Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-07-23

| ing law. properly codihed. Why did
the bill give gold unlimited coinage &nd
tender? Because all mint laws in en-
istence did so. Why did it restrict the
coinage of subsidiary silver and limit
| it's tender to So? Because these We're
the provisions Of the act of Feb. p,
1853. Why did it omit from coinage
| the old standard silver dollar? Be
cause that had been the intent of the
| act Of 1853 In 1853 the dollar was
| entirely out of circulation, and NO at
tempt was made to brisg it back into
circulation. Why did it make the gold
dollar the unit of value? Because it
had really been the metallic unit since
1884. And this was the avewed inten-
ton of the act OF 1888.
The truth was that in 1872 the sill
YER dollar was worth for bullion 81
cents more than the gold dollar and
that silver dollars had not been in cir
culatfoa for many years. As Congress
man: Hooper said on April9, 1872, when
discussing the silver dollar: 1T does
not circulate now in commercial trans
actions with any country. and the con-
respect CAN better be met by supplying
small stamped bars of the same stand
ard avoiding the useless expense o.
coming the dollar for that purpose"
And Mr.. kelley, who is reported as
having said afterward that he '.didin not
know that the bill omittedi the stand
ard silver dollar" said ON. this same
ic FIR f@Sn
double standard The values of gold
and silver continually tlnettIate- You
cannot determine this year what will
be the relative values of goLdtand silver
next year. They were Is to- q short
lineage. They are rs to now.
Hence all experience has shown that
YOU must have one standard coin which
shall be a legal tender for ali others,
and then you may promote your do
nestle convenience by having subsidi-
airy coinage of silver, which shall circu-
Late in all parts of your country as le
gal tender for a limited amount and be
redeemable at it's face value by your
government"
In another pIace'fn the same speech
Mr. Kelley said, EVERY coin that is not
gold is subsidiary"
Even Mr.. Stewart, them as ROW SEN
ator from Nevada said Oh Feb. 20,
1874:
by this process, we shall come to
specie basis, and when the laboring
man receives dollar it Will have the
purchasing power of dollar and he
Will not be called upon to- do what is
impossible for him or the producing
classes to do, figure upon the exchanges,
figure upon the fluctuations, figure up
ON the gambling in New York. But he
will know what his money is worth
Gold is the universal standard of the
world. Everybody knows what d dol
lar in gold is worth"
The remarks of Mr.. Kelley in the
House in 1872, and those of Senator
Stewart in 1874 show that at that time,
before the tremendous output of silver
turned mems heads, there WAS practi-
cally undivided opinion OH the subject.
The bill had been before Congress three
years, it had been repeatedly discussed,
there was nothing new or startling in
it, and hence there was no call for any
cACcuueu uOIlce Oh ltS DiSSdSc
But the facts are seen to be that the
bill was passed openly and honestly. 1t
embodies the principles of sound mint
age, and it undoubtedly saved us from
going to silver basis on the resump-
ton Of specie payments. And, there
fore, the men who framed it and those
who passed it deserve and will receive
the grateful thanks of ourselves and
our posterity.
After becoming acquainted with the
facts, how ridiculous seems the follow
ing statement from Coins Financial
School: ''In the language of Senator
Daniel of Virginia, it (the act Of 1879
seems to have gone through Congress
like the silent tread of eat" Yet
this is but a sample Of the false state
ments made by most of the leading sill
verites. The following summary Of
procedure indicates how like the silent
tread of cat" the act of 1873 stole
through Congress-: