Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-10-02

wise expressly stipulated in the
contract between the parties. They
belong to the government when
coined, and they are paid out by
the government at parity with
gold for property and services Of
all kinds, and received from the
people at a parity with gold in the
payment of all public dues and
demands. .
"The government has made no
discrimination whatever between
the coins Of the two metals, gold
having been paid on it's coin obi
cations when gold was demanded,
and silver having been paid when
silver was demanded. Under this
policy the coinage has been so
limited by law and the policy Of
the treasury department. that the
amount coined has not become so
great as to drive the more valuable
coin, gold, out of use, and thus de.
stroy the basis of our monetary
system, and so long as the two
metals are of unequal commercial
value, at the ratio established by
law, this limitation upon the coin
age is, i'll my opinion, absolutely
essential to the maintenance Of
their parity in effecting exchanges.
1t constitutes the principal safe
guard for the protection of our
currency against the depreciation
which the experience of all coun.
tries has shown. would otherwise
result from the attempt to use two
legal tender coins of the same de.
nomination but of unequal value.
If the limitation were removed,
confidence IN the ability of the
government to preserve equality
in the sxchangeable value Of the
coins would be destroyed, and the
parity would be lost long before
the amount Of silver coinage had
become really excessive. With
free and unlimited coinage of silver
on account of private individuals
and corporations, the governme nt
would be under no moral obliga-
ton to maintain the parity, and,
moreover, it would be unable to
do so, because the volume of over
valued silver forced into circula-
ton by legal tender provision
would soon expel gold from the
country, or put premium upon it
that it would be impossible to, pro
cure and hold in the treasury a
sufficient amount to provide for
the redemption Of silver on presen.
tation. In order to maintain the
parity under such conditions, the
government would be compelled
from the beginning to exchange
gold for silver dollars or their pa
per representatives whenever de-
manded, just as it now exchanges
gold for it's own notes whenever
demanded; and, as the coinage Of
silver dollars would be Unlimited
and therefore constantly increas-
ing, a point would be reached
where it would be impossible to
continue the process of redemption.
''The implied obligation of the
government to preserve the value
of the money which it coins from
it's own bullion and for it's own use,
and which it forces it's citizens to
receive in exchange for their prop
erty and services, has been supple
mented by two statutory declAra-
lions which substantially pledge
the public fail h to the maintenance
of that policy. The act of July II.
1890, after providing that the Sec
rotary of the treasury should, un-
der such regulations as he might
prescribe, redeem the treasury
notes issued in the purchase Of
silver bullion in gold or silver
coin, at his discretion, declares
that it is the Established policy Of
the United States to maintain the
two metals on parity with each
other upon the present legal ratio,
or such ratio as may be provided
by law, and the act of Nov. 1,
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