Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1899-12-14

4 VIZ I ~ -SA " ttt
aaf .ha silya- dollar. ever contained
IN tsae bin. either "a II was originals
drawn O. throughout its entire con
siderafsan. The bin became q
law Feb. fo. 1879. For more than a
quarter Of a century preceding that
date. The commercial world had treat
ed gold as the standard Of meas sure
men. IF values The Act Of 1873 was
merely the rss'iev and practice OF our
peenle. crystaliized into statute law
IF there had h@eu no further lec-s
latien concerning the coinage OF sill
yer. there would exist today no single
de,sht Of the money standard 81 the
Trirad States The law OF Feb 10
1873. clearly adopts the gold one-doi
lar niece. a. the standard weight al
z5.s grains az gold. as the unit OF val
ne. That statute has never been re
peaied. nor directly amended. aa.1 by
legal construction Is In force today
Yet subsequent acts have SO affected I,
that there Is some doubt as to whether
gold is fally recognized as our none
tary standard The &C OF Feb. IS. 1878
authorizing the coinage OF the stand
ard silver dollar. and the act Of july
IA, 1890. directing the purchase OF sil.
yer bullion and the issue of treasury
z AAEA Ih1- III
such a tremendous quantity of silver
guaranteed by the government to cir
culate at par hat the burden OF the
government was so increased rs &c
make doubtful tha strength and sta
bility Of the standard.
The fall in the price of silver gave
courage to the advocates of cheap
mercy. who sought. by restoring the
silver dollar to circulation At less thar
its intrinsic value. to accomplish what
they had failed TO accomplish in their
battle for cheap paper money at an
earlier period. Public sentiment 50
Suddenly changed upon this question
taat a free oinage bill passed the
Horse Of Representatives on the 18th
of recemter. 1876. by a vote OF 167
10 50. Fortunately. 1t was no acted
upon by he's Senate. A similar easur
passed the House on November 8, 1877.
by a ne of 1913 to "a.
THE BLAND1ALLISON ACT.
EARLY In the year 1878 his bill was
considered by the Senate and a com
promise effected. resulting In the pass
age Of the >o-called Bland Allison act
on the 18th day of February. 1878.
With all of the ills which this measure
brought upon the country 1t was far
to be preferred to an absolute free
coinage bill. which threatened the
country at that date.
"The rapidity with which the silver
dollars were coined and issued into
circulation greatly stimulated the ad-
vocates Of cheap money. who became
restless at the delay occasioned by the
mints. which were not able to turn out
the money as rapidly as the people de-
-fra3 anI tho 10 W Of Tplv "a 1000 nrp
viding for the immediate issue of
treasury notes based upon the bullion
purchased TO be redeemed by the dol
lars as coined, enabled the issue of the
money more rapidly han was provided
by the capacity of the minis.
"Py the act of Sept. 26. 1890. Con
gress discontinued h coinage OF the
O~ne-doliar gold pieces. which the law
of Feb. IL. 1873. had declared to be
the init of value This act further
confrsed the legal status OF the stand
ard. While the actual existence of the
gold ane-dollar piece Is not essential.
yet it having been declared by law
to be the unit of value It's discon-
tinrance east doubt upon the charac-
ter Of the standard.
.'The purchasing clause of the law
OF July IA. 1890. was repealed Novem.
z !. 'o ~ h-'' wv
burden on the government because of
the vast issue of a deprecated coin
THAT confidence in the governments
liability to maintain 1~safesa Ina Mr.
fLtas'hg rfarse of the act of July IA.
1850. contained the provision declaring
II 70 ie the fixed purpose Of the GOV
{rnment to maintain It's gold and sill
rer OF eGral intrinsic and exchange
able value.
ICrrIC CONFIDENCE SHAKEN
.'yhe t~~enentouS increase ~ si'verI
coin rnder the operation of the Law
OF 1878 and 1890 created q doubt a.
to tie ability of the governmcnt to
n~eaint"fn the parity of all of its money.
Prior To 1873. when the gold standard
was ADOPTED. there had been issued
by the "ovsrnmcrf only 8 n21 a'S silver
dollars. From February -, 1873. when
the recoina.e af the silver dollar ws
authorized ~ November l 1902 when
such coinage was discontinued. there
were coined by the government 4s2- |
357. 376 silver dollars. Upcn this last
date r ere was not a silver dollar In
circpanticn whose face value egualed
lis intrinsic value. The difference be
tween the intrinsic and face value was
q government OBLIGATION. so estab
Iisllea by congressional act. No other
metlgs' of n~aiuaenance OF the parity
Of silver with geld. other than the
pledge IF the government. was known
to the law. The ability of the govern
nient ~ bear this burden WIS naser
auestiIfed. The mere money obliga-
ton imposed by the law created no
serious embarrassment. 1t was the
principl. involved. coupled with the
repeated efforts by very considerable
number Of the people of the country
TO establish absolute free coinage of
silver. which shook public confidence
ard p~rushced a fear that a chance of
the meneary standard would result.
"If the legal standard to-day Is the
gold standard, under the act of 1873
a positiy, statute TO that effect can
do no harm. II. on the other hand
there is Any reasonable doubt. it should
be dispeild by a statute plain and
clear in it terms. and absolute in ITS
effect. ne American government IS
too great tr IL TO hesitate to make ab
soluteiy cefain any of its policies: its
responsibility to its people in the
proper a~ndpeacefuI discharge of Their
too are and certain. for it &c
suffer the Slightest doubt of the stand
ard of measurement. of values in the
a bushes transactions of peo
pie. The resent conditions are mosi
ad the time most oppor- !,
tune. for tht clear and unequiyocal
adoption Of Re gold standard.
Prior to te yea 1895, the gold
hadbeen legally adopted by
of Il leading nations of the I