The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-07-02
SIXTEEN TO One.
Clear Explanation Of the
Much Quoted Pro-
portion.
DANGER OF THE BLAND LAW
How the Silver Mine Owners Want
to Force the Government
to Buy Their Product.
DANGER OF THE BLAND LAW
fFrom the oNew York Herald.,o

eyhat is the meaning of all this talk
| about free coinage and sixteen to amer
This question was put by a Western
farmer to the cashier of his bank. The re-
ply was:-"Why, John, it means that in
this part of the country there are sixteen
fools to one man of sense"
farmers are not the only persons who
are asking this question. Letters are every
day received by the Herald from other
wise Intelligent men of various oceupa-
tons requesting a plain explanation OF
the phrase sixteen to one"
Although most readers are thoroughly
familiar with the controversy it may be
we'll TO briefly outline the facts for the
benefit of those who are only NOW awak-
ening to its Importance. The pure silver
in the big dollar weighs about sixteen
times as much as the pure gold in The
gold dollar. The exact weights are B.N
grains OF gold and 371.2 grains of silver,
Hence sixteen to one"
When the mint was founded Hamilton
and Jefferson agreed that a pound of gold
was worth in the markets about fifteen
pounds of silver, and accordingly the
ratio for she coinage at first was made
fifteen to one. Anybody could bring as
much of either metal as he pleased to the
nlints and have 1t stamped into coins. rms
free or unlimited coinage of both metals
is called bimetallisn, and the ountry
was said to have a double standard OF
values. h bullion in either dollar was IN
trinsically worth as much before being
coined as it was afterward, but the Gov
ernment's mint stamp was a guarantee
of the weight and ~ineiress of the metal
and made it a legal terlder
Subsequently it was FOUND that fifteen
pounds of silver were not worth as much
as a pound of gold, and in order to con-
form to the relative market value OF the
metals Congress decided that the silver
dollar should thereafter weigh sixteen
times as much as the gold dollar. In doing
this Congress went to the other extreme
and put too low an estimate on silver
The European ma chs composing the
Latin Union made their coming ratio fif-
teen and one-half to one, and the owner
of silver here would not exchange six
teen pounds of it for a pound of gold be
cause he could obtain the same thing IN
| Europe for fifteen and a half pounds OF
HIS silver. In other words, the quantity
of silver in a dollar was worth more thar
| one hundred cents. Consequently holders
of silver bullion ceased to send 1T to the
limited States mints and the silver dollars
previously coined were boarded.
When the mint laws were revised in 1877
| the provision for the free coinage of silver
| dollars was dropped. This attracted
little attention at the time because none
Of these dollars had been in circulation
for a generation; and. in fact, only eight
millions of them in all had been coined
~. z..17o4t1n ~ tho oaxrarn man
m to that time. Owing to the discovery
of new mines the worlds production Of
| silver began TO steadily increase, and
the price consequently began to decline
| and the European nations were in self
! defence compelled to close their minis
| against further free coinage of the de-
preciated metal. While silver was high
| the mine owners cared nothing about the
| mint, but when 1t got so low that q
| pound Of gold would buy seventeen
pounds Of silver in the market these
| gentlemen began to clamor for a restor-
| alton of the privilege of selling TO the
American people through the mint al
| the old ratio of sixteen to one. 1t was
then that they discovered that the act
Of 1873 was a crime"
As a concession to them the Bland law
! was passed. under which nearly four hum
| bred million silver dollars were coined,
the Treasury, however, buying the bull
| lion for this purpose at its market value
In 1890 the Sherman law was passed
compelling the Treasury to buy lao tons
! Of silver every month and issue notes II
payment. This produced the panic Of
1888. and was then repealed. AS a result
Of these laws we V coined or issued
nearly six hundred million dollars o.
silver. Despite all these purchases By
the Treasury the price Of silver steadily
fell. Today 1t takes about thirty pounds
OF silver to buy a pound of gold, buf
the free coinage advocates demand tina
the goyernmentAthat is to say, thu
people-shail take sixteen pounds of sill
yer as the equivalent of a pound of gold
When the BIN grains of silver that go K
make a big dollar were worth more thar
a hundred cents the mine owners solt
their product in Europe. Now that s7ln
grains are worth about ffty-three cent
they insist that the government shall
stamp it into a dollar and shall open tn
minis to all the silver in the world a
this ratio of sixteen to one
W