The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-19
THE WEIGHT, NOT THE STAMP.

This battle Of fact and truth with err
ror seems an endless one. but 1t is not
one to weary in nor to beat a retreat
from. The encouragement to continue
is the fact that the vast majority OF
the people wish to be right: and In
the absence Of knowledge of what is
right, accept that which is plausible
but fallacious. One of the most fire.
Quent assertions one hears is that it is
the stamp of the mint that gives value.
and men point to the present fact that
So cents worth OF silver is stamped
and accepted as one dollar. as such.
This is one Of the many. heritages Of
Republican fallacies In legislation with
which truth has to combat There are
others.
Tho fact Is that the government OF
this country never assumed any such
power On the contrary. every mint
age act disavowed 1t. IL not in express
terms, then by irresistible implica
ton IT Is worth while to support this
statement by reference to the various
acts. The act of 1892. after prescrib-
ing the weight Of the various coins
and giving them names. provided pun
ishment of death for any officer Of the
mint who should make coins Of less
weight or value than that prescribed.
In 1893 congress provided that the
gold coins Of Great Britain and Por-
tugal should be current at the rate Of
100 cents for every q grains Of the
actual weight thereof. Other foreign
coins were also thus valued by their
weight. The act Of 1892 made the gold
and silver coins struck at the mint
lawful tender In payment Of all debts,
those Of full weight according to tho
respective value hereinbefore declared.
and those Of less than full weight at
values proportional to their respective
weights"
When the ratio OF the two metals
was changed by the act Of 1884 from
Is to l to 16 to l. the same provision
was repeated. making the coins tender
only according to their weight. It
further provided the limit OF tolerance
below which the coins would be re-
ceived by weight. A grain and a half
for the silver dollar and quarter of
a grain in gold coins was sufficient
loss of value to make the stamp of the
mint of no use in estimating the value
of the coin. The act of 1S49. author
izing the coinage of double eagles and
gold dollars. repeated this provision. A
section Of the act of 1873 provides for
the reception by the treasury Of gold
coins at their nominal value which,
by abrasion. after twenty years use,
were mot more than one-half of one
per centum below the standard
weight the government thus assum-
ing the loss. Another section provides
for their recoinage. The same act pro-
vided the limit of tolerance for double
| eagles and eagles at one-half a grain
and the smaller coins quarter while
| the limit for the silver dollar was
| fixed at one and a half grains.
These coins were made a legal tender
for debts "at their nominal value when
not below the standard weight and
limit of tolerance provided by law for
|
at valuation in proportion to their
actual weight" Thus we see that.
from the foundation of the govern
ment. 1t never occurred to any con-
gress that it was the stamp of the
mint that gave value to any of the
coins. or that anything gave that value
| but the weight of the metal in It, The
stamp only gave currency until the
scales showed loss of weight. 1t was
the endeavor Of congress to make that
! weight and the nominal value of the
coin correspond with the actual mar
ket value of the metal as nearly as
| possible. That 1t could give value or
| increase of value by its imprint was
left for our modern f1nanciers of the
greenback and silver schools to an
! nounce