/J The Money of the People by W. H. Harvey, author of "Coin's Financial School," and Senators Teller and Dubois, and Others. CHICAGO: CHARLES H. SERGEL COMPANY. SERGEL'S RAILWAY LIBRARY, VOL. 1. No. 1). July, 1895. ssufnl Bi-monthly. Entered at Chicago Postoffice as second-clays matter. By subscription $1.'>0 a year GIFT OF THE MONEY OF THE PEOPLE BY W. H. HARVEY AUTHOR OF COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL" OTHERS CHICAGO CHARLES H. SERGKL COMPANY 1895 [FT Copyright 18Q6, toy e KL. Sergei Company. CONTENTS. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY, BY W. H. HARVEY, - 7 AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLEVELAND, BY W. H. HARVEY, 17 SILVER THE UNIT OF VALUE, BY W. H. HARVEY, - 23 THE MONEY OF THE CONSTITUTION, BY SENATOR VOORHEES, - 29 SHALL THE UNITED STATES ATTEMPT THE FREE COINAGE OF SILVER ALONE, BY E. BENJA- MIN ANDREWS, 36 UNLIMITED COINAGE OF SILVER, BY SENATOR DUBOIS, - 46 SILVER IN THE ORIENT, BY SENATOR H. M. TELLER, - 61 FREE SILVER AND DEBT, BY CLARENCE S. D AR- ROW, - 69 NEED TO COIN SILVER, BY F. H.HE AD, - 69 THE UNITED STATES SHOULD ADOPT FREE COIN- AGE INDEPENDENT OF OTHER NATIONS, BY W. H. HARVEY, - - 76 APPENDIX HISTORY OF GOLD AND SILVER, - 103 433245 PUBLISHERS NOTE. The articles in this volume are reprinted from the daily newspapers of Chicago. The first essay by Mr. Harvey is from the Record, as are the papers by Senators Voorhees, Dubois and Teller, President Andrews, Mr. Head and Mr. Darrow. The second and third articles by Mr. Harvey are reprinted from the Inter Ocean, and the last one from the Tribune. The History of Gold and Silver, in the appendix, is adapted from matter contained in a book entitled * 'Universal Bimetallism," by R. P. Rothwell. Readers of this book who are impressed by the arguments in favor of free coinage of silver should read " Sound Money," by J. A. Fraser, Jr., and C. H. Sergei, which gives a complete answer to those arguments, and exposes their fallacies and false statistics. "Sound Money" will be sent post paid on receipt of twenty-five cents. CHARLES H. SERGEL Co., 358 Dearborn St., Chicago. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. By W. H. HARVEY, AUTHOR OF "COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL." There never was so much misunderstanding and ignorance among the American people the better classes on any public question as there is and has been on this subject of silver. For instance: Six months ago the general impression among the people was that silver was demonetized because it was so plentiful. Last summer the statement was made in more than one metropolitan paper in this city that silver "has become so plentiful it has ceased to be a precious metal. " The facts were that the world's production of gold in 1873 (the year silver was demonetized) was $96, 200, 000, and the world's production of silver was $81,800,- 000 (less silver than gold); 1874, gold $90, 700, 000, silver $71,500,000 (again less silver than gold), with the same result for many years following, viz. , an under production of silver as compared with gold. In the last few years by ( 'statistics produced at Washington" the world's production of silver has been greater than that of gold, and yet there has only been all told for the last 21 years 8 per cent, over-production of silver over gold in coinage prices. 8 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. THE BATTLE AGAINST PREJUDICE. Those believing in the restoration of silver (the people's money) recently assumed the aggressive, and have since then been driving the gold-standard men from one false position to another. In the meantime, however, much prejudice has been aroused among otherwise patriotic men against the advocates of a sound bi-metallic currency. This prejudice is to be accounted for by reason of such men having been led astray by misinform ation and supposed facts that they accepted as truths. It would be amusing were it not fraught with peril to the country, to see how the other side straddles, prevaricates and jumps from one position to another. All this is made possible by reason of ' the question having been regarded by the people as obscure. But the United States is now a big school room; the people are studying this subject, and they are going to get at the facts, and they are go- ing to hold responsible the men whom they find have deceived them. A GREAT NATION'S INDEPENDENCE. They are going to find out another thing: It is, that we are financially independent of Europe. Our forefathers sought to erect a govern- ment here that would be free from the class legis- lation of governments that we justly term plutoc- racies. Over there the many are the slaves of the THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 9 few who rob them by legislation. We had expect- ed to be free of that here. It is now claimed that we are perforce compelled to adopt and maintain the financial legislation of Europe, the worse form of class legislation that was ever intended to enslave a free people. There is no such a thing as an in- ternational money. The biggest business we ever did with Europe was at a time when they had one thing for money and we had another 1862 to 1870. Balancies with foreign countries are settled in the metals by weight at their commercial value. Bars of the metal are principally used. Four per cent, of the business of the United States is foreign, and 96 per cent is domestic. What we want is a money adapted to the 96 per cent. What the people need now is education. Parti- sanism must be thrown aside. Let it be country first, with a desire for intelligent and patriotic so- lution. What we want is a sufficient quantity of primary or redemption money on which to transact the business of this country,, and we want to free it as nearly as possible from all influences that tend to its being hoarded and embarrassed as a measure of values and a medium of exchange. DRIVEN TO THE GOLD STANDARD. The campaign is now on, and we are driving these men who have wrecked this country to the position they have intended all along to occupy 10 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. the English gold-standard policy. They have for 21 years cheated and deceived the people by stating things to be facts which were not facts; by con- trolling and wording the platforms of political par- ties that promised the restoration of silver, and by asking the people to wait for an international agree- ment. Now comes Mr. William C. Cornwell, presi- dent of the New York State Bankers' Association, who, speaking for his side of 'this question, in an address to the bankers of Chicago, says: "It is time to tear off disguise. International bi- metallism is a traitor in the camp. It is a false fraud. It can never be accomplished. It is a 'will o' the wisp' dancing above the deadly marsh. It is as illusive as a dream of magic, as idle as the pursuit of perpetual motion, as dangerous as the delirium of fiat money." He admits, what the wise have all along known, that they were masquerading in disguise. That they have been leading the people for the last 21 years by fraudulent practices. That they have thus far won by disguise. He now thinks it is time to throw that "disguise" off and stand out in the open and fight for a single gold standard, what they have intended to do through all these years of shambling and miserable deception. His speech was loudly applauded. And again he says: "If, in 1875, 1876, 1877 and 1878, the bankers and sound-money men had been organized as they are organ- THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 11 ized now, and had spoken out as they are speaking out now, had started on a campaign of education as they are starting out now, the greenback would long ago have been wiped out, the silver lunacy, before it had wrought incalculable damage, would have been confined to the asylums, where it belongs." And they are organized, are they? We knew it, but thanks for this blast upon his horn that will assist in awakening the people. The question now is : Shall it be an English policy or an American policy? A CHOICE OF POLICIES. These men are seeking to rivet upon us the gold policy of England, with nothing but gold to be the primary money of this country. They have by their gold policy got us in debt to England to an amount that requires over $200,000,000 in in- terest to be paid annually in gold, to pay which all our balance of trade is consumed; all our annual gold production (about $40,000,000) and our sur- plus stock of gold is being drawn on for the defici- ency. Their policy has driven the administration to go to the pawn-brokers