Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1899-12-06
The Gold pledJe to BE- Kept.

JhA.t tbAs IS~1VfuIS
his forthcoming mes>aye t. Con
gre~s, is going To rec. m,nend leg
islation which will make the gold
standard SD secure that it can not
he overturned or eva.l.M except by
the concurrent action Of Il base
money Congress and President, is
exactly what the country had the
righ, to expect. III the ,,la,f'rm
adopted by ih" Republican Nation,
al Convention at 81. Louis III 1895
the representatives uf the party
declared that ''a!I our silver and
paper currency mast he maintained
at parity with gold, and ". fa
vor all measures designed 10 fnain-
tain inviola''Iy the obligations of
the United States, and vii our
money. whether coin or PAPER, Il,
tho preseut standard, the standard
IF the most enlightened nations of
the earth.
Technically the country has had
the gold standard ever vince 1887,
when, by the operation Of the coin.
age law Of that yeai, silver became
more vuluul,ale as bullion than us
coin, and ceased to 60 to The mints
except in 1862 70, when coin was
not in circulation, and currency,
which varied from day to day, rs
measured hy gold. The act uf
1873 discontinued hy law the coin
age of silver dollars, which had
virtually leen discontinued by the
operation IF The law of 1887, the
legislation IF the latter year being
what the Democrats used to call
the ''crime of '73." AT the end If
the period of inconver,ihIe curron-
cy, which lasted from the begin
ming of 1862 to the beginning "f
1870 the, law knowna~ihe rc>,,mp-
tion act, passed by a Republican
Congress, and signed hy Rcpuh-
lican President (GranD on Jamu
ary ii, 1878, which vent into eff
feet January l, 1879, may be said
to have re-cstallished the gold
standard, for that act made all the
currency redeemable in coin, and
everybody, IF Course, understood
that coin meant gold. The coin
age of silver dollars had ,,enn re
sumcd ten months (Fe'r,,arv 2S.
1879 before the gold restoration
act went into effect, and these dol
lars were made full legal tender,
but the bullion value If these coins
steadily declined, and at last the
co:nage was virtually stopped by
ope, alton of the bullion deposit
law If 1890, lmpularIy called tic
Sherman act.
Though Democrats as we'll lis
Republicans have understood thai
the gold standard has technically
been in operation ever since 1873,
the Secretary IF the Treasury has
the option under the law "f meet
ing the governments $ "''liga'i.'n> in
silver. A bill whicl, the Re;n,hli-
can members If the special COM
mi,,ee If Representatives ami
Senators has prcImrel, and whose
passage tho Pre>iden, il going in
urge, takes away this option. This
bill will declare that ''lhe standard
unit IF value shall, as now, bc tho
dollar, and shall consist If 25.S
grains of gold, nine tentbs fine, or
1922 grains Of pure gold" and
that "all the interest bearing "bli-
CATION of tho United States for the
payment of money now existing,
or hereafter to be entered into,
and all United States notes and
treasury notes under the law Of
July ~, 1890, shall I've deemed and
held to be payable in the gold coin
of the United States" This bill
would put the gold standard firmly
and uneq"ivocally in the statutes.
Under the operation of this act no
repudiationist Presiden, conld e.
tablish tho silver standard except
by the joint action Of a majority of
each branch of Congress. The
probability is that this measure
will pass tho House early in the
session, very likely before the hol.
iday recess. There will he more
opposition to it in tho Senate, but
tho pressure which will I've brought
in its favor by the administration,
the leaders Of the Republican pxr
ty in Congress and out of it, as wei
as by the masses 0f the party and