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HOW SILVER WAS DEMONETIZED.
SP E E C H
OF
HON. WILLIAM M. STEWART,
0!F*
IN THE
SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
Thursday, J une 5,1890.
WASHINGTON.
1890.
SPEECH
OF
HON. W I L L I A M M. S T E W A R T .
T he S enate, as in C om m ittee of th e W hole, h av in g u n d e r consideration th e
bill (S. 2350) authorizing: th e issue o f T reasu ry n otes on deposits o f silv er bull
ion—
Mr. STEWART. Mr. President, from the foundation o f this Gov
ernment to 1873, any person having either gold or silver bullion
could take it to the Mint o f the United States and obtain coin for it
at the ratio fixed. That is an admitted fact. The act o f 1873
D E P R IV E D T H E C ITIZE N O F T H A T P R IV IL E G E .
The question is now whether or not that act was passed advisedly,
accidentally, or otherwise; whether it was discussed in the Senate
and understood in the House or whether it was not. The discus
sions fortunately are all recorded. Consequently the fact, as to
passage or not, can be determined without any mistake by the
records. Inasmuch as I am constantly pointed to as having been
here and participating in the proceedings and inasmuch as I have
recently stated that I did not know when this occurred and was un
conscious o f having participated in this measure, I propose to exhibit
the facts as they are and put them in the R e c o r d , so that any man
can judge and determine for himself. The statement thereof may
be a little dry, but 1 will not be as long showing exactly how it ap
peared as you may suppose.
Mr. President, on the 28th o f April, 1870, the Senator from Ohio
[Mr. S h e r m a n ] introduced in the Senate a long bill (S. 859) entitled
“ A bill revising the laws relative to the mints, assay offices, and
coinage of the United States,’1which was referred to the Committee
on Finance. (Congressional Globe, 1869-70, part 4, page 3051.) It
was reported by the Finance Committee with amendments December
19, 1870,. and discussed in the Senate January 9 and 10,1871. (Con
gressional Globe, 1870-’71, part 1, third session, Forty-first Congress,
page 394.)
When this bill came up for consideration in the Senate
T H E O N L T CON TR O V E R SY W H IC H A R O S E
with regard to it was in relation to an amendment offered by the Sen
ator from Ohio, which was vigorously opposed by all the Pacific
coast delegation. This was the bill to which the Senator has al
luded and which had been recommended by the Treasury Depart
ment. This was the amendment offered by the Senator, which
occasioned all the discussion that occurred:
For coinage, whether the gold and silver deposited be coined or cast into bars
or ingots, in addition to the charge for refining or parting the metals, three-tenths
4
of 1 per cent.—Congressional Globe,1870- 71, part 1, third session, Forty-first Con
gress, page 368.
A long discussion followed, and it was held that the provision was
a discriminating tax against bullion, for, in addition to paying the
ordinary charges, it would discourage the taking o f bullion to our
mints and make its market value for shipment greater than its value
at the mint. It was very ably discussed by many Senators for a long
time.
The amendment was adopted in Committee o f the Whole by a
yea-and-nay vote of 25 to 22. (Congressional Globe, 1870-71, part
1, third session, Forty-first Congress, page 377.)
No other amendment which excited discussion was acted upon in
the Senate, except little formal amendments. In fact, all the amend
ments, except the tax amendment,
B E L A T E D TO T H E A D M IN IST R A T IO N O F T H E A F F A IR S O F T H E M INTS.
After the bill was reported to the Senate, Mr. Cole, of California,
demanded a separate vote on the amendment of the Senator from
Ohio to tax bullion. Another long and animated discussion fol
lowed, after which the amendment was rejected by a yea-and-nay
vote of 23 to 26. (Congressional Globe, 1870-,71, part 1, third session,
Forty-first Congress, pages 394-399.)
The Senator from Ohio, having failed to secure the passage of the
amendment to tax bullion, abandoned the bill and asked for the yeas
and nays on its final passage. The bill was passed by a vote o f 36 to
14. (Ibid., page 399.) My name is recorded in the affirmative and
that of the Senator from Ohio in the negative.
There was not a word of discussion in regard to coinage in the
bill.
Mr. SHERMAN. I will ask the Senator from Nevada whether that
bill did not drop the silver dollar; whether the silver dollar was not
omitted from that bill and prohibited from among the coins.
Mr. STEWART. It was Mr. Knox’s bill, and it did what the Sen
ator states. But the attention of nobody was called to i t ; and in
this connection I will say, it is very strange that so important a
measure as that, if it had been discussed, been indorsed everywhere,
and was generally known, was not alluded to while the bill was be
fore the Senate. The only question discussed was this question o f
taxing bullidn.