of England to get gold to sustain this great government, and this is the system these men have organized to fasten perpetu- ally on this country. Why do they take such an active interest? It is because it promotes their selfish interests. If Andrew Jackson were alive and president this policy would be suddenly re- 12 THE PEOPLED MONEY. versed and every American heart would beat with responsive pride. WHY WAS SILVER DEMONETIZED? "Why," you ask them, "was silver demonetized in 1873?" "Because," they now answer, "it was at a premium over gold of 2 per cent, and it had gone out of circulation." "Where did it go?" you ask. "To Europe," they reply, "where the bullion in a silver dollar was worth $1.02 as measured in gold." When you answer this that "the United States produced about $35,000,000 of silver in 1873 at coinage prices," and ask: "What objection is there to settling our foreign balance with silver at 2 per cent, premium instead of 50 per cent, discount as now?" they say it is not bimetallism unless the two metals stay at the exact parity of 16 to 1. These men do not know what bimetallism is. It may be desirable to let one metal go as it would be now. With both as primary money we have bi- metallism and bimetallic prices, whether one metal has a tendency to leave us more than the other or not. And if desirable to stop its leaving a change in the ratio will do it, and if necessary can do it so as to set the other metal going. So that we can feed Europe either metal we may choose. THE PEOPLED MONEY. 13 SOME SAMPLE GOLD ARGUMENTS. Here is a sample of astute arguments running through the minds of metropolitan editors : 1 'Silver never was the unit, as was claimed for it, and one of the best evidences of it is that so little importance was attached to it that only 8,000,000 of these silver dollars were coined prior to 1873." Show him the act of 1873 making gold the unit and ask him ' 'How many gold dollars have been coined since then, if the number coined is any evi- dence of the law fixing the unit? " and if he is an intelligent editor and speaks his mind he will tell you that he is hired to write editorials on a subject he knows nothing about or does not believe in, or that cold, calculating capital sets the policy of the paper. The fact is that less than half a million dollars in one dollar gold coins have been coined since 1873, and those have been found impracticable and have gone out of circulation, and by an act of September 26, 1890, their further coinage is prohibited. They will tell you that Mr. Jefferson stopped the coinage of silver dollars for thirty-four years, but at the same time will conceal from you the fact that between 1792 and 1840 there was twice as many dollars' worth of silver coined as there was gold coined, and that the mints were open to the THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. free and unlimited coinage of both metals, and both were full legal tender in the payment of all debts. FREE GOLD AND FREE SILVER. They will tell you that the "free-silver" men are in favor of silver monometallism. And this by a great many people is believed. This misconception arises from the reason that we are trying to restore silver to give it free and unlimited coinage the position it once occupied. It seems that many people do hot understand that gold now has, as it has always had, feee and un- limited coinage. So, that in trying to restore sil- ver we use the term "free silver," but we are no less in favor of "free gold." We are bimetallists, believing in the free coinage of both metals. The fifty-cent silver dollar delusion has probably deceived more people than any one fallacy con- nected with this subject. But it will not deceive them much longer. We have literature among the people that makes this so plain that even the schoolboys can understand it. It will soon be a delusion no longer. If gold had been demonetized and the mints closed to its free and unlimited coin- age and the work of redemption money thrown en- tirely on silver by the same nations, we would have had fif ty-cent gold dollars as measured in silver, just as we now have fifty-cent silver dollars as measured in gold. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 15 WHAT OF THE OWNERS OF BULLION? They say that the silver-bullion owners are making this fight for silver. What about the gold- bullion owners whose metal is favored? But it is not true. No man stands in a position to know this better than I do. The silver-bullion owners are doing nothing to assist in this fight, and are giving no financial assistance. This is a question of adopting suitable property for use as money irre- spective of who owns the property or who may dig it out of the ground. I would a thousand times rather, however, benefit one section of my country audits people than cater to the interest of Eng- land, whose gold is so dear, and to get which we are giving up our property at a sacrifice and adopting a method that will bring national bankruptcy. LET EVERY MAN STUDY FOR HIMSELF. I advise the people to take no one's word for the facts in this national controversy, and to send to Washington for the following books and docu- ments : 1. A copy of the currency laws. If they send you a copy that leaves out part of the sections in the act of 1873 write back for a full copy of that act. 2. The statistical abstract. 3. The report of the currency laws and other information revised to August 1, 1874. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 4. A copy of the report of the monetary com- mission of 1876. 5. A copy of the report of the monetary con- ference of 1878. THE MOMENTOUS STRUGGLE. The welfare and happiness of the people the masses the common people are now at stake in the most momentous political struggle that has ever risen in America, and it will be fought on the side of the gold power with all the fierceness and viciousness that has ever characterized greed and selfishness. The people must be firm. That brav- ery inspired by manhood and patriotism must nerve them to stand as a stone wall against these pirates of commerce who have no remedy to offer except the terrible experience of the past. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 17 AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLEVELAND. By W. H. HARVEY, AUTHOR OF " COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL." CHICAGO, April 15 To His Excellency, Grover Cleveland, President, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: In reply to your letter addressed to a com- mittee of business men of this city we wish to say that the committee that waited on you and the persons who attached their names to the invita- tion such committee presented did not represent a majority of the business men and citizens of this city, who take a deep interest in the welfare of this republic. They represented that class that owns money and securities payable in money fixed incomes. We respectfully submit that your letter does not present the true merits of this controversy. You call the attention of farmers and wage- earners to the fact that rising prices, while en- abling them to sell their products and labor at a higher price, will also cause them to pay equally more for what they may purchase, but you neglect to say that your statement is not applicable to debts. With prices coming down regularly and steadily since the demonetization of silver, our merchants, THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. manufacturers, and the people generally have been doing business on a falling market, so that the time intervening between the purchase of their mer- chandise or raw material and placing it months after on the market has removed the margin they would have otherwise made. This shrinkage in value, added to the ordinary risk and expense of business, has led to an ever-increasing volume of debt to a money-lending period until it has in- creased, all told r public and private, to about forty billions of dollars, or about two-thirds of the total value of all the property in the United States. DEBT-PAYING POWER OF COMMODITIES. Money and those debts payable in money have been steadily increasing in exchangeable value with the property of the people. A debt for $1,000 that 1,000 bushels of wheat would have paid ten years ago now requires the farmer to give 2,000 bushels of wheat in exchange for these dollars with which to pay the same debt. The debts now in ex- istence are principally old debts, or renewed or re- funded debts, or new debts contracted to pay old debts, or debts the people have been forced to con- tract by reason of the continued decline in prices. The