The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-03-28

A few days ago. in respons to a ques-
ton, the Journal answered that stand
ard silver dollars were and had never
ceased to be a legal tender. This state
ment surprises a patron in Anderson,
who writes as follows:
You answer to j. b. T.. in Thursdays
say: "The standard silver dollar was never
demonetized.' Is that true? Is 1t not true
that. w to the act Of 1873. the standard sill
yer dollar was a unit OF account, or stand
ard of value, and money absolute in itself2
That by virtue of that act the silver dollar
ceased to be basic or absolute money and
was made only token money the same as
copper. nickel and paper, and would be the
same If made of tin. instead of silver? 1t
was ''destandardized," and is only useful for
money as a substitute for gold.
1t is true that the standard silver dol
lar was never ~demonetized. BY the act
of 1873 1t was omitted from the list of
silver coins, but there is no clause in
that act declaring that any standard
silver dollars in existence should no
longer be a legal tender. AS a matter
of history, a standard silver dollar was
a curiosity rather than a circulating
medium previous to 1878. In 1906 Presi-
lent Jefferson ordered a suspension of
the coinage of standard dollars, and
from that time until 1910 only 1900 were
coined, and only s.045. 1858 were coined
previous to the Allison-Bland act of
1878. Fractional silver was coined in
considerable quantities, but after the
ratio was changed from Is to 1 to 16 to
1 in 1884 by reducing the weight of gold
coins, that fled the country because it
was worth from 2 to 5 per cent. more
in European markets. To keep frac-
tional silver coin in circulation the
weight Of halves, quarters and dimes
was reduced and their legal tender lin
tied to five dollars in one payment
where previously those coins had been
an unlimited legal tender.
1t may be that the standard silver
dollar was "a unit of account" what
such dollars to settle accounts. In the
sense that the cheaper of two coins may
be said to be a standard of value, sill
yer was such until the coinage act of
1884, because. our ratio being Is to 1,
while that of Europe was 15k to 1, gold
was worth more elsewhere, and fed.
Then we were upon a silver basis. In
1884 the weight of gold coins being re-
duced and is to- being the ratio, silver
left us nj gold became the standard,
the silver dollar being quoted all the
way from 101 to los, and at 101 when the
crime of 1872 was perpetrated. 1t
would have been money absolute in
ffco1fs ~ fhoro hod haan NM, ~ o;ro,,Io
ton. but being at a premium of Is per
cent. when the act of 1873 was passed
compared with the legal-tender green
back, then the basic money" it was
not used as money then and never was
until the passage of the Bland-Allison
act in 1878.
The phrases basic and absolute" con-
neoted with money have no meaning in
law. Every standard silver dollar con-
tanning 371.25 grains of pure silver ever
coined in the United States is a full
legal tender to-day tie same as gold
unless the contract specifies otherwise.
Here are the words of the first section
Of the act of February, 1878:
Be it enacted, that there shall be coined at
the several minis silver dollars of the
weight OF 412hs grains OF standard silver, as
provided by the act Of Jan. Is, 1851, which
coins, together with all silver dollars here
tofore coined by the United States of like
weight and fneness, shall be legal tender,
at their nominal value, for all debts and
dues. public and private. except where other
wise expressly stipulated in the contract.
The Journal has said nothing of stand
ards. It's statement is that the 423.-
1896 2 standard silver dollars and the
$137 1924, $50 Of treasury notes based upon
silver, a total of $3.50, 633, 800, is legal
tender and performs all the functions
of money If they are a substitute for
gold SO much the better.