New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-07-22
Free Coinage and The Silver Miner

1 s - z. -
the shape Of standard silver dollars g
full debt paying power. just as at thu
time the owner Of gold bullion has Ii,
right to take gold bullion to the min
and receive in return full legal tende
Igold coin, weight for weight with tn.
bullion deposited.
In other words, the free coinage Of sill
yer means that the owner Of 41211 grains
I of standard silver, the weight of our sill
yer dollar, shall have the right to TAKE
it to the mint and receive standard sill
yer dollar in return therefore, just as The
owner of 25.8 grains of standard goll
(the weight OF gold in the gold dollar
-or, rather, the multiple of 25.S grains
for no gold coin Of so small denomina.
ton as one dollar has been coined since
199O,-has the right to take it to the
mint and receive coin in return, dollar
for dollar with each 25.S grains Of stand
ard gold deposited.
But, we are told, 25.8 grains Of stand.
ard gold is worth 100 cents, whereas
4121 grains of standard silver is worth
with silver at SO cents an ounce, but So
cents. Does free coinage then mean
that the owner of silver bullion shall gel
one dollar tor every So cents worth Of
silver deposited at the mints? Such, IN.
deed, the gold contractionists tell us, is
the meaning of free silver coinage. They
tell us the man who deposits gold fol
coinage, deposits bullion that has mar.
ket value equal to the coinage value, that
he deposits 100 cents worth Of bullion
for every dollar he receives, but that un-
der free coinage of silver, the owner OF
silver bullion could get a dollar for every
So cents worth of silver deposited. So,
they continue, the owner of silver bullion
would make profit of Al cents on every
SO cents worth of silver he could take to
the mint for coinage, that the nine own
er would be enliched at the expense of
the country at large, and that, therefore,
the opening of our minis to the free coin
age of silver would be the very essence
of class legislation. ...-
The coinage value of an ounce of pure
gold is $20.67; of an ounce of standard
gold, that is nine parts pure gold and
one part alloy, 1880. Free coinage of
silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 means that
sixteen ounces of silver shall be accepted
at tie mint as the equal of one ounce of
gold. and coined into the same number
of dollars. Therefore, as one ounce of
standard gold coins into $3.50 of gold
coin, sixteen ounces of silver would coin
into $3.50 of silver coin. "These six
teen ounces of silver" we quote from a
circular of a brokerage firm of this city,
''can be bought today for 1894. There
would, therefore, be profit of $8.67 or
an investment of 1904, being. about 81
per cent, if a holder of silver could take
it to the mint and coin 1t, without charge,
into silver dollars" -.-
Here again, repeated IN somewhat Diff
ferent fo1m, is the statement of the gold
monometallists, so constantly reiterated,
that the whole demand for the free coin
age Of silver is in the interest Of the sill
yer miner, whose sole purpose in advo-
eating freescoinage is to get dollar Tor
every So cents worth of silver bullion.
In demanding the free coinage of sill
yer, bimetallists ask that the same PRIV
ileges of mintage and legal tender be
given to both gold and silver. They ask
this and nothing more. Our minis at
this time are opec to the free and unlim-
tied coinage of gold into full legal ten
der coin. Since 1878 this privilege has
been denied to silver. We demand that
this privilege Of free mintage into legal
tender coins shall be restored 10 silver.
TO oppose this on the ground that it
would lead to the profit of the silver
miner is puerile. AS well demand that
gold be denlopetized because the free
coinage Of gold and the demand for gold
as money gives to it an added value and
leads to the profit Of the gold miner
The assertion that free coinage means
that the owner of silver bulllonsliall re-
ceive 81 in coin for fifty three cents
worth of bullion is without foundation
Under free coinage of gold the value OF
gold as bullion and gold as coin is the
same; 25.S grains Of gold as bullios
(the weight of standard gold in the dol
lar) is worth no less than 25.S grains OF
gold as coin. So under free coinage 81
silver, 412ad grains, Of standard silver
bullion would have the exact CONNER.
cial yalIle Of fire standard yalnn X s n.