owners of products must now give up twice as much property to pay their taxes as in 1873. Seventeen thousand bushels of wheat would have paid the President's salary of $25,000 in 1873, and THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 19 it now requires 100,000 bushels of wheat to pay your annual salary of $50,000. Taxes have increased as expressed in dollars, and have doubled and quadrupled as measured in the property the people surrender with which to pay it since 1873. We have constantly pointed the people to the ever-increasing exchangeable value of the creditors' dollar, and to the reason why it was increased, but the influence of these creditors has dominated your administration, and you insist on such a currency as they have established as a sound currency. It means the confiscation of the property of the people by the sale of property under mortgages, judgments, and executions. It means that fixed incomes will wipe out the interest of stockholders in our railways and corporations. If it is an injustice to restore prices so that people can exchange their property for a sufficient number of dollars to pay their debts and bring happiness and prosperity to our land, then it was a greater injustice to destroy the value of property and enhance the value of money by demonetization of silver and the establishment of a single gold standard. WHAT WILL THE POLICY LEAD TO? So that when you call the attention of the farmer and wage-earner to the fact that rising prices will make him pay more for what he buys 20 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. you should at the same time call his attention to the fact that it would enable him to pay his debt, free him from a bondage in which he has been un- justly placed, and again make him the owner of a home and a free and independent citizen. We might say further to him, that rising prices cause money to seek investment and would thus open up the channels of commerce and trade, and give em- ployment to millions now idle. It is not more money that we want to borrow, but to pay off what we already owe. The more we borrow the more we must pay, and the annual interest on all other public and private debts is now more than the annual profits of business and production. Where will it end? Our forefathers fled from Europe and estab- lished a government so that they might be free from the class legislation of those nations where the masses are hewers of wood and drawers of water for the rich and few who control the law-making power, countries that we justly term plutocracies, and yet it is now being seriously insisted upon that we must adopt and continue the most pernicious class legislation that the monarchies of Europe have ever fostered upon their helpless people. By adopt- ing their policy we have increased the demand for gold and its exchangeable value, and of money based thereon, with all other property. We have aided them in the adoption of a single metal for THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 21 primary money that they can control and corner that they have cornered and forced you to go to them to get it at their own price, to sustain the credit of this great arid resourceful Nation. We submit that this policy should be abandoned, and our mints again thrown open to silver (as they are now to gold) and our stock of primary money in- creased thereby. TRULY TIME FOR THE PEOPLE TO REASON. The gentlemen who visited you and who peti- tioned you represent only one class of our people. We respectfully submit that it was the intention of the founders of this government that it was safer that all the people should do the thinking for it, than any one class should do it for them. Selfish interests predominate to promote selfish interest when one class does the thinking for all. Broad views to justly promote the common welfare can best be secured by a census of the views of all the people. We agree with you that it is time for the people to reason together, and to that end we respectfully ask that you make it possible for them to get printed copies of the act of 1792, on which our forefathers based our financial system and all subsequent acts, together with the act of 1873 that reversed the former policy and acts subsequent thereto, as well as all statistical and other information of an official THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. nature at Washington bearing thereon. We but express your own opinion as President of the people when we say that all the people should have the opportunity to investigate and intelligently pass upon this question. Respectfully, W. H. HARVEY, Chairman Bimetallic Executive Committee. C" ""*^8y^LfiB^^"~* "*" THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 23 SILVER THE UNIT OF VALUE. By W. H. HARVEY, AUTHOR OF "COIN'S FINANCIAL SCHOOL." Chicago, April 24. In this morning's Times- Herald appears an editorial attack on the first chapter in 'Coin's Financial School/ in which the impression is intended to be conveyed that the financial law adopted in 1792 by the United States Congress did not fix the unit on silver, but did fix it on gold. The Times-Herald is wrong and the book is right. My quarrel with the Times-Herald is that it does not state the proposition or the au- thorities fairly, and draws conclusions which will not bear investigation for a moment. The sub- stance of the discussion that led up to the fixing of the unit may be found in the state papers of that period, the principal ones of which may be found in the report of the international monetary confer- ence of 1878, and consists of the following docu- ments : "1. Mr. Jefferson's notes on the establishment of a money unit and of a coinage for the United States. "2. Eeport of a grand committee on the money unit. "3. The coinage system proposed to Congress April 8, 1786, by Samuel Osgood and Walter Livingston, who constituted the Board of Treasury. 24 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. "4. The resolutions on coinage of August 8, 1786. "5. Report of Alexander Hamilton on the establish- ment of a mint. "6. Miscellaneous documents." From these you will see that Mr. Jefferson, on page 438, advises the following coins: "1. A golden piece equal in value to $10. "2. The unit or dollar itself of silver. "3. The tenth of a dollar of silver also. "4. The hundredth of a dollar of copper." The above is his exact language. Further on Mr. Jefferson says: WHY THE DOLLAR WAS CHOSEN. "The unit or dollar is a known coin, and the most fa- miliar of all to the mind of the people. It is already adopted from South to North, has identified our cur- rency, and therefore happily offers itself as a unit already introduced. Our public debt, our requisitions and their apportionments, have given it actual and long possession of the place of unit. The course of our commerce, too, will bring us more of this than any other foreign coin, and therefore renders it more worthy of attention." Further on he says : "If we determine that a dollar shall be our unit, we must then say with precision what a dollar is." And then again, on page 442, he says: "The quantity of fine silver which shall constitute the unit being settled, and the proportion of the value of gold to that of silver, a table should be formed from the assay before suggested, classing the several foreign coing according to their fineness." THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 25 And again, on page 443, he recommends that a committee be appointed: "To prepare an ordinance for establishing the unit of money within these States; for subdividing it and for striking coins of gold, silver and copper on the following principles : "That the money unit of these States shall be equal in value to the Spanish milled dollar, containing so much fine silver as the assay before directed shall show to be contained on an average in dollars of the several dates circulating with us. "That this unit shall be divided into tenths and hun- dredths." In the report of the grand committee on the money unit that fixed the silver dollar as the unit we find, on page 447, the following: "The quantity of pure silver being fixed that is to be in the unit or dollar, and the relation between silver and gold being fixed, all the other weights must follow." On page 449 we find the following: "On the 8th of April, 1786, the Board of Treasury di- rected to the President of Congress their report on certain principles for establishing a mint, accompanied by a letter to the President of Congress. The report was in triplicate, and contained, as will be seen below, three distinct schemes, each of which was set