The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-13

so as to bring gold into the United States.
Four years later Judge fancy, as secretary
of the treasury. made a report to Congress
regarding 1.-The contemplated change" in
the ratio. He assumes that the legal and
market ratios must be the same if both
metals are to circulate freely and equally.
The drift of his argument is in favor of
a single standard, as the following para
graph shows:
Each nation has however, a relief with
in its own power from the evils incident
to the regulation of the relative value of
the metals used for current coins, which is
to have one standard measure of property,
Great Britain has, after series of ex-
periments for some centuries in vainly en-
deavorlng TO adjust the relative values OF
gold and silver. come to this conclusion
and adopted gold as the proper standard.
The purpose of the Jackson administers
ton leaders in pushing bill to change the
ratio from Is to i to 16 to is set forth
by Secretary fancy as follows:
The policy Of the United States in chang
ing the ratio of gold to silver in the coins
may be governed by the probability of eff
fecting such an adjustment as will perma-
nently maintain both metals in general cir
culation or. if this be doubtful, by the
preference to be given for the one or the
other, as a principal medium for currency.
If the regulation be founded on the
most exact calculation of relative values
for the time being, the vibration of the
values of gold and silver must alternately
cause the expulsion of each.
There is much more in this line by An
drew Jackson's secretary of the treasury.
all tending toward a single standard or to
restore gold by new ratio, decreasing its
value compared with silver. In the Senate,
Senator Benton, the recognized champion of
President Jackson's policies in that body,
led in advocacy of the bill changing the
ratio, which he calls the gold bilP' in his
Thirty Years." to which three chapters
of the first volume are devoted. He even
criticised Hamilton for attempting the
double standard. He emphatically de-
clared that the purpose of the
bill was to restore gold which had been
driven out of the country by the ratio of
10 to /. The bill changing the ratio was
under consideration some time, but was
finally passed by an emphatic vote and APP
proved by President Jackson. For his activ-
ity in pushing the measure Mr.. Benton was
stigmatized as the gold humbug'
Regarding the origin and effect of the law
changing the ratio from Is to 1 to 16 to !,
let us quote from the recent history of
President Andrews, of Brown University,
whom the Bryanites have applauded as one
of their brightest lights:
An important measure touching the hard
money system of our country was passed
in a large part through the influence of
President Jackson. In the mint law of 1892
our silver dollar was made to contain 371A
grains of fine silver, or 416 grains of stand
ard silver. The same law of 1892 had given
II cf weight
of the silver dollar. This proportion was
exactly correct at the time but within
year, account of an increase in the rela-
tive value of gold, the gold dollar at Is to
/ became more valuable than it's silver
mate. The consequence was that the gold
brought to the United States mint for coin
age fell off year by year until. in some
of the years between 1920 and 1880. it had
been almost zero. Gold money had nearly
ceased to circulate. Jackson resolved to re-
store the yellow metal to daily USE In this
he was opposed by many Wings, who so
jealous were they for the United States
so-cailed gold bin was carried through
Congress in 1884, changing the proportion
Of silver r to gold in our c 6. from 10
valued. so that silver gradually ceased to
circulate, as gold had almost ceased before.
This result was made worse after 1S48, when
there was further appreciation of silver
through the discovery of gold in California
and Australia. Silver dollars did not again
circulate freely until 1878. Gold, on the other
though not abundant in circulation, owing
to the large amount Of paper money then
in use.
The next important discussion of the ques-
ton of the standards came up in the Demo-
cratic Congress of 1853 the bill under con-
sideration being that to reduce the weight
of the subsidiary silver for the reason that
it was worth more as bullion than as coin.
This bill not only reduced the weight of
halves and quarters, but limited their legal
tender to five dollars. The measure was adj
vocated in the House by Hon. c. L. Dun
ham, Democrat of Indiana. The nays
were not counted when this bill, really de-
monetizng silver, was passed by Demo-
cratic House in 1853 In the course of his
speech Mre Durham said:
Indeed it is utterly impossible that you
should long at a time maintain a double
dol - standard of gold and silver as
thing that exists and that we propose to
change. We have had but a single standard
for the last three or four years. That has
been and now is gold. We propose to let
lit remain so, and to adapt silver to it, to
regulate it by it.
There should be no necessity for the repe-
tition of the foregoing facts of history, and
there would be no excuse for so doing did
not the Bryanites have the audacity to
attempt to make the people believe that
in regard to the principles affecting coinage
he is the disciple of Jefferson and Jackson.