Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1896-04-09
HISTORY OF COINAGE.
NxTY-EIGHT YEARS UNLIMITED USE
OF BOTH METALS.

For-Foreign Money Laws.
Tho proposition is to take off all linn
t as to coinage; to withdraw the gov
rnment support of silver; to let any
nan who has silver bullion worth so
,ents have it stamped 100 cents. With
Tut government support 4121a grains Of
liver and tho new silver dollar would
10 Of the same exchangeable value. The
question, therefore, is, What effect
would free coinage have on silver bull
ion? Would 4121s grains Of silver be-
,ome worth as much as 25.S grains Of
gold? Would free coinage give it an ex-
Manageable value equal to our present
dollar in the markets Of the world? If
The value Of silver is not doubled by free
coinage, then the exchangeable value Of
sur new silver dollar must drop to the
actual value of the silver put into it.
We would not have bimetallism, but
! gold dollar worth twice as much as
the silver dollar, and the silver dollar
would become the standard measure Of
value, driving the gold dollar out Of cir
:ulation. We would reduce our stand.
ard one-half.
When the act Of 1909 was passed, JEFF
ferson and Hamilton both determined
TO make the now gold and silver dollar
equal in value to the then standard Of
measurement, which was dollar equal
to 24A grains Of gold. They recognized
the fact that the exchangeable value Of
q coined dollar must be controlled by
the commercial value Of the bullion put
upon it. Therefore they undertook to
find how many grains of silver uncoined
were commercially equal in value to
242 grains Of gold. They decided that
1t required Is times as many and null
tiplying 24A by 10 placed 371H grains
Of silver in a dollar.
This undervalued gold. For the first
few years, owing largely to the lack Of
quick international communication, it
circulated to limited extent, and then
long before 1884, went entirely out Of
circulation, and we were on the silver
standard. In 1884 Jackson sought to re-
store bimetallism, but he was unwilling
to change the standard upon which bust
ness was then being done. He recog-
nized the danger to commerce Of chang
ing the standard. He therefore reduced
the amount Of gold put into the dollar,
so that under the new coinage the bull
lion value Of both dollars would be just
equal to the dollar then in use, and at
his instance new ratio of 16 to was
passed. 1t was soon found that this new
ratio undervalued silver, and shortly
after 1884 this country went to the gold
standard Of 25. 8 grains Of gold to the dol
lar and has been on it ever since, with
the exception Of the time incident to the
war.
Under the new ratio, after 1884, even
fractional currency was worth more
when melted than it's coinage value,
and therefore in 1853 it became neces-
sary to provide fractional currency,
containing a reduced number of grains
to the dollar, and their legal tender was
limited to IS. The Spanish milled dol
lar was still in circulation, but the
highest amount Of foreign silver by the
estimates Of the treasury department in
circulation at any time was $50, 900, 900.
In 1860 the gold circulation was
1914, 100000 and subsidiary silver
$21, 100000. While 4, 900, 900 silver dol
lars had been coined they have all gone
out Of circulation, being worth more
when melted as bar silver than thei,
face value.
These facts prove that free and unlim.
tied coinage Of both metals by the Unit
ed States did not substantially affect
the bullion value Of either metal; that
the cheaper metal became the standard
Of value, and the other went out of cir.
culation.
If So years Of experience with free
and unlimited coinage Of both metals
showed that by free and unlimited coin
age we were unable to affect, first, the
value Of silver, to make it equal to gold
at the ratio of 10 to 1, or, second, the
value of gold, to make it equal to silver
at 16 to 1, when the difference in their
bullion value was only per cent, is 1t
not preposterous to claim that free and
unlimited coinage now will so increase
the value Of silver when the discrepancy
is so per cent?
It cannot be claimed that the legisla-
ton by the United States in 1878 seri-
ously affected the commercial value Of
silver, for since that time we have fur
nished market for 5000, 900, 900 Of sill
YER, very much moro in proportion to
our increasing commerce than went
through our minis during the days Of
free and unlimited coinage Of silver.
The fall in the price Of silver can
easily be accounted for. In 1878 the
worlds product Of silver at coinage
value was $S1, 100000 in 1892, it was
$196, 100000; in 1898, 5000, 165, 900,
and in 1894, $214, 4S1, 900. This enor-
nous increase in the production of sill.
yer took place despite the fact that sill
yer had fallen in value so per cent.
By legislation passed in 1912 Nor
way and Sweden and Germany suspend
ed the coinage Of silver in 1874. Ger.
many demonetized silver and put $780,.
000,O Of bullion upon the markets Of
Europe. Denmark, Holland, Russia,
Austria and Hungary each suspended
the coinage Of demonetized silver The
Latin union, composed of France, Bel
GUM, Switzerland, Italy and Greece,
was forced to suspend the coinage of sill
YER because it was found impossible by
free coinage TO sustain the value of sill
vCl 1t1 11in,, This Tc-,., i've,
sion for L. months at time from 1874
to 1878, when the Suspension was made
without limitation a. to the time Of
continuance. Since lhcn Iadia, Brazil.
Argentine Republic and Chile have sus
pended free coinage. Seer ctary Roks
Smith at Gainasvilin On INK pr