forth in the report with great particularity. * * * Each of these reports proposed a silver dollar as the unit." ALEXANDER HAMILTON'S VIEW. The opposite view of the question was pre- sented by Alexander Hamilton, and his report is in 26 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. the book referred to and now before me with the other documents above referred to. On page 456 he says: "But if the dollar should, notwithstanding, be sup- posed to have the best title to being considered as the present unit in the coins, it would remain to determine what kind of dollar ought to be understood; or, in other words, what precise quantity of fine silver." On page 458 he again says: 'The next inquiry toward a right determination of what ought to be the future money unit of the United States turns upon these questions: Whether it ought to be peculiarly attached to either of the metals in prefer- ence to the other or not; and if to either, to which of them." On page 479 Mr. Hamilton recapitulates and advises as follows: "One gold piece equal in weight and value to ten units or dollars. "One gold piece equal to a tenth part of the former, and which shall be a unit or dollar. "One silver piece which shall also be a unit or dollar. "One silver piece which shall be in weight and value a tenth part of the silver unit or dollar." Mr. Jefferson^ at one time came very near yielding to the arguments of Mr. Hamilton, but the whole matter went into the American Congress at its first session, and out of the recommendation and discussions that had been had, the result was the enactment of the law of 1792, and section 9 of that THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 27 act is the one that settled this question. It is as follows : "And be it further enacted that there shall be from time to time struck and coined at the said mint, coins of gold, silver and copper, of the following denominations, values, and descriptions, viz: "Eagles Each to be of the value of ten dollars or units, and to contain 247 J grains of pure, or 270 grains of standard gold. "Half Eagles Each to be of the value of $5, and to contain 123| grains of pure, or 135 grains of standard gold. "Quarter Eagles Each to be of the value of $2.50> and to contain sixty-one and seven-eighths grains of pure, or sixty-seven and four-eighths grains of standard gold. "Dollars or Units Each to be of the value of a Span- ish milled dollar, as the same is now current, and to con- tain 371 T \ grains of pure, or 416 grains of standard silver. Half Dollars Each to be of Half the value of the dol- lar or unit, and to contain 185}f grains of pure, or 208 grains of standard silver. "Quarter Dollars Each to be of one-fourth the value of the dollar or unit, and to contain ninety-two and thir- teen-sixteenths grains of pure, or 104 grains of standard silver/ ' This section closes by fixing the sizes of the minor coins. WAS THE LAW TILL 1873. It will thus be seen that the unit was settled on silver and remained the law until 1873, when it was changed to read as follows: 28 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. "That the gold coins of the United states shall be a one-dollar piece, which at the standard weight of 25 T % grains shall be the unit of value." The mints were then closed to the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and a fierce and hostile "attitude has been assumed toward it since that time. Thus, it will be seen that in fixing the unit originally the advice of Hamilton was rejected and that of Jefferson was adopted, and while that was the law it was as impossible for the silver in a sil- ver dollar to be worth less than a dollar as a bushel of wheat to be less than a bushel. It will be ob- served that Hamilton's suggestion of two units, a gold and a silver unit, was not adopted, and Jeffer- son's position was adopted of a unit fixed on silver only. Jefferson's plan contemplated a change in the commercial ratio of the metal in the two coins with the intention of changing the size of the gold coins if it should occur, and this change did occur twice afterward, and each time the change was made in the gold coins. While the old law was in existence 1792 to 1873 the mints were open to the free and un- limited coinage of both metals, but with the act of 1873, abolishing the silver unit and substituting the gold unitj the mints were closed to silver and left open to gold alone. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 29 THE MONEY OF THE CONSTITUTION. By SENATOR VOORHEES. I do not regret the agitation of the silver ques- tion. Sooner or later it had to be definitely settled whether the labor-producing people of this country can be bullied out of one-half of their debt-paying money, or whether they will stand up like free men and protect and defend the money named and pro- vided in the constitution gold and silver, or both not one of the precious metals alone, but both, and on terms and conditions as to coinage and use .of absolute equality. That is the question im- mediately before us, and no better time than now will ever be found for its settlement. No greater national question is, at this time, in the way of a full, free, fair discussion of money, currency, precious metals, rations, standards of values, units of account and payment, and the bearings all these have on the general welfare of the great body of the American people. The silver question itself is plainer to view and less obscured by the craft of its enemies than at any time since the assassination of silver money took place in 1873. There are no legislative switches now in existence to lead the people away from the main track. No 30 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. cowardly makeshifts, or insincere shams can any longer darken discussion or betray honest counsels. The Sherman act, which was conceived in ran- corous hostility to silver and brought forth into law by an iniquitous betrayal of silver's free coinage, has been buried in an unhonored grave, over which no lament will ever be heard. SPURNS DICTATION FROM ENGLAND. I have never been willing to admit that our system of currency should be dictated by England and other foreign countries, and I repel that idea now. The real and vital issue now presented to the American people is the proposed elimination of silver from our currency, its total overthrow and destruction as a money metal and the use of gold alone. This is what is now meant by the move- ment against the free coinage of silver,, whatever disclaimers may be made to the contrary. This movement means the destruction of one-half of the debt-paying money of the United States and of the world. If it should be successful it will double the burdens on every debtor and multiply the gains and income of every creditor wherever the sun shines. The debts of the American people at this time, both public and private, are appalling in amount. They have been contracted on a bimetallic basis, THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 31 and it is now proposed to make them payable on the basis of gold alone. The two metals also con- stitute the specie basis for such paper currency as may be put in circulation. If silver money is des- troyed, paper circulation must be contracted in that proportion. Every form and kind of money must become that much scarcer and harder to get in ex- change for labor and the products of labor. Such a policy is to my mind simply horrible. SILVER SURE TO BE RESTORED. I have not a particle of doubt as to the result of the contest now going on. The enemies of silver will be driven to the wall. Silver money will not only survive, but it will be fully restored to its old place as a leading and controlling factor ,in the de- velopment and the progress of the country. Nor have I any fear for the future strength and har- mony of the democratic party. Some men may discard its principles and abandon its organization, but others will take their places. I have been in favor of the free coinage of silver at the ratio fixed by Jefferson all my life, and, whatever others may do, I shall hereafter neither abandon my principles nor my party. I am not unmindful of the vague cry now raised about "sound money, honest money, " and it causes me to glance back over the career of silver in American history. I discover that Washington^ 32 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, John Marshall and Monroe indorsed silver money as sound and honest, and that the same views were entertained through- out the most important epochs of our country's trials, growth and glory by Jackson, Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Silas Wright, Marcy, Horatio Seymour, Benton, Chase, Douglas, Hendricks, Morton and Abraham Lincoln. The truth is that danger from the coinage and use of silver as money in this country never oc- curred to a sane mind until greed, avarice, unholy speculation Beared its serpent head and aimed a vicious, deadly blow at the honored dollar of the fathers in 1873. Since that time we have had nothing but financial vexation, distrust, business depression, and ruinous panics. The five years which immediately followed the demonetization of silver in 1873 were freighted with more calamity and suffering on the part of laboring and producing people than was ever before known in this continent in its life time. A wave of confiscation swept over the country, annihilating values, depriving labor of its reward, destroying all market prices for property except such as were bid at sheriffs' sales. Nor did this wretched condition of affairs show any signs of improvement until the partial restora- tion of silver to its money functions took place in 1878. