In 1902 silver and gold were made the
common standards of value in the United
States at the ratio Of Is to /, but this was
because that then the actual market value
of fifteen ounces Of silver was equal to the
actual market value of one ounce of gold
The greatest care was taken to ascertain
this ratio by Thomas Jefferson, then Secre-
tary of State, and Alexander Hamilton
then Secretary of the Treasury. These two
II,
upon nearly all other questions, did agree
upon the relative value Of the two metals
and that both should be coined into money
at that ratio.
AT that time neither gold nor silver was
found In any considerable quantity in the
thirteen states then forming the Union
The revolutionary war had been conducted
with paper money, which became worthless
and the coins Of Spain, England and other
countries had been made legal tender and
continued SO for many years after the
adoption of the Constitution.
When the new American coins were is
sued 1t was found that the abraded and
worn coins Of other countries filled the
channels Of circulation, and the new and
bright dollars of the United States were ex-
ported.
This led to the dscontinuance, in 1906 by
President Jefferson Of the coinage Of the
silver dollar, and after that date none were
coined for more than thirty years. This
order of Jefferson, I suppose, would be
called by our populist!c friends 1.-The crime
Of 1906"
In the meantime France and other coun-
tries adopted the ratio Of fifteen and half
ounces Of silver as the equivalent of one
ounce of gold. To avoid these embarrassing
changes England in 1916 adopted gold as
the single standard in that country, and
silver as subsidiary coin.
Changed the Ratio.
In 1884, during the administration of
President Jackson and under the leader
ship of Daniel Webster and Thomas II.
Benton, Congress adopted the ratio of
sixteen ounces of silver to one of gold, by
reducing the number of grains in the gold
coin. AS silver was thus slightly under
valued it was not largely coined
Silver could be coined in France at the
ratio of 1871 to /, and the owner of silver
bullion could send 1t to France and have
1t converted into coin at that ratio, thus
receiving about 8 per cent more for his
bullion than II coined at the American
ratio Of 16 to l. Gold became the only
American coin in circulation, and the
avowed 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:
1.-The committee think that the deside-
ratum in the monetary system is stand
ard Of uniform value; they cannot ascer-
tain that both metals have ever circulated
simultaneously, concurrently and indis-
criminately in any country where there
are banks or money dealers. and they en-
teItain the conviction that the nearest ap-
establishment in one metal. which metal
shall compose exclusively the currency
for large payments"
Silver Made subservient.
In 1853, upon the report of Senator Hun
ter, when Pierce was President, and when
all branches Of the government were un-
der democratic control, Congress reduced
the quantity Of silver in the fractional
coins (half dimes. Dimes quarters and half
dollars) more than per cent, directed the
purchase of the silver for their coinage on
government account, abolished the law for
their free coinage and made them a legal
tender for s. only, leaving gold still prac-
tically 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
purposely demonetiZed
The purpose Of this act is thus stated
by the chairman Of the committee having
the bill in charge in the House Of Repre-
sertatives:
I'VE propose, so far as these coins are
concerned, to make silver subservient to
the gold coin Of the country We intend
to do what the best writer's on political
economy have approved: what experience,
where the experiment has been tried, has
demonstrated to be the best, and what
the committee believe to be necessary, and
propose to make but one standard of cur
rency, and to make all others subservient
to 1t. We mean to make gold the stand
ard coin.''
This, I suppose, would not be called "the
crime of 1853. Silver was practically
demonetized by this act ard the act of
1884.