I did not know
T H A T T H E B IL L M A D E A N T CH A N G E IN T H E COIN A GE
o f either gold or silver, but supposed, as the title indicated, that it
was a mere codification o f the Mint laws. There certainly was no
suggestion in the Senate that the bill made any change in the stand
ards of gold or silver or that the coinage of either metal would be
affected thereby. It is undoubtedly true that previous to the in
troduction of the bill the Senator from Ohio and the Comptroller
o f the Currency, John Jay Knox, had recommended the demoneti
zation of silver, and the Secretary of the Treasury had for
warded the report o f the Comptroller to Congress, recommending
such action. But it attracted no attention and was passed over in
the same manner that other printed matter relating to technical
subjects usually is. It is impossible for any Senator to keep the run
o f all the public documents printed. He could not read them if he
did no other business. It is the duty of the committee having charge
o f particular subjects to examine such documents and bring before
the Senate all matters of importance. The Committee on Finance
failed to call the attention of the Senate to the fact that the bill
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5
CO N TA IN ED A PR O V ISIO N W H IC H W O U L D D E M O N E TIZE S IL V E B .
I will not trace the proceedings in the House which relate to this
great change in our silv'er coinage, except to remark that they prove
that the question of demonetizing silver was never considered in
that body. The fact, which I will hereafter show, that the leading
members of the House and o f the Senate did not know that silver
was demonetized for several years afterwards, demonstrates that the
matter was not understood at the time the act became a law.
The bill which demonetized silver, as it passed the House, con
tained a dollar which was precisely the equivalent of the five-franc
piece. It limited the legal-tender quality o f the silver coinage to $5,
W H IC H F A T A L D E F E C T W A S N O T NOTICED.
This bill passed the House May 27,1872. (Congressional Globe,
1872-,73, part 5, page 38S3.) The sixteenth section of this measure
as it came from the House contained a silver dollar of 384 grains,
which was the exact equivalent of the five-franc piece of France
and adopted the European ratio of 15£ to 1.
On the 28th day of May the bill was reported to the Senate, and
the next day referred to the Committee on Finance. (Ibid.> pages
3961 and 3986.) That committee, on December 16, reported the bill
back to the Senate with various amendments. (Cong. Globe 1872*73, part 1, page 203.) The amendments were printed January 7,.
1873. {Ibid., page 363.) The bill was discussed and passed January 17,
1873. (Ibid., pages 661, 668-674.) The amendments reported by the
Committee on Finance were acted upon seriatim, and, with one excep
tion, in the usual manner. Section 16 of the bill, which provided
for the silver coins of the United States, contained, among other
things, as before remarked, a*silver dollar of 384 grains. The'rec
ommendation of the committee was to strike out the sixteenth sec
tion of the House bill and substitute therefor the provision whjcb
demonetized silver. The substitute proposed by the committee, and
which is now section 3513 of the Revised Statutes, and which was
not read or discussed, is as follows:
S e c . 3513. The silver coins of the United States shall be a trade-dollar, a halfdollar, or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar, or twenty-five-cent piece, a dime, or
ten-cent piecej and the weight of the trade-dollar shall be foar hundred and
twenty grains troy; the weight of the half-dollar shall be twelve grams and onehalf of a gram; the quarter-dollar and the dime shall be, respectively, one-half
and one-fifth of the weight of said half-dollar.
Another section limited the legal tender o f the new trade-dollar
to five dollars. The amendments, as before stated, were considered
seriatim, When section 15 was reached it was stricken ou t; conse
quently section 16 o f the House bill would then become section 15
o f the amended Senate bill. The Congressional Globe shows that
no action was taken on section 16 of the House bill. On tne con
trary, after acting on section 15, the next amendment of the House
bill considered was section 17, which had been section 16 o f the
amended Senate bill. This amendment related to the minor coins
and it was adopted without debate.
The next amendment was one to section 19 of the House bill apd
section 18 of the Senate' amended bill. This amendment provided
for omitting the eagle on the silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, respectively, and prescribed in lieu thereof the
weight and fineness o f the coin, so that the section when amended
would read as follows:
S e c . [19] 18. That upon the coins of the United States there shall be the follow
ing devices and legends: Upon one side there shall be an impression emblematic
of liberty, with ap inscription of .the word “ Liberty ” and the year of the coinage,
and upon the reverse shall be the figure or represertation of an eagle, with the
inscription “ United States of America” and “ E Pluribus Unum,” and a desig-
STK
6
nation of the value of the coin; but on the gold dollar and the three-dollar piece,
the silver dollar, the half-dollar, the quarter-dollar, the dime, five, three, and one
cent pieces the figure of the eagle shall be omitted; and on the reverse of the sil
ver dol ar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, respectively, there shall be
inscribed the weight ana fineness of the coin; and the Director of the Mint, with
the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may cause the motto “ In God we
Trust to be inscribed upon such coins as shall adnjit of such motto; and anyone
of the foregoing inscriptions may be on the rim of the gold and silver coins.
I have got the record here—anybody can examine it—showing that
that was omitted and not mentioned. Mr. Casserly, o f California,
was watching the bill. He said:
. I regret that the eagle is to disappear from the dollar, half-dollar, and quarterdollar of our coinage. It will hardly be possible to think of a half-dollar or a
quarter-dollar as being such a coin without the eagle upon it,
A dialogue followed between the Senator from Ohio and Mr. Cas
serly, in which the chairman o f the Finance Committee explained
fully and particularly why it was necessary to have the weight and
fineness stamped upon the dollar, half-dollar, and quarter-dollar o f
our silver coinage.
