The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-31
His DRY
REVIEWED.

At the request of the Chicago Times
Herald George {. Gorham. of St. Louis
has furnished that paper the following
review of the financial legislation of 1873:
Charles p. johnson. st. Louis Mo.
Dear Sir: In compliance with your re
quest | present the following narrative
of the steps which led to the demonctiz
alton of slverin the'United States in 1873.
and the methods adopted to accomplish
that result
The national debt ut the close of the
war was about 81, 800, 000, 900, the princi.
pal being payable by law III any legal ten
der money and the interest in coin. Ger
tain great banking houses of Europe-fol
lowing the example set by their predeces
sors in England Immediately after the fall
of Napoleon, and setting an example
which was followed by their class in Ger
many after the Franco-Prussian war-in
augurated Il scheme to greatly enhance
the value of this vast obligation by max
ing it payable in gold, and then increas-
ing the value of gold This involved
two Legislative measures:
l. Such changes in the laws of the
United States as would provide for the
payment of the principal of the bonds
in coin only and would forbid the pay
ment of any portion.of it prior to the re-
sumption of specie payment in legal ten
der Treasury notes, in which it was eX
pressly made payable by the law author
izing the issue of the bonds, and in cx
change for which, when greatly lepre
ciatcd. they had all been issued.
,. The decentralization of silver in the
United States so that coin would
mean gold only, and the value of that
metal at the same time be greatly en-
HANGED
John Sherman, IL Senator from Ohio,
became the chief promoter of this foreign
scheme. 1t was, of course also sup
ported by the Amc cican satellites of the
European houses referred to.
On May 10. 1867, being then or IA visit
to Fnris, and having Just visited Lon.
don, he addressed Il letter to the United
States commissioner to the international
conference on coinage. weights and meas
ures then in session in the former city.
In that letter, which was published, he
strongly urged the adoption of the gold
standard. and said of his own country:
las coin is not now in general circula
ton, we can easily fix by law the size,
weight and measure OF future issues. :
The conference adopted the gold standard
and our commissioner reported that this
result was largely due to the letter from
Mr.. Sherman.
Senator Sherman next attempted 10
easily fix by law in this country the
new monetary system so essential to the
success of the scheme above described.
10 that end, on February 9, 1StS, he in
PRODUCED in the Senate IL bill (No. 210 to
demonetize silver by disseminating the
coinage of the silver dollar. He reported
this bill favorably from the finance COM
mittee, but Senator +. - Morgan, of
New York, vigorously antagonized it in
Il minority report.
y second unsuccessful attempt ut the
decentralization of silver was inaugu-
rated on the 25th day of April, 1870, by
the introduction in the Senate by Sena-
tor Sherman of "A bill $50 revising
the laws relating to the mint assay
offices and coinage OF the United States"
According to his statement the bill was
framed in the I reasury Department by
distinguished body of experts" 1t
contained seventy one sections, the fiji
teenth of which gave II list of all silver
coins to he thereafter issued, and the
eighteenth of which prohibited the is
suance of any not named therein. The
silver dollar was omitted from the list,
and the nts.wcre. thercbyclosed against
deposits of silver bullion for coinuge
But the bill contained no reference to
this fact, which might be said to appear
only by not appearing.
i lt lulIu anu lllitliN successful move
ment for the characterization of silver was
the introduction in the House of Repre-
scntatives on March 8, 1871, of "A bill
(No. l.i2o revising and amending the
laws relative to the minis, assay offices
and coinage of the United Statesn 1t
WAS introduced by Mr.. Kelley, of Penn
Sylvana, chairman of HE committee on
coinage, and reported by him favorably
from the committee on January ., 1872.
He Informed the House that it had been
prcpa red in the Treasury Department for
the purpose of codifyinY and simplifying
the mint laws, and he and his colleague
on the committee. Mr.. Maynard, of Ten
nessec. both stated that it was mere re.
vision Of the mi laws. the only impor-
tant change being the creation of a mint
bureau in the Treasury Department.
1t was recommended January 10. and
again reported with amendments Feb
ruary .. lS12-this time by Samuel
Hooper, Of Massachusetts. He stated
that the bill reduced the weight OF the
eil .er dollar from ll2 ID grains to 3Sl,
but did not state that it proposed, as it
did To dcmomctiIc silver by making the
silver dollar a legal tender only in sums
not to exceed 81. Clarkson Potter. of
New York, however, debated that pro-
vision, which hc objected to as being ill
timed, ANA he also strongly objected to
other features of the bill Pending de-
bate the House adjourned without mo-
ton.
Mr. Kelley, Of PENNSYLVANIA, who in
PRODUCED the bill, declared on the iloor OF
the House that, though he was chairman
of the committee on coinage he was
ignorant of the fact that it would de-
monetzc the silver dollar" Congress
sional Record, vol. :, part >, page l,GC5.) }
Mr.. Blaine, who was speaker the House
when the bill was passed declared on the
floor OF the senate in 1873 that he did
NOT Know nmNthinac tln1 w. In thn In -.