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 33 HAS NOBLY WITHSTOOD ATTACKS. If I am told on this question that silver bullion as a marketable commodity at this time com- mands a low price, my answer is that if gold had been conspired against, persistently assailed by foul means as well as fair, stabbed in the dark and in the daylight, and in the back, and under the fifth rib, and wherever else a dagger could be planted for nearly a quarter of a century past, it would be in a far worse crippled condition than silver. No other form of money on the face of the earth could have withstood as silver has done, such a malignant, unsparing crusade as the last twenty- two years have witnessed in this country. It still holds its place in the affections and confidence of the people. Battered, bruised, and tattered as it has been, yet it will buy today all that gold will buy and pay all the debts that gold will pay, un- less a special contract has been made for gold. The American people will never give up, and the sooner the minions of aggressive, insolent, con- solidated wealth and the arrogant apostles of gold monometallism realize and act upon this fact, the better and safer it will be for them in the future of this country. In every State and Territory, from the western side of the Allegheny mountains to the Pacific coast, silver has been known and indorsed to people 34 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. for three-quarters of a century, not merely as sound money, not merely as honest money, but as land office money besides. With it their homes were bought and paid for, and not much patience now remains with them or their descendents for those who stand and stigmatize the great white metal which has done its work so well . The need of the white metal in the hands of the people is even greater now than ever before. There is scarcely a speck of gold in sight of the laboring classes. In round numbers there are nearly four thousand millions of gold money in the world and about the same amount of silver. With silver de- monetized the plain people, the wage workers and those who raise and sell the produce of the soil will handle specie money no more forever, and will catch even a glimpse of it but seldom. Gold will be hoarded and hid away in the vaults of the great magnates of wealth and the people in their business will be put on the half rations of paper money to which the shrinkage and contraction from a basis of bimetallism to a basis of monometallism will re- duce them. TIME HAS COME FOR PLAIN SPEECH. I wish to impugn the motives of no one and to avoid hard words in discussion as far as possible, but the time has come when speech, though tem- perate, should be very plain, Party platforms from THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 35 this time forward will not be framed to cheat on this subject, whatever may have been done hereto- fore. No dubious phraseology or straddling planks on the question of silver will be tolerated in the next national conventions that are to take place in this country. Words will mean what they say, and men will be nominated whose lives and records will constitute a guaranty that the principles declared will be carried out. Nor are the people to be im- posed on any further by the ominous air with which the money lords and money lenders prate about the terrors and disasters of being put on a silver basis by the free coinage of silver. If the free and unlimited coinage of silver as full legal tender money, and as a standard of values, and the unit of account and payment, without a word of international agreement on the subject, will put this country on a silver basis, then we were on such a basis every day and hour from the pass- age of the first coinage act in April, 1792, until the demonetization act of February, 1873, a period of eighty-one years, during which we rose from weakness to the foremost rank among the nations of the earth. I commend to all croakers in regard to a silver basis, a careful reading of the act of April 2, 1792, formulated by Hamilton and Jeffer- son and approved by Washington. THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. SHALL THE UNITED STATES ATTEMPT THE FREE COINAGE OF SILVER ALONE ? By E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS, PRESIDENT OP BROWN UNIVERSITY. I yield to no man in the United States in the sincerity of my desire to have silver reinstated in its old office as full money. The evils which have sprung from its loss of this character are not usually exaggerated in the west or anywhere. In fact they can hardly be exaggerated. The question is whether, in planning to secure the rehabilitation of silver, it is best for the United States to proceed alone, irrespective of the acts and policy of other nations, or to wait a reasonable time longer in hope of securing the co-operation of a number of the great countries of Europe. For my part I believe in the latter policy, and should deprecate an effort at the present time on the part of the United States alone to accomplish so enormous a task. In saying this I am fully aware that many of the ablest monetary students in the world are of opinion that the United States could, without any help from other lands, resume the free and unrestricted coinage of the white metal without driving gold out of the country or THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 37 out of circulation. Henry Hucks Gibbs believes this. So does Sir Guilford L. Molesworth. So does Moreton Frewen. There are many of our own countrymen who hold the same, and that without being, I believe, influenced in their thought by any selfish consideration whatever. Could I only believe with these eminent gentlemen I should be as hearty as any man in all the West in wishing our country alone, without waiting a day, to take up the cause of silver. But I cannot possibly view the matter as they do. I am, on the contrary, forded to agree with Prof. Foxwell, that no nation on earth, however great, can, after what has passed, perform this vast work single-handed. THE POWER OF PREJUDICE. The argument from the success of free coinage in France between 1803 and 1873, strong as it is, is not sufficient to convince me, seeing the whole situation, that we could now do what France then did. Rightly or wrongly I believe wrongly a hostility toward silver exists which never had place during the period named. This has to be reckoned with. Foolish, baseless and illogical as it is, it is a fact, in face of which it behooves any nation pro- posing the free use of silver to plan its measures with the utmost care. I have been declaring right and left for years that there is no great supply of silver above ground except what is owned by the 38 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. United States; but my neighbors do not believe this. Nearly every man I talk with in the east supposes that opening our mints to silver would mean a perfect deluge of silver dollars within a month. A folly will not down at your bidding, and a dangerous opinion is no less dangerous for being folly instead of wisdom. This sentiment against silver intensifies a rush and strife for gold which would be hard enough to deal with in any event. All the gold nations and all the great banks in them are lurking for chances to stock up with gold. This procedure is not the usual provision of gold for the normal purpose of insuring note redemption, but, from a strictly economic point of view, is en- tirely morbid. The process, in fact, shows all the signs of vicious hoarding. The motive of it is largely