The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-07-15

lars to equal the value eff one gold dol
lar" ALumber of bank officials were
" all at sea on the subject" The Re
publican 6nde a man Of good business
standing in the exceptionally intelli.
gent city of Springfield who thinks it
meant that the gold dollar is worth as
much as sixteen silver dollars. The
New York Euening Post learns that in
North Carolina the opinion prevails
among the colored men that it means
that white men ought to have sixteen
dollars where the colored men have
one dollar, and for this reason they are
naturally and strongly opposed to it.
The Advertiser of Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
knows of a man who is in favor of free
coinage, because it would give q per
capita circulation of $50, and as his
family consists of six members that
would give them $500 in cash.
WHAT "16 TO 1" MEANS
"These," the Post says, 'are fair av-
erage samples of a numerous list of
opinions which would be amusing If
there were anything funny in ignorance
upon a very grave question: And
it then proceeds to give a simple and
lucid explanation of the meaning of
10 to -
16 to l means that the pure silver
in the standard dollar weighs about six
teen times as much as the pure gold in
a gold dollar. The exact weights are
1922 grains of gold and 371.25 grains
of silver. When the United States
mint vas established the ratio of Is to
l was agreed upon, because a pound of
gold was found to be worth about f.
teen pounds of silver. There was then
free and unlimited coinage of both
metals. 1t was subsequently, found
that this ratio was wrong, in that it
gave too high value to silver. Then
congress changed the ratio from Is to |
to 16 to |, and in doing so made a mic
take in the other direction. The Eu-
ropean nations of the Latin union had
fixed their coinage ratio at 154 to /.
Consequently the owners of silver in
the United States would not exchange
sixteen ounces of it for one ounce of
gold. They could do better in Europe.
They ceased to send silver to the minis
and the dollars that had been coined at
16 to | were boarded. Prior to 1873,
when the coinage laws were revised
and the provision for the free coinage
of silver was dropped, only eight mil
lions of them had been coined from the
formation of the union under the con-
stitution. We have now, under the
Bland Allison act, about 100000, 900
silver dollars, to which add the notes
issued under the Sherman act, and we
have more than $500, 900 900 in silver,
all in the ratio of 16 to l."
We have some additional evidences
of ignorance on this subject, which, as
the Washington Post says, :" would be
amusing if there were anything funny
in ignorance upon a grave question"
Washington Holt, a nephew of the
late Judge-Advocate General Joseph
Holt, stated, while he was in Washing.
ton, that down near his home in Ken
lucky they are for free silver, want lots
of it, and have gone TO work in a bust.
ness-like way to get it. That is, the
people of the county have "taken time
by the forelock." They held a mass
meeting, appointed a prominent citi-
zen as a sort of receiver, who shall get
the free silver" to which they will
be entitled and distribute it to the will
ing people of that community.
"Up in West Virginia" said a gen
tleman of that state who holds official
position at the United States senate,
" the people want a 16-to,1 law so that
everybody will get SIG for every 81 he
owns when the law passes"