Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-10-24
SILVER'S RESPONSE TO GOLD
Citizen Webber Replies tOQueries Pro-
pounded by Judge C. N. Sterry, of
the A. & P. Railroad.
TERSELY TOLD FREE COINAGE TRUTHS
Pertinent Answers in Detail to Many
Questions Put Forth in the
Interest of Goldbug Re-
publicanism.

debate on the financial issue, which, v
believe, will prove both entertaining an
instructive. Some time ago Judge O.
Sterry, general counsellor for the Atlanti
u Pacific Railroad company, printed i
the Albuquerque Citizen list of goldit
queries. These are appended togethe
with Mr.. q. T. Webber's answers:
Sterry: Is it not true, that at and pri
or to the time of the passage of the frs
coinage act of 1892, Thomas Jefferson
Hamilton, and all of the men of that tim
who had to do with the matter, were in
terested in ascertaining the exact com
mercial ratio between gold and silver e1
isting among the foreign nations will
which it was supposed the United State
would deal, in order to fix that as the lie
gal ratio, and did not Mr.. Jefferson ant
Mr.. Hamilton both believe that yor
could only maintain bimetallism under
free conege by establishing as the lega
ratio between gold and silver this exact
commercial ratio?
Webber: 1t probably is true that JEFF
ferson and Hamilton, in common with all
statisticians, did their level best to dis.
cover the true ratio of gold to silver
during the time of which you speak
the result of those discoveries being
that from 1857 up to and including 1896, a
period of 10years, the true ratio was dis
covered to be 1871 to 1. From 1857 to
1882 the ratios are taken from DR.. A.
Soctbeer; from 1888 to 1878 from Pixley
d Abells' tables and from 1879 to 1894
from daily cablegrams from London to
the bureau of the mint.
SkArrv. Ia IL nnt a foct kbok ofAa, hor
ing established, by the coinage act of
1892, the ratio of Is to 1, gold after 1900
was not coined, and that which had been
coined disappeared from circulation be-.
cause of the slight over.value of silver in
the ratio of Is to IL
Webber: No, it is not true, for from
1901 to 1904 there were coined 81, 1862, 900,
United States treasury department. cir
cular No. 1913, page A.. No, it is not true
that gold disappeared at this time, but
on the contrary the silver disappeared.
See letter of James Madison, department
of state, May l, 1905, laws of the United
States, page 16.
Sterry: Is it not fact, that owing to
the condition stated in the former ques.
tion, Jefferson stopped the coinage OF the
silver dollar at the United States mints
in 1905 and 18O6f
Webber: The coinage of silver dollars
was stopped not simply as you state
from 1905 to 1906, the order being made
made May l, 1906, and continued to 1886
inclusive, during which time there were
1000 silver dollars coined; but, submit,
that your question is misleading and you
are not honest with yourself as far as the
public is concerned, for during this time
there were coined $4l, $3.50, ,4S8 in half dol
Lars, besides millions of dollars in smaller
coins.
Sterry: Is it not fact that from the
time Jefferson stopped this coinage, and
up to the passage of the act of 1853, that
less than 1000 silver dollars were coined
in the mints of the United States?
Webber: No, it is not fact, for during
this time there were coined $1,113,483 in
silver dollars. Coinage laws, July l, 1896,
pages 45 and Al.
Sterry: Ia it not a fact that the house
committee on the coinage act of 1884 re-
ported that, 80 far as they could ascer-
tain from experience, gold and silver
never circulated simultaneously and con-
currently in any country on fixed legal
ratioP
Webber: know not what the house
committee on coinage act of 1884 re.
ported, but do know that gold and silver
circulated concurrently and simultan-
eously in the United States, and In France
to-day, and dollar of their silver is
worth gold dollar in any part of the
civilized world, their ratios being respec-
lively 1e and 161a to l.
Sterry: Is it not fact, that in 1853
the committee having charge of the coin
age act of that year reported, in report
ing ii, that from all the information they
had been able to obtain no country ever
succeeded In having double standard,
and that this country should have single
standard "a gold standard-and to bring
this country to that standard was one of
the objects of the bill they reportedi
Is there an instance in the history OF
the world when any country, for any
time, maintained the concurrent circuls-
tion Of gold snd silver under any free
coinage system where the ratio between
the two 10 the coins used was fixed at an
exact legal standard!
Webber: Yes, the United States main
tained it from 1892 up to 1873, and the
fact that 1t in 1906 had greater bullion
value at the ratio of Is to than the gold
and was exported does not argue that it
did not circulate concurrently in the
United States, dollar for dollar, which 1t
always did.
Sterry: Is it not fact that from 1865
to the let of January, 1879, the green
backs issued by the government during
the war were at Q discount, and it took
the government from 1868, after the close
Of the war, to 1879, with all Of it's credit,
to bring them to pari
Webber: It is fact that not only
from 1865 to 1879 was tho greenback de-
preciated, but from 1852 to 1879. Whyf |
Because it was not full legal tender, |
not being receivable for duties on inn
ports, and interest on the public debt. |
Treasury circular No. 136, page 50. But,
! submit, that your questions are pre-
pared with due deliberation and with the |
Intention of mystifying and misleading |
the public. 6uoh being the case, as a |
public teacher you commit crime. |
Why don't you commence with the |
first paper money ever issued by the |
government, July II and August s, 1851,
and toll the people that this $4,000, 900 |
issue never did deprecistei Treasury
circular l2s, page Q.
6terry: How would the government,
with the history Of the experience stated |
10 the former question be able to bring |
the value of the silver dollar worth So |
cents TO par, whom the came were not is |
susd by the government, but coined BY IL |
free for individuals, and concerning which
the government had NO interest in keep |
ing them at par to the extent Of using its |
credit
Wsbber: The DAT Of The government
gives IL it, value BY giving II On addition |
q use. Az long % the mints are open 70 |
ths free and unlimited coinage OF slvar
the value will be maintainsd at 81 az per