military, but even where no such though*- prevails the laying away of gold goes on from con- siderations equally uneconomic and unusual. More over, this hoarding bids fair to increase, not dimin- ish. The new output of gold seems not to check it at all. Give the gold nations the slightest oppor- tunity to get away our gold and they are certain to try it. They are under a new pressure to such effort a pressure which has never existed till re- cently. This pressure many of their best people regret, and a number of the nations would gladly THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 39 secure relief from it by a general system of bimet- allism, but if we go forward the moneyed classes there who almost alone control the press will cer- tainly seize the chance to cry down silver still more, frightening American gold-holders to hide or sell their gold, for which Europe will then make a market. RISKS OF FREE SILVER COINAGE. It should also be remarked that nations like Austria and Kussia, wishing to get upon a hard- money basis, who would gladly join in a general scheme of bimetallism if a chance were offered, must choose gold as their basis if, and so long as, Europe as a whole continues upon this basis. And they would be likely to make final their gold policy the moment they heard that we were taking up sil- ver. Japan, with a vast war indemnity, much of it gold, might, perhaps, strike into the same line of policy, making the retention of gold by us more difficult still. These considerations do not, I admit, absolutely prove that free coinage by us would drive out gold, but is it not clear that they make such a proceeding exceedingly risky? It seems to me altogether likely, almost certain, that gold would be forced from us, and that we should be driven after a time to a financial basis much like that of Mexico at present. I say < 'much like that of Mexico," instead of "just like that of Mexico," 40 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. because it is certain that the adoption of silver as ultimate money by this immense country would a good deal elevate the gold price of silver. Still, if gold leaves us, our monetary basis will, of course, be silver, however much value the bullion in a sil- ver dollar may then have beyond what it has at present. But, some will interject, what, suppose gold does leave us? What harm would come if we were to go over to a silver basis? Why wait for other nations? Are we not strong enough to have a mon- etary policy of our own? Is it not weak and unpat- riotic to postpone action until rival nations please to do what we desire, when we have no power to influence their action? I reply that it is not weak or unpatriotic to do what is best for our country. I would not wait for other countries in order to please them if we were in the long run to suffer thereby. The question is: What is the best on the whole for the people of this United States? Is it best for us by ourselves to proceed freely to coin silver so long as there is good hope that within a reasonable time international free coinage may be brought about, making the restoration of silver easy and absolutely safe for all? I think not. EFFECTS OF THE EXPULSION OF GOLD. If we take up the metal alone, and that course results, as I should anticipate, in the expulsion of THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 41 gold, we shall have in the first place a financial crisis worse than any ever suffered in the country. This because we cannot in a long time, even by working our mints day and night, coin silver enough to take the place which would be vacated by gold. Prices would sorely fall. Immense num- bers of failures would occur. Laborers would be thrown out of work. Altogether a dreadful parox- ysm in our business would be precipitated. Slowly the gap left by gold would be filled by the mining and coinage of silver. Prices would then gradually rise. At last they would become higher than now, more and more approaching the Mexican and Jap- anese level. Some advantages would doubtless spring from this elevation of prices, but it is a mis- take to suppose that it would redress the iniqui- ty caused by the fall of prices since 1873, because the rise and the fall would in the overwhelming majority of cases not apply to the same parties. In most instances the very men who have profited by the fall would manage to profit again by the rise. Moreover, wages would rise more slowly than val- ues at large. But a consequence far worse than any of these would be that our passage to a silver basis would erect against foreign exchange between Europe and the United States just such a barrier as now exists between Europe and Mexico. It would annihilate 42 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. all fixed par between New York and London, repeating the terrible inconvenience in our Euro- pean exchanges which we suffered in war times, when we were upon a paper basis. The damage that this order of things would effect, it seems to me, the friends of national free coinage have not sufficiently considered. I take it that it would work very much like a prohibitive tariff against European manufacturers and in favor of American manufacturers. * MANUFACTURES AND FARM PRODUCE. I can understand how American manufacturers might wish such a system to prevail, for it would assure to them the American market far more deci- sively than did the McKinley act, at the same time en- abling them to export to Europe lines of goods which have never yet crossed the Atlantic in that direc- tion. This would be possible because wages here would not rise so rapidly as would general values. It is one of the anomalies of the silver controversy that our manufacturers nearly all oppose national free coinage, which would give them higher protec- tion and an immensely larger market than they can ever obtain otherwise. But it would certainly not be well for the agri- cultural sections of the country thus to be cut off from Europe. Europe is the only great outlet for our agricultural produce and any diminution of the THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. 43 European market for this produce must deleteri- ously affect the entire farming population of our land a fate for which no prosperity of our manu- facturing classes could atone. THE MARKET Of 1 THE SILVER COUNTRIES. Silver money, below gold par, would indeed tend to spur our agricultural exportation, too, as in Argentina and other paper-money countries, which send untold amounts of their produce to Lon- don in spite of the crazy exchanges. Still, supposing Europe on a gold basis and the United States on a silver basis below the gold par, American agri- culture cannot compete in Europe with that of paper countries, because these can cheapen their paper afresh whenever necessary to renew their ad- vantage. This species of advantage might, to be sure, remain theirs even if Europe should adopt bimetallism, but in that case those states would, in all probability, soon bring their paper to par, restoring to us all those natural advantages as an agricultural nation which the demonetization of sil- ver has so largely rendered inoperative. It will be said, I know, that our course in favor of silver would give us, as against England, the silver countries' market, and that England would be forced to follow us in the use of silver or else renounce its position as a manufacturer for the world. Should we take up silver this pressure 44 THE PEOPLE'S MONEY. would indeed be brought to bear upon England. It would be severe, too, and I think that it would, as stated, ultimately drive England to adopt silver. But that this result would come in any very near future is most unlikely. To see this one needs onl} r to reflect upon England's slowness in becoming aware that there is a silver question at all. The degradation of silver has cost Great Britain billions of pounds sterling already ; but the classes there who profit from the appreciation of gold have till within a few months been able so to control opinion as to make those wishing monetary reform appear to the public to be simply cranks and weak-minded. There is no knowing what years it might require for the competition of America with England in Japan, China and South America to bring England to join us in the use of silver. BAD EFFECT OF INDEPENDENT ACTION. The problem for this country would be very different if there were no hope of steps in the right direction by Europe within a short time. But, spite of all that our gold papers continually say to the contrary, such hope is bright; and it will grow brighter with the days unless the attitude of power- ful bodies in this country leads Europeans again to think that we are going to attempt alone the solution of this perplexing problem. There is no 106 GOLD AND SILVER. Russia. Gold-mining was also commenced on Snake Mountain, in the Altai Range, Siberia. 