Year: 1878

of the bill may accept has been loosely called
"giving the profits of coinage to the Govern.
"ment.n Under the House bill, any individual
who holds silver, worth in the market "
cents for 412l2 grains, could take 1t TO the
mint and get for that quantity OF metal legal
tender dollar. Unless this feature is changed
men say, its outrageous jObbery will Kill tine
bill. But how the jobbery is to be eliminated
does not appear. Either everybody can take
silver to the mint, and get back more than lt'
market value, or all the silver coined must
first be purchased by the Government. There
is no middle ground. To require the Govern
ment to purchase all silver that may be offered
would be not only great job, but an alb
surdity. Thus the Senate committee has been
driven back to a requirement that the Gov
ernment shall coin, having purchased at mar
ket rate, so many millions each month. Bul
the original friends of the bill say, "lf coin
"agc is not Free an unfriendly Secretary can
"!nake the bill practically imperative for two
"years." Thus they cry, reconciliation may
be reduced to farce or phantom. Possibly
they are right Possibly it is the beauty 0i
this bill that, when you cut out the stealinS'
you cut out the life of it.


To escape the difficulty, it has been pro-
posed to require the issue of silver certificates
for all silver deposited, at the rate of 81 for
412ls grains. But this is only the same palpa-
BILE job, which men are not prepared to shoul-
der. Moreover, to compel Government to give
n certificate that it holds 81 in bullion when
ever 90 cents worth of metal has been deposi-
ted, is to rob the Government as well as the


~ ~.
people. All the "proGts of coinage still go
10 the iobber, and all the risk and loss to the
United States, while the damage to the busl-
ness of the country and TO the public credit
would be even greater and more speedy than
from the mere unlimited coinage of silver.


Mr.. Blaine and Mr.. Eaton propose TO change
the weight Of the dollar No one expects
that any such amendment will pass. All
rcpudiators will resist. Intelligent advocates
of bimetaIlism will see that the more silver
this country puts into dollar, the more surely
the Latin Union will abandon the coinage at
the rate existing in Europe. Another class OF
amendments limit the silver dollar to certain
uses. But silver dollar having only the legal
tender power of the greenback, would only
drag down the greenback i'll value, but could
not be forced into circulation. " Ii Is dishon-
"est to pay interest on the public debt with
"depreciated dollar,n say some therefore 1t Is
proposed to omit that, making the dollar
legal-tendcr for other uses. This is plan to
steal two sheep, while poualy refusing to take
three because it would be theft.


The test OF the honesty of men is the amend
ment proposed by Senator ChIistiancy. For
that reason it will be defeated. No man who
wants the dollar of the fathers" can find an
honest reason for refusing TO make it legal
tender only for It's market value.j The truth
is that the main object of thi1 attempt to
remonetizc. at time when all. honest and
scientific bimetallists deem it most unwise. is
to plunder creditors. In the language of a
leading advocate, "All past debts would be
"payable in silver or by IA silver standard, and
"this is the main point the silver advocates
care contonding for" For this reason there
is no prospect of the success OF Mr. Chris
tiancys amendment, or any amendment in
creasing the number of grains in the dollar,
or any limiting the debts for which the pro-
posed dollar shall be lcgal-tendcr. The
"main point" is to get cheap dollar with
which to pay debts.


We are curious to see low this can be
accomplished by any bill which "gives the
"profits of coinage to the Government" Elimi-
nate the jobbery from this bill, and it Will be-
come mockcry, delusion and an act OF
suicide to those who advocate IT. IL the clam
orous debtors at home, who demand a cheaper
dollar with which to pay debts. do not get 1t
for eighteen months after bill promising 1t
has been passed, the elections next Fall Will
put great many Western and Southern states
men into political graves. But 1t Is utterly
impossible, without the free coinage job, to
get INTO circulation within one year as many
silver dollars as will be instantly absorbed in
paving duties. With that job, there is much
reason to believe that the bill will be- KILLED in
the Senate by veto, and if II IS not. 1t Will
bring upon the West and South disasters
which will cause advocates of the measure to
be keenly remembered. The pith of the buS;-
ness is in the freedom of coinage. Unlimited
coinage means ruin to the country, and limited
coinage means ruin To the men who vote for it,.