Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-08-23
SIXTEEN TO ONE.
fa the Ratio at w hich Even Our Cold
Standard Administration 4.
Coming silver

-
Under the coinage laws of the Units0
States 10 ounces of silver are the equiv
alent of one ounce of gold. The law un-
der which our gold and silver In coined
was enacted in 1884. Prior to that time
the coinage laws of 1892 were in force
making the equivalent in coins Of Is
ounces of silver and one ounce of gold.
The silver coin of the world outside
Of the United States bears the ratio
to gold coin of 1914 to /. Prior to s
gold coin of the United States was
shipped abroad in payment of foreign
balances in preference to silver. be-
cause gold, relatively to silver, would
go further in satisfying foreign de-
mands on account of one ounce of gold
being equivalent to 1914 ounces of sill
yer abroad while it was only equal to
Is ounces at home.
In 1884 a law was passed reducing
the weight of our gold coins. Under
the new law n ounce of gold was
the equivalent in coin of 1875 ounces
of silver, which being only 2.01 of an
ounce less than 16. has since hat time
been referred to incorrectly as 16 to 1
for the sake of speaking in round num-
bers.
After the passage of the coinage law
of 1894 the American silver dollar was
at a premium over American gold coin
in Europe until after the demonetiza-
ton act of 1873.
What is therefore known as is to 1
is the law of the land, and has been such
for Go years. The latest coinage law
enacted in this country was passed
by a republican congress and signed
by President Mckinley june ID, 1898.
Il will be remembered hat when the
war revenue bill was on its passage
Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, intro
duced an amendment, which became
a part of the bill, authorizing the coin
age of not less than 100000 silver
dollars each month. The silver dollars
coined under this law are coined at
the ratio of Is to l and contain the
same amoun of pure silver authorized
in the law of 1884. which is the only
silver dollar ever coined by the govern
ment.
Under the administration of Presi-
dent Mckinley there have been coined
59.9sS.se0 silver dollars. During the
month of June this year there were
coined at the minis of the United
States 5000. 900 silver dollars at the
ratio of IS to I. and the minis are still
coming silver dollars at that ratio.
Why then this republican howl about
IS to I? If 16 is wrong. why did Presi-
dent Mckinley sign a law authorizing
the coinage of not less than 1,500, 900
of these dollars per month at that ratio,
until all the silver bullion purchased
under the Sherman law, amounting to
about 500, 0C0,0 900 worth, is made into
coin?
If there is anything wrong about 16
to l why has not the president recom-
mended a change of ratio, which he
has not done? If 16 to l is wrong. why
has not some republican member of
the house of representatives or of the
senate introduced a bill to change the
ratio which non of them have done,
but instead have passed a bill to coin
approximately $50, ooo.oO o at that
ratio?
Sixteen to one is McKinley's ratio,
the conclusive proof of which is that
he is coming silver at that ratio and
HoS ACNCI hCltAOAC0 any OlncA. Il
though both houses of congress are
republican and the administration has
the power to change the ratio.
1t has been our experience, and we
venture the assertion that it is the
experience OF our readers generally,
that the men who are found prating
about 10 to 1 throughout the country
are ignorant of the facts herein stated.
Many of those whom we find deriving
16 to 1 honestly think that these fig
ures refer to something new. the in
vention of Mr.. Bryan or something cop
led by him from the populists. They
do not know that it is the law of the
and and that it has been such for 66
years and that it has the Endorsement
of the present administration. If there
is anything wrong about 16 to l the
Mckinley administration is culpable,
because under a law of it's own enact
ment it is coming and paying out sill
yer dollars at hat ratio, and is not
combining itself to the minimum au-
thorized by law but is uttering such
coin far in excess of such minimum
limit under the law.
These facts viii no doubt appear to
be startling information to such re-
publicans and democrats as have been
the unsuspecting dupes of some igno-
rant editor who parrots through the
columns of his paper the twaddle sent
out from some fake factory of the gold
combination. But the fact that thew
have been deceived and vietimized
ought to serve to put them On their
guard in the future and to warn them
against crediting what purports to be
information coming to them through
any such unreliable sources.-National
Waterman.