The chairman said:
If the Senator will allow me, he will see that the preceding section provides for
coin which is exactly interchangeable with the English shilling and the fivefranc piece of France; that is, a five-franc piece of France will be the exact equiv
alent of a dollar of the United States in our silver coinage; and in order to show
this wherever our silver coin shall float—and we are providing that it shall float
all over the world—we propose to stamp upon it, instead of our eagle, which for
eigners may not understand and which they may not distinguish from a buzzard
or some other bird, the intrinsic fineness and weight of the coin.—Congressional
Globe, 1872-’73, part 1, third session, Forty-second Congress, page 672.
Mr. Casserly was still dissatisfied with this explanation. He
wanted the eagle.
Mr. S h e r m a n again said:
This bill proposes a silver coinage exactly the same as the French and what are
called the associated nations of Europe.
That is, the Latin Monetary Union.
Mr. SHERMAN. The dollar there is exactly two half-dollars, cor
responding with the French coin.
Mr. STEWART. I would rather not be interrupted. I want to
give it connectedly if possible. By interruptions the discussion will
be disconnected. The Senator referred to the preceding section,
which, it may be remarked, contained a dollar the equivalent of the
five-franc piece, and not to the proposed amendment, which was never
read and which contained the trade-dollar, which was not equivalent
to the five-franc piece, but contained 420 grains o f standard silver.
This bill proposes a silver coinage exactly the same as the French and what
are called the associated nations of Europe, who have adopted the international
standard of silver coinage; that is, the dollar provided for by this bill is the pre
cise equivalent of the five-franc piece. It contains the same number of grams of
silver, and we have adopted the international gram instead of the grain for the
standard of our silver coinage. The “ trade-dpllar ” has been adopted mainly for
the benefit of the people of California and others engaged in trade with China.
That is the only com measured by the grain instead of by the gram. The Intrinsic
value of each is to be stamped upon the coin.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The Chamber of Commerce of New York first recommended this change, and it
has been adopted, I believe, by all the learned societies who have given attention
to coinage, and has been recommended to us, I believe, as the general desire.
That is embodied in these three or four sections of amendment, to make our silver
coinage correspond in exact form and dimensions and shape and stamp with the
coinage of the associated nations of Europe, who have adopted an international
silver coinage.—Ibid.
As before stated, the substitute for the sixteenth section of the
House bill,
9TB
7
W H IC H D E M O N E TIZE D S IL V E B ,
was not read and acted upon in the Senate; at all events, the Globe
fails to show that it was.
Mr. SHERMAN. I f the Senator will allow me, he has now in his
possession the original bill which shows the particular item.
Mr. STEWART. Yes, and I will state it all. I will eome to that
if you will let me go on, and I will put it in the R ec o r d so that ev
erybody may study it. It is possible that the Reporter failed to re
cord the action of the Senate, but it is very improbable. It is
doubtful, indeed, if such a failure ever occurred before or since, and
it is strange that the most important amendment that was ever con
sidered by the Senate, an amendment which
D E M O N E TIZE D ON E O F T H E P R E C IO U S M E TA LS ,
should have been omitted by the Reporter. I f there was nothing,
however, but the omission to record in the Globe the fatal amend
ment, a possible doubt might exist; but the discussion as to the in
scription on the silver dollar, which'arose on the amendment to sec
tion 19 of the House bill, to which I have called the attention of
the Senate, seems to establish beyond the possibility of doubt that
the original section 16 o f the House bill was retained and was in the
bill as it passed the Senate.
The whole argument of the Senator from Ohio for substituting the
weight and fineness on the silver dollar in place o f the eagle was to
designate its value, because it was to be an international coin, and
to show that it was the exact equivalent o f the five-franc piece.
This argument could not have had reference to the trade-dollar o f
420 grains in the proposed amendment; on the contrary
IT W A S EXPR E SSLY STATED
that the reason applied to the silver dollar o f 384 grains. The dollar
in the original section o f the House bill was to be of 384 grains: it
was the exact equivalent of the five-fr^ne piece, whereas the dollar
provided for in the amendment which was not acted upon contained
420 grains and was called a standard dollar.
The fact that the legal tender o f the silver coins in the House bill
was limited to $5 is immaterial so far as it relates to what occurred
in the Senate. That limitation was not brought to the attention of
the Senate, but, on the contrary, as has already been shown, the
Senator from Ohio said:
This bill proposes a silver coinage exactly the same as the French and what are
called the associated nations of Europe, who have adopted the international stand
ard of sifver coinage; that is, the dollar provided for by this bill is the precise
equivalent of the five-franc piece.
The silver coinage of the associated nations of Europe was a full
legal tender. Consequently, the effect o f what the Senator from
Ohio said of the section of the House bill was that it contained a dol
lar equivalent to thp five-franc piece, which was a full legal tender.
