Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-07
USEFUL MONEY LESSONS.
BRIEF ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
Every Administration From Hayes to Mo-
Klnley, Both Inclusive, Have Inslnst-
ed ON Paying the Interest on the Pub
lie Debt In Gold to Satisfy Bondholders

A correspondent signing himself
Lester dorchester" asks the follow
ing questions, which we answer il
their order;
/. What was the difference betwe er
the old demand notes spoken of in Rep
resentative Green's speech lin your pa
per of the cath of February, and the
greenbac ksP
The old demand notes were receiva-
BILE for oil government dues, The
greenbacks were repudiated BY the
governm emit so far as the payment Of
customs duties on imports and interest
on government debt was concerned.
The former notes remained at par with
coin; the latter suffered great dis
count
@ What dollar did Mr.. Green mean
when he said gold was ESQ and green
backs IS cents on the dollarP
He meant the coined dollar of either
gold or silver.
3. How many representatives and
senator's voted for the crime of 1892
None but the members of the finance
committee of the senate and the coin
age committee Of the house who knew
that the silver dollar had been omitted
from the act to codify the mint laws
and we do not know how many Of
them were in the swindle, Congress
generally, and President Grant in par
ticular, were ignorant of the trick for
more than two years. President Grant
signed the mint bill on the 18th of Feb
ruary, 1873, which demonetized silver,
and he signed the resumption act in
January, 1875. When he returned the
resumption act with his signature, he
sent a special message to congress re.
commencing the construction Of two
more minis to coin silver and make
ready for the resumption OF specie pay
ments on the day fixed, which was the
first of January, 1870.
L. What was silver worth when 1t
was demonetized?
The silver dollar and the gold dollar
were both legal tender and Of equal
value, but the silver in the silver dollar
WIS worth three cents more than the
gold in the gold dollar
g. What was the basis or standard OF
money during the civil war?
: The greenbacls was the currency Of
the country, and legal tender for all
debts, public and private, except duties
on imports and interest on the public
debt Gold was treated as a commod-
ity, and board was organized in New
York to deal in II, the same as boards
deal in wheat, cotton and other com
modltieA
8. How many silver dollars had been
coined prior to 1873?
There had been eight millions OF sill
YER dollars coined, aud they we're coin
ing silver dollars at the San Francisco
mint at the rate OF two million year
when the act Of 1873 was passed But
the question is misleading. There had
been coined previous TO 1873 more than
eighty millions of full legal tender sill
yer money. 1t made no difference
whether the coins were dollaro, half
dollars, or quarters They were full
legal tender. Besides this full legal
tender silver money there had been
coined of token subsidiary money be-
tween 1853 and 1873 nearly fifty mil
lions of dollars. The first mint act
was passed in 1872. In 1873 all foreign
coins were made full legal tender ac'
cOrding to their weight and fineness.
The Spanish countries from
which we got our silver charged an ex'
port duty on silver bullion but none on
silver coin; consequently, the silver
that came to this country came in the
shape Of coin, and entered immediate
ly into circulation. The coinage OF
this country was principally confined
to the recoinage Of defaced or worn
out coins. Silver was the principal
money in circulation in the United
States previous TO the war.
2. Why not pay the interest on the
public debt in silver dollars?
Because every administration from
Hayes to Mckinley, both inclusive,
have insisted on paying the interest on
the public debt in gold, because the
bondholders prefer gold to silver. The
law and the contracts under which the
bonds were issued, however, provides
that they may be paid in either gold or
silver, at the option of the United
States This option has been given
away or sold to gold gamblers, we do
not know which.
g. What is money! Who has the
right to make money? What is Eat
money, and intrinsic value?
Money, according TO the highest au-
tborities on political economy, from
Aristotle TO the present time, is the
creation Of law. The highest courts Of