1762. Discovery of the great silver bonanza of Real del Monte, Mexico. 1771. Discovery of the rich silver mines of Hualgayo, Peru. 1774. The first placers in the Ural were discovered this year, quartz lodes having been opened nearly thirty years previous. 1778. The silver mines of Catorce, Mexico, were opened and proved to be rich. 1783. Zambrano discovered the famous silver mines of Guarisamey, Durango, Mexico. 1786. Prior to the Constitution of 1789, the Congress of the American States had, in 1786, established a double monetary standard with a ratio of 15} to 1, the dollar having been established as the monetary unit in 1785. 1790. Barrel amalgamation was introduced at the metal- lurgical works at Freiberg, Saxony. 1792. The famous bonanza at Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico, was discovered this year, the mines at that place having been worked for more than two cen- turies. The legal ratio between gold and silver in the United States was made 15 to 1, by the act of Congress cre- ating a mint. 1793. Mules and horses were used in Mexico, for the first time, for mixing the pulp, mercury, and chem- icals in the patio process saving 75 per cent in the cost of this branch of working; prior to this time, the operation had been performed entirely by human labor. 1798. Discovery of the great bonanza (silver) at Ramos, Mexico. 1803. France adopted the double monetary standard at a ratio of 15 J to 1; previous to the Revolution, the ratio between gold and silver in that country had been 15 to 1. 1805. The gold mines of the Ancosta district, Bolivia, commenced to yield. 1810. Discovery of silver at El Refugio, Chihuahua, Mexico. GOLD AND SILVER. 107 1816. Discovery of the Melkowa placers, Siberia. England adopted the gold standard by act of Parliament of this year. Silver was the sole standard in Holland until this year, when the double standard was adopted at a ratio of 15.873 to 1. 1821. Resumption of specie payments in gold by the Bank of England. 1824. Discovery of silver at Palmarejo, Chihuahua, Mexico. The silver mines of Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico, were opened. 1829. Discovery of gold mines in Georgia; first mining excitement in the United States. 1830. Discovery of the placers of the Altai Mountains, Siberia. Discovery of the silver mines of Guadalcanal, Spain. 1832. The silver mines of Chanarcillo, near Copiapo, Chile, were opened. 1834. The legal ratio betwen gold and silver in the United States was made 16 to 1. 1837. The St. John del Rey Mining Company, operating the Morro Velho gold mine in Brazil, commenced to produce largely. 1839. Count Strzelecki is said to have found gold in New South Wales in 1839, but in deference to the wishes of the Governor, Sir G. Phipps, the discovery was kept secret, the colony being then a penal one. In 1841, Rev. W. Clark also found gold, and in 1847 he called the attention of the colonists to the auriferous character of the country. The value of the diggings was not realized, however, until Hargreaves made his discovery in 1851. 1843. The Augustin process of working silver ores was introduced at the Gottesbelohnung Hutte, near Mans- feld, Germany, and later in the year at the Freiberg works. Discovery of the silver mines of Hien de la Encina, in Guadalajara, Spain. 1847. Holland again adopted the silver standard. 1848. On January 19, Marshall discovered gold at Co- loma, Cal. This find started the rush of gold-seekers 108 GOLD AND SILVER. to the Pacific Coast, and by the end of the year numerous discoveries of the precious metal had been made in various portions of the State, notably along the American and Feather rivers. The Ziervogel process for treating silver ores was in- troduced at Freiberg, superseding the Augustin process. 1849. Discovery of gold in the bed of the Yuruari River, Venezuela, but the region did not become the scene of great operations until several years later. Discovery of gold in Gold Canon, Nevada; an important event, as it eventually led to the. discovery of the Comstock lode. 1850. Belgium adopted the single silver monetary stand- ard. Quartz mining was begun in California. 1851. Discovery of gold in New South Wales by Har- greaves. Discovery of gold at Ballarat and Bendigo, in Victoria, following close upon the discoveries in New South Wales. Work was begun at the quicksilver mines of New -Al- maden, California. 1852. Discovery of gold in South Australia and Tas- mania. Invention of the process of hydraulic mining in Cali- fornia by Edward E. Mattison, a native of Connecti- cut. 1857. Discovery of gold in New Zealand. Suspension of specie payments by Russia. The German States, including Austria, adopted a single silver standard. 1858. Discovery of gold at Canoona, Queensland. The Patera process was introduced at Joachims thai, Bo- hemia; the use of sodium hyposulphite as a lixiviant for silver ores having been first suggested by Dr. Percy in.l84S. 1859. The Comstock lode, Nevada, was discovered early in the year by O'Reilly and McLaughlin, at the point where the Ophir mine is located. The Grosh brothers found silver in this vicinity several years previous, but their discovery carne to naught. GOLD AND SILVER. 109 Discovery of gold in the Fraser River region, British Columbia. Pike's Peak excitement; discovery of gold placers in Gil- pin County, Colorado, in California Gulch, and at Breckenridge. 1860. Invention of the Washoe process of pan amalga- mation by Almarin B, Paul and James Smith. Discovery of the Gould & Curry and Savage bonanzas in the Comstock lode. Discovery of the placers of the Boise Basin in Idaho. After seventeen centuries of neglect the silver-lead mines of Laurium, in Greece, were reopened, a French company having obtained a concession of the property. 1861. Belgium returned to the double monetary stand- ard. Discovery of gold in Nova Scotia. Discovery of rich placers in Oregon. 1862. Suspension of specie payments by the United States. First important discoveries of gold in Montana. Discovery of silver in the Reese River district, Nevada. 1863. First discoveries of argentiferous lead ores in Little Cotton wood Canon, Utah. 1864. First locations at Eureka, Nevada, but no im- portant discoveries (silver-lead) were made until the fall of 1869. Claims were also located at Pioche, in the same State, though operations at that place did not become successful until several years later. Discovery of rich placers in Last Chance Gulch, Mon- tana; placers were also located at Butte. Discovery of the Yellow Jacket-Kentuck-Crown Point and Belcher bonanzas in the Comstock lode. 1865. Establishment of the Latin Union, consisting of France, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium, providing for a double monetary standard at a ratio of 15 J to 1, the agreement to hold good until 1880. Discovery of the silver lodes at Phillipsburg, Deer Lodge County, Montana, but it was not until 1881 that the great Granite Mountain mine began to develop into a bonanza. 110 GOLD AND SILVER. Discovery of the Chollar-Potosi bonanza in the Comstock lode. 1866. Italy suspended specie payments. Discovery of the Overman-Segregated Belcher-Caledonia and Hale & Norcross bonanzas in the Comstock lode. Discovery of the famous El Callao mine, Yuruari district, Venezuela. 1867. First international monetary conference convened in Paris by the French Government, at which twenty nations, comprising all the important countries of Europe and America were represented. Discovery of rich deposits of silver ore at White Pine, Nev.; these were the first large bodies of silver ore found in a limestone formation in the United States, and the information gained from them led directly to the discovery of the silver-lead deposits of Eureka soon afterwards. The smelting works of the Boston & Colorado Smelting Company were established at Black Hawk, Colorado; this was an important step for the development of the mines of Gilpin County and other districts in Colorado. Discovery of the Thames gold-field on the north island of New Zealand. 