On the record the evidence seems conclusive that the fatal provis
ion demonetizing silver
W A S N E V E R A C T E D U PO N IN T H E S E N ATE,
but was incorporated in the bill by the engrossing clerk. And it
should be here remarked that the engrossing clerk could not be blamed
for his action, because upon the copy used at the desk the amend
ment to section 16 is marked “ agreed.” So that mistake might have
been made at the clerk’s desk. 1 have the original here. There was
no provision in the bill which passed the Senate to prevent the owner'
of silver bullion from presenting his bullion at the Mint and demand
ing coin therefor. Silver bullion was excluded from free coinage,
STB
s
except into trade-dollars, by the following clause in the report of the
conference committee:
No deposit of silver for other coinage [than trade-dollars] shall be received.
(Congressional Globe, 1872-’73, part 2, third session, forty-second Congress, page
1150.)
So that there was a provision in the conference committee’s report
excluding silver. It prevented, the owner o f silver from taking it to
the mints and exchanging it for anything but the trade-dollar.
But, as I have said, the fatal amendment which demonetized silver
was never read in either House. It was adopted in the conference
report as number 6, and here is the conference report, and the num
bers run from 1 to 20. This fatal amendment demonetizing silver
was numbered 6. The House did not hear it read because it went
in by a number. It was simply number 6 in the conference between
the two Houses. It was slightly amended in the conference report,
but not in such a manner as to indicate what number 6 was.
In order that every Senator may have an opportunity o f examin
ing this remarkable legislation, I ask leave to print in my remarks,
first, the House bill as originally reported to the Senate by the
Finance Committee, with the proposed amendments o f the com
mittee, and also with the action o f the Senate on those amend
ments, as indicated by the marks of the reading clerk, and that
will give it all. Here is the original copy which I have secured
from the files, and I ask the Reporter to give it back to the Secretary
of the Senate, as it is an important) document and I have not another
copy of it.
Now, as to the proceedings in the Senate when the bill with its
amendments was under consideration as shown by the Congressional
Globe. I have the proceedings here, and I will print them seriatim,
so that all can take the bill and the proceedings that follow it and
see what they were; then the engrossed amendments to the bill, and
immediately after that I will have the conference report inserted. All
these are out of print and inaccessible to the public, and by printing
them seriatim as they occur the history of the whole thing will ap
pear. By these documents it will be shown that the fatal demone
tizing amendment
WAS NEVER BEAD IN EITHER HOUSE.
It went by number 6 in the report. I have the record here and
will have it printed so that everybody can examine it and make no
further mistake.
The record is as follows:
[Note in explanation of the bill (H. R. 2934) printed below.
1. The body o f the bill, printed in brevier, is as it came from the
House.
2. Amendments to insert, reported by Committee on Finance, are
in italics.
3. Amendments to strike out, reported by Committee on Finance,
are in [brackets].
4. Amendments made by the Senate striking oqt words are in
brevier, with brackets, and the words inserted in lieu thereof in the
handwriting of the Cl&rk, are in s m a l l c a p s .
5. Amendment reported by Committee on Finance, on page 12, sec
tion 18, line 9, in italics and brackets, was disagreed to by the Sen
ate.
t). Amendment to strike out, on page 14, section 24, lines 5 and 6,
was moved in the Senate, and is in s m a l l c a p s and brackets.
7. The word “ agreed,” in the handwriting o f the Clerk, showing
what amendments were agreed to, is indicated by LARGE CAPS. •
8. The exact pages and lines o f the original bill are indicated.]
8TE
43d CONGRESS,
3d Se s s io n .
H. R. 2934.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
May 29, 1872.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
D ecem ber
16, 1872.
Reported by Mr. S h e r m a n with amendments, viz: Strike oat the
parts in [brackets] and insert the parts printed in italics.
Jan u ary
7,1873.
Mr. S h e r m a n , from the Committee on Finance, reported additional
amendments, which were ordered to be printed with the bill.
AN ACT
Revising and amending the laws relative to the mints, assayoffices, and coinage o f the United States.
1
Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse o f Bepresenta2 tives o f the United States o f America in Congress assembled,
3 Thiat the Mint of the United States is hereby established as a
4 Bureau of the Treasury Department, embracing in its organ5 ization and under its control all mints for the manufacture o f
6 coin, and all assay-offices for the stamping of bars, which are
7 now, or which may be hereafter, authorized by law. The
8 chief officer of the said Bureau shall be denominated* the Di9 rector o f the Mint, and shall be under the general direction o f
10 the Secretary of the Treasury. He shall be appointed by the
11 Piesident, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
2
12 and shall hold his office for the term o f five years*, unless
13 sooner removed by the President, upon reasons to be commu14 moated by him to the Senate.
