Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-06-12
COINAGE PROVISION. AGAIN.

having the public believe that there u
nothing in II in the way OF an increase OF
currency or encouragement TO tho silve'
sentiment, here and there In found pa
per OF gold proclivities that states tho
case with some clearness and fairness.
The coinage provision Of the war-reve-
nue. bill was given by US in discussing this
subject yesterday. But in order to the
| better understanding OF what follows. we
| repeat It. 1t reads:
THE Secretary OF the Treasury 10 au-
| thorized and directed 10 coin into stand
ard silver dollars as rapidly as the public
interests may require, to an amount, how
\ ever, Of not less than one and one-half
| millions Of dollars in each month, all OF
| the silver bullion now in the Treasury
| purchased in accordance with the pro-
| visions OF the act approved July IA, 1880,
| entitled An act directing the purchase or
1 silver bullion and the issue of Treasury
| notes thereon. and for other purposes,
| and said dollars, when so coined. shall
| be used and applied in the manner and
for the purposes named in said act"
So much of the act Of 1880 as bears most
directly on the above provision is as
follows:
"That the Secretary OF the Treasury
shall each month coin 100000 ounces OF
silver bullion purchased under the provi-
sions of this act into standard silver dol
lars until the 1st day OF July, 1891, and
after that time he shall coin Of the silver
bullion purchased under the provisions OF
this act as much as may be necessary TO
provide for the redemption of the Urea
sury notes herein provided for and any
.vafr, Gafer aric frnr
coinage shall be accounted for and paid
into the Treasury"
The government paid in Treasury notes
for the silver bought under the act Of 1890
the sum of SIS, 931 ,OO2, and some of these
notes have been redeemed by coming bull
lion. At the present time the amount OF
1890 act bullion held in the vaults OF the
Treasury is approximately 13O,GO,OO0 fine
ounces. which cost about sl1S,OOO.OO0.
Now, where do the paths of the two
coinage provisions separate, and where
comes in the increase of currency The
war-revenue act provision goes beyond
directing the coinage of as much bullion
as may be necessary TO provide for the
redemption OF Treasury notes outstanding
against bullion, its design being to coin
the entire mass OF bullion in the Trea-
sury. 1t is true that most OF the silver
dollars thus coined will be held in tho
Treasury against the Treasury notes
which were issued TO pay for the silver,
but the remaining si2OOO.cOO will be paid
into the Treasury as seignlorage. In the
view of the Baltimore Sun. which is one
OF the gold papers that state the propo-
sltion with lucidity and fairness, the OBJ
ject of the provision is to get at and put
into circulation at once these Sf2O0O,OOO
which can be used 10 pay the expenses
of the government, and will, OF course,
initiate the currency that much.
The Philadelphia Press holds substanti-
ally the same view as It's Baltimore
contemporary. 1t says:
"The coinage provision in this war rev.
enue bill will increase the silver output
of silver dollars only 80 per cent. over
what it has been in the last fifteen
months. AS Treasury notes represent
ing the value of the bullion must be
retired as the new dollars are put in
circulation the actual increase in the !
currency from the coinage Of the silver !
bullion in the Treasury will be repre- |
scented by the difference between the |
cost of the bullion and its coinage value, |
or about $42 100000 which will be added |
to the money in circulation only as there |
is a demand for more silver dollars to |
take them out of the Treasury"
In closing this paragraph the Press !
hedges little for its own consolation, |
but we rather reckon that a demand !
that will take the added silver dollars out |
Of the Treasury at a pretty lively |
rate will be forthcoming before the ex-
penses OF the war shall have been paid.
That much for the effect Of the pro- |
vision in the matter Of increasing the |
currency. AS 70 the question of its en-
or not encouraging the silver
sentiment, the Washington Star, which |
Is on the ground, admits that in the
the conference committee
made a distinct concession to the silver
men. But what has a more significant
bearing on this point is the remark in
the Senate Friday of Mr.. Wolcott, the
author of the Senate amendment looking
to coinage at the rate of 100000 per
and which was receded from in
the committee Of conference. Mr.. VOL
colt said:
"Many Of us would nave been glad IL
the bill, as finally agreed upon, provided
for the coinage of S4,000OO0 of silver a
month, but the principle Incorporated
by the Senate has been retained, and L
believe it is generally satisfactory"
On the whole, it would seem that, as we
said yesterday, the silver men have no
reason TO be discouraged over the situa-
ion. They have achieved a triumph Of
principle, and while the material results
ire not all they aimed to secure, they
rave laid strong foundation on which
o build.