1868. Greece joined the Latin Union. Piscovery of gold in Western Australia, but it was not until 1887 that any diggings of importance were found. The Emma silver mine, Little Cotton wood, Utah, was located in August of this year, but no large shipments were made until July, 1870. Discovery of the Sierra Nevada bonanza in the Comstock lode. 1869. Discovery of the important silver-lead deposits of Eureka, Nevada. The American practice of lead smelting has been developed chiefly from the meth- ods adopted in this district. The Pacific Railway was completed, and prospecting along its line was greatly stimulated. The Sutro tunnel to open the Comstock lode was com- menced Oct. 19, GOLD AND SILVER. Ill Discovery of promising deposits of silver ore at Pioche, Nev. Copper silver ore was discovered at Butte, Montana, and a smelting furnace * erected at the Parrott mine. 1870. Great silver deposits were discovered at Caracoles, about 120 miles inland in the desert province of Atacama, Chile, on the Bolivian frontier. The silver mines of Eureka and Pioche, Nevada, became large producers. 1871. The German Empire, by Act of Dec. 4, assumed the sovereign right of coinage and adopted the gold standard; the mintage of silver was discontinued. Discovery of the great Crown Point-Belcher bonanza in the Comstock~lode. The mines of Big and Little Cotton wood, Utah, made large shipments. 1872. Discovery of silver at Georgetown, New Mexico. The Ontario vein (silver), Park City, Utah, was located June 19. 1873. The United States, by Act of Congress, Feb. 12, discontinued the coinage of silver 'dollars. This Act did not demonetize silver in words, although it did BO in effect. The silver dollar is not named in it. Precisely what the Act did was to authorize the coinage of silver half-dollars, quarter-dollars, and dimes below standard weight, and of a new silver coin for Asiatic commerce, of standard weight, to be called the "trade dollar," and to prohibit these coins from being legal tender for more than five dollars in any one payment. Discovery of the "Big Bonanza" in the Consolidated California & Virginia mines on the Comstock lode. The German Government, by Act of July 9, provided for the retirement of its silver coins and the sale of the bullion. By a Treasury order, Sept. 6, France limited the amount of silver to be accepted by its mint. 1874. A year of great excitement on the Comstock, the "Big Bonanza" beginning to. yield largely, while another bonanza was discovered in the Ophir mine. Silver was demonetized by the Scandinavian States. 112 GOLD AND S1L VER. Discovery of promising silver mines, including the Silver King, in the Final Range, Arizona. Early in the year argentiferous lead-carbonate ore was found on Iron Hill, Leadville, and the Lime and Rock claims were located. By an agreement made in January of this year, the Latin Union was to limit the coinage of silver, exclusive of subsidiary coins, to the following sums for three years: 1874, 140,000,000 francs; 1875, 150,000,000 francs; 1876, 108,000,000 francs. Any nation in the Union had the right to decline coining its quota of this amount any year. 1875. Holland, by Act of June 6, suspended mintage of silver for private account, and established gold coin- age with unlimited legal-tender functions, with a ratio of 15.604 to 1; this was a provisional law, to last only until Jan. 1, 1877. Switzerland declined to coin its quota of silver assigned by the agreement of the Latin Union. 1876. First shipments of silver-lead ore from Leadville, Colo. Discovery of silver-lead ore at Frisco, Utah, and the Horn Silver mine was opened this year. In July was brought the first suit of the farmers in Cali- fornia against hydraulic miners, and from this time the debris question became a burning subject of dis- cussion. The gold fields of Black Hills, Dakota, began to attract much attention. Discovery of the Drumlummon ledge (gold) at Marys- yille, Mont. Belgium suspended the coinage of silver. France discontinued the mintage of silver, except for subsidiary coins, until January, 1878, by Proclama- tion of the President, in accordance with the Act of August 5, 1876. A royal decree was issued in Spain interdicting the coin- age of silver except pn Government account, and de- claring it to be the intention of the Government to limit the legal-tender function of silver to 150 pesetas (about $30) after it had obtained a sufficient amount of gold to make this step practicable. GOLD AND SILVER. 113 Russia suspended the coinage of silver for individuals, excepting the amount of silver money needed for trade with China. By Act of Congress of the United States, August 15, a silver commission was created which reported on March 2, 1877. 1877. Discovery of rich silver veins at Silver Cliff, Colorado, including the Bassick and Bull-Domingo mines. The curious argentiferous sandstone deposits of Silver Reef, Washington County, Utah, had been known since 1871, and a mining district was organized there in 1874, but the mines did not commence to produce until 1876. 1878. On Feb. 28, the Congress of the United States passed an Act ordaining the coinage ($2,000,000 per month at least, $4,000,000 at most) on Government account of silver dollars of 412J grains, 900 fine, and and made them full legal tender except where ex- pressly stipulated otherwise by contract. An international monetary conference was held in Au- gust at Paris. Great excitement at Leadville, Colo., where many new discoveries were made. The first locations at Tombstone, Ariz., were filed and the next year the mines (silver) there commenced to produce largely. Discovery of the silver-lead deposits of Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico. 1879. The German Government discontinued it sales of silver on May 16. Resumption of specie payments by the United States. Discovery of promising veins of silver ore at Aspen, Colo., and in the San Juan region in the southwest- ern part of the same State. 1880. Reported existence of promising gold reins in the Colar fields of Mysore, Southern India, which were subsequently opened and became large producers. 1881. Discovery of silver ore at Lake Valley, New Mexico. First important discoveries of silver ore in the Calico district, California. 114 GOLD AND SILVER. 1882. Decision of the courts prohibiting hydraulic min- ing in the valleys of navigable rivers of California. 1883. The Mount Morgan gold mine, at Bockhampton, Queensland, began to produce. The Broken Hill mine (silver-lead) in New South Wales, Australia, was discovered in September. 1884. Discovery of gold in de Kaap district of the Trans- vaal, South Africa. 1885. Discovery of the silver-lead deposits of the Cceur d'Alene region, Idaho. The first important discoveries in the "banket" forma- tion, Witwatersrand, Transvaal, South Africa, were made during this year, but active operations were not commenced until 1887. 1890. Act of Congress, July 14, repealing the law of 1878 and providing for the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver monthly, against which certificates are issued, redeemable in either gold or silver. Establishment of the silver-lead smelting industry in Mexico. 1891. The gold fields of Mashonaland, South Africa, b gan to attract attention. Large exports of gold from New York and purchases by Kussia. Discovery of silver ore at Creede, Colo., and gold at Cripple Creek, in the same State. Austro-Hungary adopted the gold monetary standard. Third international monetary conference held in Brus- sels on invitation of the United States, adjourning in December without result. At the close of the year large exports of gold from the United States, causing a very unsettled feeling in financial affairs. 1893. India ceased coining silver. Financial panic in the U. S., due to the large purchases of silver and the consequent fear that the U. S. would be forced to a silver basis. Act of 1890 repealed. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. T23Bffi3ffi5Kr diate recall. LD2lA-60m-2,'67 (H241slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Sound Money by J. A. Fraser Jr. and Charles H. Sergei. Paper, 25 cts., Lh, $1.00. Well written, very well written: boy on d comparison the best book that has appeared on the subject. J. 1 avrence Laughlhi, Professor of Political Economy in University of Chicago. I am glad you have answered "Coin's Financial School"--which ^ou have done successfully. John Sherman. Much the best popular publication that has yet appeared in re- ply to "Coin" is a book entitled "Sound Money". The book declares itself to be a complete exposure of the forged and falsified statistics in "Coin's Financial School". It certainly does demolish the little financier in fine style, taking up his statements one by one and show- ing their falsity. The book is well illustrated. It is well, worthy a sareful perusal by not only the casual reader, but also the student jf finance. The Economist. Published by Charges II. Sergei Company, 358 Dearborn St., CHICAGO .