1
Sec. 2. That the Director o f the Mint shall have the
2 general supervision o f all mints and assay-offices, and shall
3 make an annual report to the Secretary o f the Treasury of
4 their operations, at the close of each fiscal year, and from
5 time to time sucn additional reports, setting forth the opera6 tions and condition of such institutions, as the Secretary o f
7 the Treasury shall require, and shall lay before him the
8 annual estimates for their support. And the Secretary of the
9 Treasury shall appoint the number of clerks, classiced ac10 cording to law, necessary to discharge the duties of said Bu
l l reau.
1
Sec. 3. That the officers o f each mint shall be a super2 intendent, an assayer, a melter and refiner, and a coiner, and,
3 for the mint at Philadelphia, an engraver, all to be appointed
4 by the President o f the United States, by and with the ad5 vice and consent o f the Senate.
1
Sec. 4. That the superintendent o f each mint shall have
«2 the control thereof, the superintendence of the officers and
3 persons employed therein, and the supervision of the business
10
4 thereof, subject to the approval o f the Director o f the Mint,
5 to whom he shall make reports at such times and according
0 to such forms as the Director o f the Mint may prescribe,
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Id
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
3
which shall exhibit in detail, and under appropriate heads,
the deposits o f bullion, the amount of gold, silver, and minor
coinage, and the amount of unparted, standard, and
refined bars issued, and such other statistics and
information as may be required.
The superintendent of each mint shall also receive and safely keep,
until legally withdrawn, all moneys or bullion which shall
be for the use or the expenses o f the mint. He shall receive all bullion brought to the mint for assay or coinage;
shall be the keeper of all bullion or coin in the mint, except
while the same is legally in the hands of other officers; and
shall deliver all coins struck at the mint to the persons to
whom they shall be legally payable. From the report of the
assayer and the weight o f the bullion, he shall compute
the value of each deposit, and also the amount of the charges
or deductions, if any, of all which he shall give a detailed
memorandum to the depositor; and he shall also give at the
same time, under his hand, a certificate o f the net amount of
the deposit, to be paid in coins or bars of the same species of
bullion as that deposited, the correctness of which certificate
shall be verified by the assayer, who shall countersign the
same; and in all cases of transfer of coin or bullion, he shall
give and receive vouchers, stating the amount and character
of such coin or bullion. He shall keep and render, quarteryearly, to the Director o f the Mint, for the purpose of adjust-
4
32 ment, according to such forms as may be prescribed by the
33 Secretary o f the Treasury, regular and faithful accounts
34 of his transactions with the other officers of the
35 mint and the depositors; and shall also render to him a
36 monthly statement o f the ordinary expenses of the mint or
37 assay-office under his charge. He shall also appoint all
38 assistants, clerks, (one o f whom shall be designated “ chief
39 clerk,’7) and workmen employed under his superintendence;
40 but no person shall be appointed to employment in the offices
41 of the assayer, melter and refiner, coiner, or engraver, except
42 on the recommendation and nomination in writing of those
43 officers, respectively; and he shall forthwith report to the
44 Director of the Mint the names o f all persons appointed by
45 him, the duties to be performed, the rate o f compensation,
46 the appropriation from which compensation is to be made,
47 and the grounds o f the appointment; and if the Director of
48 the Mint shall disapprove the same, the appointment shall be
49 vacated.
1
Sec. 5. That the assayer shall assay all metals and
2 bullion, whenever such assays are required in the operations
AGREED
OR SAMPLES OF BULLION
3 of the mint; he shall also make assays of coins/\whenever
4 required by the superintendent.
1
Sec. 6. That the melter and refiner shall execute all
2 the operations which are necessary in order to form ingots of
3 standard silver or gold, and alloys for minor coinage, suitable
8TB
11
5
4 for the coiner, from the metals legally delivered to him for
5 that purpose; and shall alk> execute all the operations which
6 are necessary in order to form bars conformable in all
7 respects to the law, from thegold and silver bullion delivered
8 to him for that purpose. He shall keep a careful record o f
9 all transactions with the|superintendent, noting the weight
10 and character o f the bullion; and shall be responsible for all
11 bullion delivered to him until the same is returned to the
12 superintendent and the proper vouchers obtained.
1
Sec . 7. That the coiner shall execute all the operations
2 which are necessary in order to form coins, conformable in all
3 respects to the law, from the standard gold and silver ingots,
4 and alloys for minor coinage, legally delivered to him for
5 that purpose ; and shall be responsible for all bullion delivered
6 to him, until the same is returned to the superintendent and
7 the proper vouchers obtained.
1
Sec. 8. That the engraver shall prepare from the
AGREED
w o r k in g
2 original dies already authorized all the[ wording]/yiies required
3 for use in the coinage of the several mints, and, when new
4 coins or devices are authorized, shall, if required by the
5 Director o f the Mint, prepare the devices, models, molds,
6 and matrices, or original dies, for the same; but the Director
7 of the Mint shall nevertheless have power, with the approval
8 o f the Secretary o f the Treasury, to engage temporarily for
9 this purpose the services o f one or more artists distinguished
6
10 in their respective departments of art, who shall be paid for
11 such service from the contingent appropriation for the mint
12 at Philadelphia.
