The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-10-15

Sir Thomas Gresham, counselor Of
Queen Elizabeth of England, namely,
that with unlimited coinage of two met
ais on private account at Il fixed ratio.
the one that is oyer-valued at the mints
will, 90 to the mint. while the one that
is undervalued at the mint will go to
the market.
At first our people were very well
satisfied to have silver for money. They
were poor and had bat little trade. Most
of the families tried to supply their
wants within themselves. They raised
their own sheep. clipped the wool, card
Cd 1t. spun it. WOve it into cloth. and cut
and made from the cloth the garments
for the members of the family. They
made their own rude wagons and Sleds.
They raised what they needed to eat and
drink. There was little trade: hence lit
tie need for money. But as they worked
hard, were prudent. and grew in wealth,
they gradually began to crafty their
tastes for finer things 1t was found
cial skill in making dresses that this
neighbOrs son was handy making wag-
ons And so the work gradually fell to
those best fitted to do it. Thus trade
was enlarged and this neccsSititcd a
larger use of money. Then people began
to desire more compact and more con-
vcnient money than silver. Early in this
century the demand for gold in our cir
culatiOn began to be heard. 1t grew
louder, until about 1890. when that great
senator from Missouri. Thomas II. Ben
ton, made it the central thought of his
congressional life to get it back into cir
culatOn. Upon inveStig eating the queS-
ton why gold did not come to the mint
for coinage. he discovered that it was
because it did not pay to bring it. 1t
took too much gold to make the gold
coins The remedy was simple. In 1891
by act of Congress the size of the gold
coin was cut down from 24.70 grains of
pure gold to the dollar to 23.2 grains
This proved to be a slight generalization
Of gold. and as consequence the cur
rent began to run the other way. After
1871 1t was more profitable to take gold
to the mint than to sell it in the market
so gold went to the mint. On the other
hand. at the same time it became moro
profitable to sell silver in the market
than to have it coined and silver began
to retire from circulation. that which
had been coined being melted down or
transported.
Thus we see. again, that with unlim-
tied coinage of both metals at Il fixed
ratio. one came to the mint while the
other refused to come. This had been
the experience of every country that has
ever tried the experiment. 1t is founded
ON two everlasting facts. First. that the
relative values of gold and silver are
constantly tluctuating, and that there
fore no fixed ratio can be correct ratio
for any length of time. Second, the
great principle of human nature. which
prompts every man to do that which is
to his own best interests These two
principles being permanent. it is impos-
sible to secure the concurrent circula-
ton of the two metals by having the
mints opened to the coinage of both Oh
mi 70 ,tn
Certain foreign coins had been de-
clared by Congress to be legal tender.
But as they all contained proportionally
more silver than our own coins, they
too retired from circulat ton. except such
as were badly worn and which it did
not pay to melt down or export
Silver is the natural money of the
pocketbook, the natural money of small
exchanges: Our people soon began to
miss it. Early in the '4Os the cry for
money for change began to come up to
Congress, and it became very loud in
the latter part of the Hos. In response
to this demand for change, Congress in
1S49 ordered the coinage of the 81 gold
piece. Before that only the eagle, half
eagle, and quarter-eagie had been au-
thorized). These one-dollar gold pieces
were very pretty to look at, and people
were pleased at first to get hold of one
or two of them, but it soon became ap-
parent that they were not adapted to
business purposes. They were so small
as to be in constant danger of being
lost, and they were so valuable that
people could not afford to lose them.
And so the cry went up again, Soon
gress, give us money for change. give
us silver money. 1t is better adapted for
small change than gold is. We do not
want gold driven out of circulation, but
we do want silver brought back into
circulation For three or four wears
Congress wrestled with this problem.
and in 1888 solved it. Uncle Sam said.
My children have been calling for
small change, and [ think they are right.
| have given you men who own silver
the privilege of bringing it to the mint.
and you have declined to do SO. Now
l shall make it my own business to see
that the demands of my children are sat
isied."
You Will not bring your silver to be
coined so l must and will buy the silver
and coin it on my own account. But if
! should make the pieces as large as |
have BEEN making them, you would
smelt them down, and thus my object
would be defeated. Instead of putting
5l12 cents worth of silver into the half
dollar, and prOpOrtiOnally in the smaller
pieces, l will put about 4S cents worth
of silver into the half dollar, and proper
tiOnally in the smaller pieces. Then the
temptation to melt them down will be
removed. But my children are all in
danger of having their houses burned
down, and if they should have any of
these silver pieces IN their houses and
they should be melted, they would lose
about 2 cents on each half dollar. In
order that no one may be required to