Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1896-08-01
SILVER DOLLARS.
LESSON II.

mobilization of silver did not mean q
cessation of coming silver dollars, nor
a deprlving of the money so coined oI
its legal tender quality, the next sIep
was to find what the word did really
mean when used by experts in finance
and in this way we may find what 1t
really means when used by public men
who wish to be understood by the mass
OF people whom they address by the
written or spoken word.
On going to the latest and best stand
ard dictionary, one published since this
question has come before the people
for discussion, l find the word to be
defined to mean-''to divest of the
character of standard money; to with
draw from use as currency"
AS the whole aim and intent OF the
| legislation of '7S had been to make cur
rency Of silver, it was evident at a
glance that If silver had been demone-
tized it must have been by some other
law than those providing for it's pur-
chase and coinage and giving the coin
age legal tender quality for the pay
ment of all debts both public and pri-
vate. What law, then, would 'diyest
the coined legal tender dollars of the
character of standard money!" 1t
would at once be said, no law but one
enacted by the power which made 1t
standard money.
But on examination it was found that
there was mercantile law which in
effect, might make the standard dol
lar a mere matter of merchandise and
so in effect demonetize it. This law is
based upon the fact that silver is a
commodity or merchantable article TO
be bought and sold like any other
commodity, and as the value of this
commodity depended on it's quality, it
was an advantage in its sale, to have its
fineness and weight stamped upon it by
law. Coined silver was silver refined
and weighed, and having on 1t the goy-
ernment stamp, which certified to the
quantity and quality of the silver.
Now if for any cause a profit can be
made by buying the dollars and selling
them 1t will be done and has been done.
Thomas Jefferson stopped the coinage
of silver dollars in 1904 because the
merchants found it profitable to export
them and exchange them for Spanish
dollars, whose silver was worth about
two cents on dollar more than that in
standard U. S. dollar.
That little matter of a difference of
two cents on dollar demonetized the
silver dollar of the fathers and sent it
out of the country. The same fate be-
fel the halves and quarters after jeff
erson stopped the coinage of the dol
lars. 1t did not demonetize silver, but
the coin of the U. S. and gave us back
Spanish milled dollars, and quarters,
and shilltngs, and sixpences, which |
formed the medium of exchange until
our government got onto the plan of |
making our subsidiary coin little |
light, and emitting the coinage of the
silver dollar. The coinage law of 1858,
adopted this principle in order to stop
the expectation of our silver coinage
which was then at a premium over
gold and so became an article of mer-
chandise and was exported out of the
country. Horace White on Money and
Banking, "a and So.
The same thing occurred when a
gold dollar became of a little more
value than silver one, the gold was
demonetized, became IA commodity of |
commerce and was exported, and it be-
came great question for the politi-
clans of Jackson's day to settle as to
how they would manage 10 stop this
and restore gold to the circulation of |
the country. The history of these
temporary demonstrations of silver
and gold shows: first, that they we're
and second that they al
ternated according to the fluctuations
in the market value of the metal in
each. Coined silver was sold when
there was profit in selling; and coined
gold when the gold in dollar of gold
was worth little more than the silver
In coined silver dollar.
The examination of the history of
the demonstrations of gold and silver,
full account OF which was found in
Horace Whites 'Money and Banking, ("
led to the conclusion that the only way
to demonetize silver was either to
make it SO dear that the coin would be
bought up and taken out of the hands
OF the people, or to make 1t SO cheap |
that it would become impossible for
any people to sustain it on parity
with the more costly metal. This last
was the method by which the Virgin
ians effectually demonetized tobacco,
which at one time passed in exchange
for twenty shilllngs per pound, tobacco
al one tima beinu lanai tonJo, "a |