AGREED
a ssa y
1
Sec. 9. That whenever any officer of a mint orAoffic©
2 shall be temporarily absent, on account of sickness or any
3 other cause, it shall be lawful for the superintendent, with the
4 consent o f said officer, to appoint some person attached to
5 the mint to act in the place or such officer during his absence ;
6 bnt all such appointments shall be forthwith reported to the
7 Director o f the Mint for his approval; and in all cases what8 soever the principal shall be responsible for the acts o f his
9 representative. In case of the temporary absence of the
10 superintendent, the chief clerk shall act in nis place; and in
11 case o f the temporary absence of the Director of the Mint,
12 the Secretary of the Treasury may designate some one to act
13 in his place.
1
Sec . 10. That every officer, assistant, and clerk o f the
2 mint shall, before he enters upon the execution o f his office,
3 take an oath or affirmation before some judge of the United
4 States, or judge o f the superior court, or of some court of
5 record of any State, faithfully and diligently to perform the
6 duties thereof, in addition to other official oaths prescribed by
7 law; which oaths, duly certified, shall be transmitted^ the
8 Secretary of the Treasury; and the superintendent of each
7
9 mint may require such oath or affirmation from any of the
10
employees of the mint.
1
Sec. 11. That the superintendent, the (assayer, the melt8TB
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er and refiner, and the coiner of each mint, before entering
upon the execution of their respective offices, shall become
bound to the United States, with one or more sureties, approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, in the sum of not
less than ten nor more than fifty thousand dollars, with condition for the faithful and diligent performance o f the duties
of his office. Similar bonds may be required o f the assistants
and clerks, in such sums as the superintendent shall determine,
with the approbation of the Director of the Mint; but the
same shall not be construed to relieve the superintendent or
other officers from liability to the United States for acts,
omissions, or negligence of their subordinates or employees:
Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury may, at his
discretion, increase the bonds of the superintendent.
Sec. 12. That there shall be allowed to the Director o f
the Mint an annual salary of four thousand five hundred dollars, and actual necessary traveling expenses in visiting the
different mints and assay-offices, for which vouchors shall be
rendered, to the superintendents of the mints at Philadelphia
and San Francisco, each four thousand five hundred dollars;
to the assayers, melters and refiners, and coiners of said mints,
each three thousand dollars; to the engraver o f the mint at
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Philadelphia, three thousand dollars; to the superintendent of
the mint at Carson City, three thousand dollars; and to the
assayer, to the melter and refiner, and to the coiner o f the
mint at Carson City, each, two thousand five hundred dollars;
to the assistants and clerks such annual salary shall be allowed
as the Director of the Mint may determine, with the approbation of the Secretary o f the Treasury; and to the workmen shall be allowed such wages, to be determined by the
superintendent, as may be customary and reasonable according to their respective stations and occupations, and approved
by the Director o f the M ipt; and the salaries provided for in
this section, and the wages of the workmen permanently
engaged, shall be payable in monthly installments.
Sec. 13. That the standard for both gold and silver
coins of the United States shall be such that of one thousand parts by weight nine hundred shall be o f pure metal
and one hundred of alloy; and the alloy o f the silver coins
shall be of copper, and the alloy of the gold coins shall be of
copper, or of copper and silver; but the silver shall in no
case exceed one-tenth o f the whole alloy.
Sec . 14. That the gold coins o f the United States shall
be a one-dollar piece, which, at the standard weight o f twentyfive and eight-tenths grains, shall be the unit of value; a
quarter-eagle, or two-and-a-half dollar piece; a three-dollar
piece; a half-eagle, or five-dollar piece; an eagle, or ten-dol-
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lar piece; and a double-eagle, or twenty-dollar piece. And the
standard weight of the gold dollar shall be twenty-five and eight
tenths grains; of the quarter-eagle, or two-and-a-half-dollar
piece, sixty-four and a half grains; of the three-dollar piece
seventy-seven and four-tenths grains; of the half-eagle, or
five-dollar piece, one hundred and twenty-nine grains; of
the eagle, or ten-dollar piece, two hundred and firtyeight grains; of the double-eagle, or twenty-dollar piece, five
STE
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14 hundred and sixteen grains; which coins shall he a legal
15 tender in all payments at their nominal value when not
16 below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided in
17 this act for the single piece, and, when reduced in weight,
18 below said standard and tolerance, shall be a legal tender at
AGREED
19 valuation in proportion to their actual weight; [and any gold
20 coin of the United States, if reduced in weight by abrasion
21 not more than one-half o f one per centum on the double22 eagle and eagle, and one per centum on the other coins, below
23 the standard weight prescribed by law, shall be received at
24 their nominal value by the United States Treasury and its
25 offices, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas26 ury may prescribe for the protection of the Government
27 against fraudulent abrasion or other practices; and any gold
28 coins in the Treasury o f the United States reduced in weight
29 below this limit of abrasion shall be recoined.]
