The herald., 1896-07-08

propose to refute this hackneyed argu-
ment of the goldites by few facts gath
cred from our national experience When
the Bland-Allison bill began the coinage
of silver we had s213.19s,977 of gold in
the treasury. During its eleven years
of coinage 1t had coined more than four
hundred millions of silver. and then
there were $685., $685. 029 of goFA In the
treasury. making gain of $4S2, 1868, ,O62 OF
gold. sum of one dollar of gold gained
for each silver dollar coined. Does this
look like free coinage of silver will drive
out the gold?
Again, the Times says: The holder
of gold would not employ it for the pay
ment of his debts when he could pay
them in dollars worth only half as much
as gold dollars. A man who owed 500
or had 800 in gold would be foolish to
pay the debt with gold when he could
exchange $50 of his gold for 500 in silver
and thus pay off his debt and have left
$50 in gold" We advise the Times to
try this experiment. Let 1t take S1oO In
gold to any bank where 1t may owe 5000
and buy from that bank with Its S10O
two hundred In silver. Shrewd as the
editor of the Times may be. he well
knows that the bank would simply
laugh at him as Joker
The Times is not ignorant OF the fact
that there Is no such thing in Califor-
MIA as a 50-cent dollar it knows that the
silver dollar has never lost one grain,
since its weight was established and
that whether coined before 1873 or under
the Bland act it is legal tender for all
debts. both public and private. 1ntelli-
gent readers are getting so they do not
believe everything an editor writes. If
the Times knows of any 5O-cent dollars
now on the market he would do his
friends a favor by telling them where
they can be found.
Again the Times is neither fair. nor
candid, in the following:
THE European holders of American
securities, moreover, would demand pay
ment of the same, and ii all these secur-
ties are made payable in gold. vast
sums of that would speedily be drained
to Europe" If the Times refers to cor
poration, municipal and private obliga-
tions held in Europe. which made
payable in gold. how, we ask, is free
coinage to affect such contracts. as no
one contends that free silver will affect
obligations made by their language in
gold coin. But if the Times intends to
convey the idea that there is a single
United States bond in Europe or the
world. made payable in gold coin. the
impression he would make is absolutely
false. The United States has only one
gold obligation, and that is to pay its
gold certificates in gold and that gold is
on deposit to pay them.
By an act of congress, passed March 49,
1869, and found in revised statutes of
the United States, section 3693, the law
reads as follows: The faith of the
United States is solemnly pledged 20
the payment of coin or its equivalent of
all the obligations of the United States.
not bearing interest, known as United
States notes Cor greenbacks), and of all
interest bearing obligations of United
States (bonds), except il cases where
the law authorizing the issue of such
obligations has expressly provided the
same may be paid in lawful money, or
other currency than gold or silver
This is the law on which all our bonds
are issued and it is we'll enough for those
who are SO tenacious about onr finan-
cial honor, to begin to understand it.
JOHN SHIRLEY WARD.