The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-09-11
An Honest Dollar.
Communicated

value thereof passed the oTlglDal
coinage act, in strict compliance with
the recommendations Of Hamilton
report on the establishment Of a mint,
il created q double or bimetallic stand
ard resting Oh the coinage Of gold and
silver al ratio or proportion in pure
bullion Of Is 10 l. Tbs report i al
exhaustive. analytical review Of every
aspect OF the money question then sug-
gested. and the emphatic concurrence
Of Jefferson in Hanilton's final decis-
ion il favor u bimetalIism marks per-
haps the only instance in the lifelong
animOsiiy Of those great antagonists
where they were unable 70 iDd any
ground for disagreement.
The bimettsllic STANDARD thus adopt
ed was maintsiled 1util 1873, when,
without any popular demand OF any
public hearing, the Republican party
fatbered all act OF Congress, which has
ever since been called with exsc. jus
iiee the "crime OF 10" American
history does not record q single other
instance 81 legislation euveIoIed il =
much mystery and darkness a. that "a
tai step.
Unqer bimeta.liSm gold Measured
the value Of silver aud silver measured
the value Of gold. and both together
measured the value Of al other things
in every Transaction. TIE &C, Of 1873
made the gold dollar the sole STANDARD
Of value, and i, therefore, from that
day to this tie value Of silver aud If
al r. ha D..
gold, but gold ia. teen measured by
hing else but it. Oku supply. i. fol-
lows that, while Congress still retains
the power 81 cyin money, the power
~ regulate the Va ue thereof now
Resides exclusively 10 tie men who
control the supply u gold, 1Choeuer
they are.
Economic reasons therefore add ire
mendOuS force 10 the weight Of WeU-
steI's opinion tuat Congress itself has
10 authority - displa-e the legal
standard Oh both gold and silver.
The original ratio Of = 10 / was
changed IN 1894 10 Is 10 /. II striking
down that ratio by the act Of 1873. ana
substituting for the silver dollar z sub
sidary coiI of 40 grains, the trainers
OF that law seems 10 have been better
posted on the money question, or more
Ingenious, than some Of their recent
apoIJgists, Tor they accurately called
that CON trade dollar knowing
very well, tina. a. Hamilton saws IN
his report, The unit Of value cannot be
attached exclusively TO either metal
without destroying the Office ami
Character of the other and reducing IL
u mere merchandise Altho Cd the
act OF 1878 restored the ratio Of Is u /,
the Republican party has always re-
fused To restore the only means by
which We eau coin al Is TO l. The act
OF 1873 coacedes the right, but the act
OF 1873 still denies the means.
The cry OF dishonest dollar" aud
"hity-three cent dollar Is the old cry
OF stop thief raised in this case
against none other than the yer, man
who has beeu robbed. Having under
tue act OF 1873 fraudulently distracted
from the present silver dollar and from
all other things AZ per cent. of their
value measured by the single gold
STANDARD, the nionOmetaliist. when he
says free coinage at Is to would give
him dishonest dollar worth only 50
cents, takes advantage of his own
wrong, not only TO avoid restitution of
what he has already appropriated, but
TO despoil Us hereafter Dy still further
successive diminutions in the value OF
silver end all other things measured by
that single gold standard, which Nc
hlnley says we must maintain until
the foreign beneficiaries relieve US from
lt-tOheneUer that will be-
Their honest dollar makes the very
misery IL has already entailed a plea
Tor the suffering ii would hereaftar pro-
duce.
Hallam says that the free booting old
French Bar"ns set up private minis
and gradually enriched themselves by
reducing the sou 10 a "black metaIH
Containing little but copper, and that
at the revolution, the money of France
had been deprecated 70 TO !, from a
long continuance of fraudulent and ar
bitrary government. His conjecture
That the people did not readily perceive
the successive diminutions of the
standard, is confirmed by no less an
authority than Mr.. Horace White.
who, in au address before late Bank
er's Convention, informed the public
that 1.-The masses do not understand
the subject. and are certainly not fit to
settle 1t by their votes. You, the bank
ers, know what you want, ETC." Mr..
White would doubtless admit that the
plutOcracy Of the middle ages knew
very well what 1t wanted, though, in
Keeping with its robust, hardy spirit.
1t resOrted to open spoliation rather
than hidden fraud. In regulating the
value of money for the government.
Mr. Whites bankers might as well. /
under existing law, put SO cents worth |
of paper measured by the gold dollar |
in United States note as to put 37lK |
grains of silver in the silver dollar. or |
they might as well increase the ALLOW /
of copper and, like the Capets, give us /
black money outright.
The law of the gold standard is max |
imum, demand always minimum sup |
ply always; its corollary is the apI.ail- |
ing, deadening theory of over-produc- |
tion-the most stupendous calumny |
ever directed by false system of eco |
nomics against Divine Providence. !
Made the sale measure of industrial re- |
ward, gold has halved the value of CO |
reals, textiles, and nearly all other ma
terials, and has cut the efficiency of la
Dor in two.
AS incredible as it may seem. four
hths of our metallic money is gold /
and there are eight times more gold /
than silver dollars outstanding. Our
foreign Indebtedness alone exceeds the
worlds pntira nr0duat Of