AGREED
1
[ S e c . 15. That any gold coin now in circulation the
H. R. 2934----- 2
10
2 weight of which is below the limit of abrasion prescribed in
3 this act may be received at the mints in Philadelphia and
4 San Francisco at par in exchange for silver coins: Provided,
5 That the circulation of such gold coin, as shown by the date
6 of coinage, has been sufficient to produce such loss by natural
7 abrasion; and the coins no received shall be recoined; but
8 no gold coins which appear to have been artificially reduced
9 shall come within the provisions of this section.]
AGREED
1
S e c . [16] 15. [That the silver coins of the United States
2 shall be a dollar, a half-dollar or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar
3 or twenty-five cent piece, and a dime or ten-cent piece; and
4 the weight o f the dollar shall be three hundred and eighty5 four grains; the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime shall
6 be, respectively, one-half, one-quarter, and one-tenth of the
7 weight of said dollar; which coins shall be a legal tender, at
8 their nominal value, for any amount not exceeding five aol9 lars in any one payment.] That the silver coins o f the
10 United States shall be a trade-dollar, a half-dollar, or fiftyAGREED
a dim e o r t e n -c e n t p iec e
11 cent piece, a quarter-dollar, or twenty~five~ce/
nt-piece/\; and
12 the weight o f the trade-dollar shall be four hundred and
13 twenty grains troy ; the weight o f the half-dollar shall be
14 twelve grams and one-half o f a gram; the quarter dollar and
15 the dime shall be, respectively, one-half and one fifth o f the
16 weight o f said half-dollar; and said coins shall be a legal
11
17 tender at their nominal value fo r any amount not exceeding
18 five dollars in m y one payment.
AGREED
1
Sec. [17] 16. [That the minor coins of the United States
2 shall be a iive-cent piece, a three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece;
3 and the alloy for minor coinage shall be of copper and nickel,
4 to be composed of three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel;
5 the weight o f the piece of five cents shall be five grams, or
6 seventy-seven .and sixteen-hundredths grains troy; o f the
7 three-cent piece, three grams, or forty-six and thirty-hunSTB
14
8 dredths grains; and o f the one-cent piece, one and one-half
9 grams, or twenty-three and fifteen-hundredths grains; which
10 coins shall he legal tender, at their nominal value, for any
11 amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any one payment. 1
AGREED
12 That the minor coins o f the United States shall he a five-cent
13 piece, a three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece, and the alloy
14 for the five and three cent pieces shall he o f copper and nickel,
15 to he composed o f three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel
16 and the alloy of the one-cent piece shall he ninety-five per
17 centum of copper and five per centum of tin and zinc, in
18 such proportions as shall he determined hy the Director of the
19 Mint The weight o f the piece of five cents shall he seventy20 seven and sixteen-hundredths grains, troy; o f the three-cent
21 piece, thirty grains; and of the one-cent piece, forty-eight
22 grains; which coins shall he a legal tender, at their nominal
12
23 value, for any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any
24 one payment.
1
Sec. [18] 17. That no coins, either o f gold, silver, or
2 minor coinage, shall hereafter be issued from the mint other
3 than those of the denominations, standards, and weights herein
4 set forth.
1
Sbc . [19] 18. That upon the coins o f the United States
2 there shall be the foliowi ng devices and legends: Upon one side
3 there shall be an impression emblematic o f liberty, with an
4 inscription o f the word “ Liberty ” and the year o f the
5 coinage, and upon the reverse shall be the figure or repre6 sentation o f an eagle, with the inscriptions “ United States of
7 America” and “ E Pluribus Unum” , and a designation o f the
8 value o f the coin; but on the gold dollar and three-dollar
DISAGREED
9 piece, [the silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar,"] the dime,
AGI^ED
aD^ ° ne C6n* ^ 6Ce
°* t^e eagle shall be
11 omitted; and on the reverse of the silver dollar, half-dollar,
12 quarter-dollar, and the dime, respectively, there shall he in13 scribed the weight and the fineness of the coin; and the
14 Director o f the Mint, with the approval o f the Secretary o f
35 the Treasury, may cause the motto “ In God we trust ” to be
16 inscribed upon such coins as shall admit of such motto; and
17 any one o f the foregoing inscriptions may be oh the rim
18 of the gold and silver coins.
1
Sec. [20] 19. That at the option o f the owner, gold or
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silver may be cast into bars o f fine metal, or o f standard
fineness, or uncarted, as he may prefer, with a stamp upon the
same designating the weight and fineness, and with such
devices impressed thereon as may be deemed expedient to
prevent fraudulent imitation, and no such bars shall be issued
o f a less weight than five ounces.
Sec. [21 ] 20. That any owner of gold bullion may deposit
the same at any iqint, to be formed into coin or bars for his
benefit: but it shall be lawful to refuse any deposit of less
value than one hundred dollars, or any bullion so base as to
be unsuitable for the operations o f the mint; and when gold
and silver are combined, if either metal be in such small
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7 proportion that it can not be separated advant&geously, no
8 allowance shall be made to the depositor for its value.
