The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1899-01-26
THE SHERMAN LAW.

lished policy of the United States to
maintain the two metals gold and sill
ver) on a parity with each other upon
the present legal ratio, or such ratio as
! may be provided by law" The policy
of the Government here declared Is to
maintain the two metals in parity
with each other. 1t has respect to the
metals, gold and silver, of which money
| is made, and not to the coins struck
! from these metals and used as money.
These coins. being equivalent represent
atiyes of our money unit, must have the
same value or purchasing power. that
| is, the same relation to commodities, so
long as they concurrently circulate and
are used as money. Any unit OF
money. or dollar is rs valuable. that
is, it has the same purchasing power as
every other dollar" regardless of the
material in which it is embodied or by
which it is represented. All that Is
| required is that the material in the
| form of a dollar be endowed by law
with the function of money; and the
| value or purchasing power of this dol
| lar depends upon the number of those
| units or the mass of money in circula-
| ton. In making this declaration of the
policy of the United States, Congress
could not have had in view the gold and
silver coins. but the gold and silver bull
lion, or metals, from which these coins
are struck. How are these metals to
be placed and maintained on parity
| with each other upon n given ratio!
How can sixteen ounces of silver bull
lion be made equal in value to one
ounce of gold bullion, this being our
present ratio? AS the value of each
of these metals is determined by its use
for monetary purposes. their equality
or parity with each other can only be
secured by their equality in such use;
in other words, by providing by law for
their passage through the mints into
| the currency on prescribed ratio upon
precisely equal terms. 1t is the ratio
upon which they are coined that brings
the metals together. or diminishes the
separation between them. This has
been strikingly demonstrated by the
VI Se W =. IN
Alexander Hamilton, after careful ex-
animation. determined that the relation
of the metals to each other then was
l to 15, that is, that one ounce OF gold
was equivalent in value to 10 ounces OF
silver; and the best writer's upon the
subject have vindicated the correctness
of his Judgment. But France in 1903
opened her mints to the unrestricted
coinage of gold and silver upon the
ito of to 1515. and this became the
prevailing ratio in Europe. AS one
ounce of gold would exchange for only
ID ounces of silver in Europe. it went
to Europe and silver came TO this coun-
try In 1884, to attract gold to this
country, we changed our ratio to 1 to
16, one-half point on the other side
of the French ratio. The result was
that as one ounce of gold would eX-
change for only 1515 ounces of silver in
France. but would exchange for Is
ounces of silver in this country, it
came to this country, and our silver
migrated to Europe. Consequently gold
predominated in our currency down to
1873, and in this country silver was at
about three per cent premium over gold.
If the colossal blunder of throwing sill
yer out of the money stock in 1873 Gar
isle in 1878 said: ut was the most gi-
gantic crime of this or any other age'o
had not been committed; if, instead, We
had then changed our ratio so as to
make it conform TO the French or Eu-
ropean ratio. France would not have
closed her mint against silver, and this
disturbing silver question would never
have arisen. 1t is therefore only
through the agency of our coinage laws
that the metals can be made to ap-
uroach each other and their parity
maintained. The phrase "the present
legal ratio or such ratio as may be pro-
vided by law" manifestly means that
the metals shall be freely coined upon
the present legal ratio, and if, upon
fair trial, it does bring them together.
then such change of the ratio shall be
made as will accomplish this object.
Hence the declaration of policy set
forth in the above clause in the act of
1890 was a declaration in favor of a
bimetailc standard, and not for an ex-
elusive gold standard, or an exclusive
silver standard. The present admins
tration interprets the above clause in
the Sherman act as imposing an obliga-
ton upon the Government to keep all
the dollars in our currency, whether in
the form of paper dollars or silver dol
lars, on n parity with gold, and that to
do so it is indispensable that 1t shall be
in a position to give gold coins in eX-
change for all this currency, as it is pre-
sented, and obtain this gold by issuing
bonds for it in the name of the people
and thereby increase the public indebt-
edness. 1t was because an increase of
the currency would be made by coming
the silver seigniOrage in the treasury,
amounting to $50, ,152,9 $50. and thereby
increase the difficulty of accomplishing
this object, that President Cleveland
vetoed the seigniorage bill in March
last; and he appealed to this clause in
the Sherman act in justification Of his
course. He regards that clause as in
effect placing this country upon Gil ex-
elusive gold standard. and the continu-
ance of silver in the situation of mer-
chandise, and thereby defeating the pol
icy declared in the clause, viz. ''the
maintaining of the parity Of these two
metals with each other upon the pres
ent legal ratio or such ratio as may be
provided by law" For it must be ap-
parent to every one that these metals
can never be made to approach each
other while one of them, gold, is a
money metal, and the other, silver. is
merchandise, but that they must drift
farther and farther apart so long as
gold continues to rise.-Henry G. Mil
ler
Another Step Necessary.
President Mckinley has deemed it
judicious to pardon Leech Lake Indians
who took part in a miniature rebellion
last summer snd there is no reason