People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1896-08-27


power succeed in placing Mckinley
in the presidential chair.
The constitution Of the United
States as framed by our forefathers
says:
Congress shall have the power to
coin money and regulate the value
thereof; also to regulate the value Of
foreign COINS"
In accordance with this declaration
Congress on the End of April passed
in act establishing the mint.
This was the first law relating to
coinage under the new constitution
which constitution went into opera
ton in 1889.
Now let those who say that we
never had free coinage examine the
financial history of the United States
very carefully and they will have the
cOb-webs removed from their eyes
ind find out that they do not know it
all yet.
Even under English rule free coin.
age existed in the colonies.
lquOte from Facts About Silver"
THE coinage Of both gold aud silver
was made free and urlimited in 1866.
in the reign of Charles II, and again
by an act Of 1768 under George III
and continued so until 1893 or twenty
two years after the Declaration of In
dependence"
And again; SIN this country during
the colonial period the metallic money
consisted entirely of foreign coins.
OF these the Spanish milled dollar
came to be recognized as the money
unit and standard of value in all the
colonies"
OF course, although the colonies
were governed in all money matters
by the free coinage laws of the old
country, yet there were no minis in
the colonies until in the seventeenth
century when a few small silver coins
were struck in Massachusetts. Copper
was coined 10 several, but no gold or
silver.
Thus we see free and Unlimited
coinage existed as far back as 1866 in
the old country and that the colonies
were under the same law as regarded
the motley in use. The standard of
value the Spanish milled dollar being
the same in the colonies as in the
old country and so continued up to
the revolution.
AS already stated Congress by an
act in 1892 established the mint.
This act provided for striking gold
coins, eagles, leach to be of the value
of ten dollars or units"
This act provided for coming IDOL.
lars or units each to be of the yalue
Of Spanish milled dollar, as the
same is now current.
This act made the coinage of both
gold and silver free and unlimited
Iquote again from Facts About
Silver"
Hamilton the first Secretary Of the
Treasury had a number or the old
Spanish milled dollars then in circu.
lation assayed and they were found
to contain nearly 37lt grains of pure
silver, so that the money unit of the
colonies as then in circulation was
continued as the money unit under
the new constitution.
The act also provided for half dol
lars, quarter dollars and dimes O.
silver weighing respectfully one-hal
and one-fourth and one-tenth the
weight of the silver dollar.
The act Of 1892 also fixed the ratio
of the two metals. The gold dollaI
was made to contain 2475 grains O
pure gold and the silver dollar 81;
grains of pure silver the ratio was O
course Is to1.
In 1884 the pure metal in the golC
dollar was reduced a few grains max
Ing the ratio l6 to1.
The reduction in pure gold the golt
dollar reduced its weight from 24.7I
grains tO23.2 pure gold, thus chang
ing the ratio from Is to | to l6 to |
In 1881 the alloy in the silver dolla
was slightly changed so as to max,
the dollar niDe-tenths fine, but tn,
silver never was reduced, therefor,
its value was never changed.
Thus was our monetary system
established at the beginning of ou
existence as a nation and for nearly
100 years or up to 1873 when it wa
ruthlessly stricken down.
Two things are very prominen
under this first condition:
First-It was founded not by banks
Wall street, nor the money kings
but by Congress, the people, INCL
Sam and the government.
Second-The silver dollar was mad
the unit of value. By it prices of al
commodities and labor y ..e regulate,
L.. i l.