The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-07-22
SOME EFFECTS
OF FREE SILVER
More Public Buildings Would Be
Necessary 10 Which to Store
the Bullion.
DIRECTOR OF MINT PRESTON
Makes NOn-fartisan Statement Of xtat
10 to Heans. and the Resnits
Which Would FoIloN It's
Adoption

Washington, July 2i.-Directox Of
the Mint Preston said today that he
was being flooded with communIca-
tions from all parts OF the country.
asking him for information on the
subject Of free coinage. The lack cf
understanding which some Of his
correspondents displayed was. he said.
appalling. Some thought that 1e 10
meant sixteen silver dollars for every
gold dollar. and other opinions al
most absurd were entertained BY many
Of the writer's.
When asked for plain explanation
Of what would be done II a free coin
age law were passed, Mr.. Preston said.
II can only explain to you generally
what the routine would be. basel on
experience gained before the repeal og
the Sherman law, and upon what free
coinage Of silver is generally inter-
preted to mean. In the first place.
silver in any form. If not too base for
the operation OF the mints. win be re-
ceived from anybody and coined inta
silver dollars. free Of charge. except
the cost Of the alloy employed. which
is &c per ounce.
+The word unlimited as used In the
Chicago platform. means thar there
shall be no restriction as to the
amount of the bullion permitted to be
received and coined Unless by lsgis-
lation the coinage OF silver should be
limited to the American product. our
mints would within few years have
the surplus silver Of al. the world
BY surplus mean all the silver not
used by other nations as subsidiary
coin.
Under free silver law any one
possessing old silver spoons. silver
ware. or anything else containing siI-
yer, would have the privilege Of taking
such articles &c the mints and having
them coined into silver dollars. 1t Is
not to be expected, however. that the
mints win be called upon 10 perform
much work Of this character. Il win
be the snrclters and reiiners who win
do most OF this work
There is a mistaken ilea as to the
class of people who take bullion TO the
riints to be coined. u is generally
supposed thar mine owners do this
AS rule thy do not Their work Is
confined to taking ore from the mines
and sellinS Il to the smelling and re-
fining establishments. There are about
dozen Of these establishments In
operation. and with free coinage
law. Of course the number will greatly
increase 1here are tw.) in Denver.
Col, one eseh in LeadsIlla. Col. oma-
ha. Neb.. Kansas Ci6y. Kan. Perth
Amboy and Newark. y. L.. Pittsburg.
Pa, Chicago. SaL francisco. AMI one
in course Of ereriiun in Ih,'ho. From
these establishments wJiili come a
per cent o: all the bullion tnat would
be sent to the mtats 10 be cp'Lc,i
ITO avoid embarrassment to the
mints by those having small quaint
ties of old silver. it is probable that
bullion of less value than 500 win not
be received. as provided in the old
coinage law. This win be the routine
pursued in the matter of having bull
lion coined into money:
1T will be taken in person or shipp
ed direct to the respective mints. It
will be weighed in the presence Of the
depositor or his agent. and the weight
verified by the Register of Deposits
The weight clerk and register win then
enter in their respective books the
name of the depositor, number and
date of each deposit. kind Of bullion,
weight before melting, and, if it can
be ascertained, the state or country
from which it is derived. The depos-
itor will then be given receipt for
the value of his deposit, if it is of such
character that its value can be ascer-
tanned before melting.
From the weight of the bullion. af-
ter melting. and the report Of the
assayer as to fineness, the value Of
such deposit and the amount Of
charges will be computed. and a de-
tailed statement given to the deposit
or. When the depositor presents his
receipt and certificate for the net value
he will sign the receipt, and the coin
or bars win then be paid to him.
1T is not to be presumed, however.
that under free coinage law per-
son presenting bullion would have to
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