The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-01

In 1873. and which u ailvcr friend re-
(ere to as "when silver was demonc-
tized," thu coinage OF silver by our gov
eminent was ns follows:
lSi3. ,..,...,.. .......n.,,,". ,.,,.,.,3 i,09t,II
lsl..,'' ....'..'''..,.'.. .,,.....,,. h,hl,UG
lS,i..'.'... ..,.'''..-.'... ........... ll.SiI,S4I
lsI0".,'.... ..,.'...,...... .."...... 2l.JOJ, 9OI
TOTAL ,',,.,..,...,,.., .,,...".,SN, l2V.ICy
as against s9,2S7. ?67 coined from 1865 to
1877, the 1--WE previous years. Without
giving the figures representing the later
coinage OF silver, any reasonable. intelll-
gent Individual will readily admit that
there Ia no characterization" OF silver
about that.
lie then asks the question: Why did
We moi deinonetize gold? Can II be- pos
slblc that In this enlightened aga we
have In the modest village OF Bridgeport
such "a member or citizen, possessing
reasonable intelligence. that would ask
such an absurd question? He surely
cannot have lost sight Of the fact tina;
W IL 1873 we had In coinage $780, 9l 900
OF gold as against sos. 900 silver dollars.
$l3j. S33. 900 OF fractional silver. The flg-
ures given make further comment I'M
necessary.
In his letter our friend Silver makes
the assertion that Mr.. Grahlm'S PROPOSE
ton Is that the less money there IL TO
circulate among the people the more
each individual will I've able Il get for
his labor and products. | cannot lind
any such statement In his speech, nor
can he, so that Il Ia safe to infer that
such an assertion Is the creature OF his
vivid imagination and evidently Il part
or his stock In trade.
Ia ata.h alts, 49, shN asonrt. trp,,,gt-
ton Of Mr.. Brynn's and the Popocratlc
platform, that the morv money In circu-
lation the more each individual will get
who has labor or product to sell" We
are oil well aware OF the fact that We
have the labor to sell, but, alas, there Is
no buyer 10 buy Il.
He then goes on TO assert that John
Sherman was more responsible for the
decentralization OF silver In 1879 than any
other living person. Well. let us see
how much poor John had to do with
that crime according to reliable au-
thority. In the enactment OF 1873 the
disposition OF the silver dollar was n
very slight part OF the whole bill. The
act dealt with topics which made much
more debate In the provisions for assay
ing and coming gold. about which the
Pacific coast legislators had a great deal
to say. so that the disposition OF the SILL
yer dollar did not cause much talk, as It
WAS practically out OF circulation. II Is
well known that the proposed revision
OF the mint law was sent on to experts
by the director OF the mint before Con-
gress assembled for the session OF 1862
20: the bill was submitted 10 Congress
April %. 1870. discussed. referred back
and forth during three sessions. II APP
pears there was very little discussion
with regard 10 the silver dollar because
Il was taken that existing conditions had
disposed OF Il. The records show that
the discussion In the house vas freely
participated In by free silver men. II OF
whom. William NJ. Stewart. United
States senator from Nevada. who Is now
taking such n prominent part and ad-
vocating the free and unlimited coinage
OF silver at the ratio OF &c to L. and who
. nj the time quite an active part In
the debate when the bill was before the
senate for the first time, and made Il
firm stand with other Pacific coast SEN
ntOrs TO have the ~mlnt-chargc on the
coinage OF gold abolished and voted FOR
the bill. with the full contents OF which
he was familiar. as the debates show.
On April .. 1877. Mr.. Hooper. Of NasSa-
chusetts, In commencing the debate in
the house, stated tina, the legal theory
'Slu uiINlth pN tlt Jtl u li5- was lIil
the silver dollar was the legal unit"
and proceeded 10 show that II had be-
come an article Of commerce. He stat
ed that the purpose OF the bill bearing
on this point was that 25.S grains or
standard gold, constituting the gold dol
lar. should b. declared the legal unit OF
ccoun He continued hIs statement by
saying that the proposed silver dollsr OF
Isl grains was to be subsidiary DIN In
harmony with the silver coin OF less de-
nomination. The silver dollar OF il2h,
Grnlns, by reason OF It's bullion or intrIn-
sic value, being greater than the nominal
value. has long since ceased 10 be n coin
OF clrculatlo Congressional Globe,
part 2. second session 42nd Congress, PIP.
2205-6.)
Mr.. Potter, Dem., y. " stated that
the Bill provided for the making OF
changes In the legal tender OF the couR-
Try. TO havc only one metnl ms legal ten
der Instead OF two as before. He said
lie thought It would be q wise provision
and that legal tender coins. except sub
sldlary coins, should be OF gold alone.
ndd!ng, but why should We lcglslatc on
this now when we are not using either OF
these metals as a circulating medium"
Reference to the Congressional Rec
ord Tor thut period shows plainly that
senator stewart waS familiar with every
phase of the bill. and he fully approved
OF It aS late as February II. 1874. when
he declared himself In favor OF the gold
standard. In a. speech at that time on
a bill to amend the national banking law
ne stated: Let US do as all the people
OF the world have BEEN doing from the
beginning. measure our values In gold.
l want the standard gold and no paper
money not redremable In gold" In q
speech on the same subject In the SEN
ate on February 20. 1874. he declared.
Gold Is the universal standard OF the
world. Everybody knows what a dollar
In gold Is worth"
II would appear from this. Mr.. Editor.
that this bill NJ 1873. which had the sup
port Of the silver men In the house and
M voted for II, does not at NIL look as
IL John sherman was responsible for II.
ana he has since declared himself az
having voted against 1t.
our silver friend further states that
free coinage would stimulate mining. II
would for II time no doubt. but for low
long? 1t would not stimulate all OF the
more important Industries of this coun-
try. but 1t would without n doubt In
crease imports. parnlyzlng the most OF
our products with TINT hug bear OF free
tra1c as n continuance, The experience