Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-27
OBJECT LESSON IN SILVER.
Trouble Over Baltimore Contract
Pnxahle in White Metal.

Payable In White Metal
A novel phase of the silver question en-
tered into the trial here Of exceptions Med
by D. X Este Fisher to the sale of ground
rents purchased by him. S. Tagart Steele
advertised for sale, as trustee, says a Bal
timore special in the New York Tribune,
a number of ground rents and certain fee
simple property.
Among the ground rents was one OF Sloo
and one of S1O9.16 These rents were adj
yertised as rents of so many dollars. Mr.
Fisher bid at the sale $2,G25, or between
80, and 3A per cent for the 800 rent. and
81 500 or about 37s per cent, for the $lO91o
rent in the belief that they were payable In
legal tender dollars, without Limitation as
TO the kind of money in which they were
payable.
When Mr. Fisher had the title examined,
instead of finding that the rents were pay
able in dollars, as is usual In leases for
ninety-nine years, renewable forever, he
found that they were payable in lawful
silver money of the United States each dol
lar weighing II pennyweights and grains
at least" This formed the basis Of the
first and second grounds of exception to the
sale.
The points Of law made on these two ex-
ceptions by w. Cabell Bruce, attorney for
Mr.. Fisher, were that persons attending
a public auction sale of irredeemable
ground rents. made in pursuance of de-
assume that the rents offered are payable
in the kind of money in which irredeemable
ground rents are customarily reserved and
generally made payable in leases in Balti-
more city, unless the notices of sale clearly
show that they are payable in some other
kind OF money.
Mr. Fisher testified that if he had the
slightest idea that the rents were payable
in silver he would not only not have bid
for them, but he would not even have at
tended the sale.
why a rent payable in lawful silver money
Of the United States, and of a specified
weight, might be unmarketable, apart from
the discredit already cast upon silver as
coin by the free silver agitation. Congress
might change the weight of the silver dol
lar might abolish it altogether, part
of the currency. In the latter event the
rents would be payable only in silver bullion
expressed in terms based upon the market
value simply of this silver bullion.
When it is recollected,' the brief con-
tinued that seventeen pennyweights and
six grains of silver bullion is now worth in
the market not dollar, but less than half
as much 1t will be readily realized how
grave these consequences would be to the
unfortunate owner of the rent, who would
then be entitled to call for payment not in
current money, which. whether good or bad,
would be what everybody else was receiv-
ing, but in commodity tiuctuating in value
with all other commodities, according to the
laws of supply and demand. Again, even IL
silver was not altogether disuSed money
the present policy Of keeping silver money
on a parity with gold might be abandoned
by the government, in which event, too,
silver money would pass only at its bullion
value. These leases We're created in 1852
after the enormous output of gold from
the then recently opened gold mines OF
California, when a silver dollar was at a
premium
An agreement was filed in the case that
chemically pure silver was worth about
$6120 per one hundred ounces, and the cop
per used by the government in coming the
present standard silver dollar is worth 30
cents pound. The leases require the pay
ment of the rents in lawful silver money
of the United States each dollar weighing
seventeen pennyweights and six grains at
least. II this dollar were of chemically
pure silver it would be worth 527S5 cents
1t was, however not to be of chemically
pure silver, and If it's value be calculated
ON the same basis as the present standard
dollar 1t would contain 80 per cent of chem
ically pure silver and 10 per cent of copper
The value of the silver would be 47.5065
cents and the vaeLe of the copper OO35
cents.
There were twelve grounds of exception
altogether to the sale. After they had
been argued they were sustained by agree
ment. and Mr.. Fisher was thereby released
from the purchase.