1
Sec. 22 [21]. That any owner of silver bullion may deposit
2 the same at any mint, to be formed into bars for his benefit;
3 no deposit for coinage into silver coin shall be received: but
4 silver bullion contained in gold deposits, and separated there5 from, may be paid for in silver coin, at such valuation as may
6 be, from time to time, established by the Director of the
AGREED
7 Mint: Provided, That at the option o f the owner, silver may
8 be cast into coins o f standard fineness, and o f the weight o f
9 four hundred and twenty grains troy, designated in section
10 fifteen o f this act as the trade-dollar.
1
Sec. [23] 22. That when bullion is deposited in any of the
14
2 mints, it shall be weighed by the superintendent, and, when <
3 practicable, in the presence of the depositor, to whom a re4 ceipt shall be given, which shall state the description and
5 weight of the bullion; but when the bullion is m such a
6 state as to require melting, or the removal of base metals,
7 before its value can be ascertained, the weight, after sucn
8 operation, shall be considered as the true weight of the
9 bullion deposited. The fitness of the bullion to be received
10 shall be determined by the assayer, and the mode of melting
11 by the melter and refiner.
1
Sec. [24] 23. That from every parcel of bullion deposited
2 for coinage or bars,the superintendent shall deliverto the assayer
3 a sufficient portion for the purpose of being assayed, but all
4 such bullion remaining from the operations of the assay shall
5 be returned to the superintendent by the assayer.
1
Sec. [25] 24. That the assayer shall report to the superinAGREED
FINENESS
2 tendent the quality or [standard]A of the bullion assayed by
3 him, and such information as will enable him to compute the
4 amount of the charges hereinafter provided for, to be made
AGREED
6 to the depositor, [ f o r t h e c o s t o f c o n v e r t i n g t h e b u l l i o n i n t o
6 BARS.]
1
Sec.
[26] 25. That the charge for converting standard
AGREED Transfer to line 8, p. 15—insert after bullion:
2 gold bullion into coin, (or fo r converting standard silver into
3 trade dollars,) shall be one-fifth of one per centum; and
4 the charges for refining when the bullion is below standard,
15
5 for toughening when metals are contained in it which render
6 it unfit for coinage, for copper used for alloy when the bull7 ion is above standard, for separating the gold and silver when
AGREED
8 these metals exist together in the bullion, A and f°r the
9 preparation of bars, shall be fixed, from time to time, by the
10 Director, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treas11 ury, so as to equal but not exceed, in their judgment, ibhe
12 actual average cost to each mint and assay-omce of the
13 materia], labor, wastage, and use of machinery employed in
14 each of the cases aforementioned.
1
Sec. [27] 26. That the assayer snail verify all calculations
2 made by the superintendent of the value of deposits, and, if
3 satisfied by the correctness thereof, shall countersign the cer8TB
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tificate required to be given by tbe superintendent to the
depositor.
Sec. [28] 27. That in order to procure bullion for the silver coinage authorized by this act, the superintendents, with
the approval o f the Director of the Mint, as to price, terms, and
quantity, shall purchase such bullion with the bullion-fund.
The gain arising from the coinage o f such silver bullion into
coin of a nominal value exceeding the cost thereof shall be
credited to a special fund denominated the silver-profit fund.
This fund shall be charged with the wastage incurred in the
silver coinage, and with the expense o f distributing said
coins as hereinafter provided. The balance to the credit of
16
11 this fund shall be from time to time, and at least twice a year,
12 paid into the Treasury of the United States.
AGREED
OTHER THAN THE TRADE DOLLAR
1
Sec. [29] 28. That silver coinsAsh all be paid out at the
2 several mints, and at the assay-office in New York City, in
3 exchange for gold coins at par, in sums not less than one hun4 dred dollars; and it shall be lawful, also, to transmit parcels
5 of the same, from time to time, to the assistant treasurers,
6 depositaries, and other officers of the United States, under
7 general regulations proposed by the. Director of the Mint, and.
8 approved by the Secretary of the Treasury; but nothing herein
9 contained shall prevent the payment of silver coins, at their
10 nominal value, for silver parted from gold, as provided in
11 this act, or for change less than one dollar in settlement for
12 gold deposits: Provided, That for two years after the passage
13 of this act, silver coins shall be paid at the mint in Philadel14 phia and the assay-office in New York City for silver bull15 ion purchased for coinage, under such regulations as may be
16 prescribed by the Director of the Mint, and approved by the
17 Secretary of the Treasury.
1
Sec. [30129. That for the purchase of metal for the minor
2 coinage authorized by this act, a sum not exceeding fifty
3 thousand dollars in lawful money o f the United States shall
4 be transferred by the Secretary of the Treasury to the credit
5 o f the superintendent of the mint at Philadelphia, at which
6 establishment only, until otherwise provided by law, such
17
7 coinage shall be carried on. The superintendent, with the
8 approval o f the Director o f the Mint as to price, terms, and
9 quantity, shall purchase the metal required for such coinage
10 by public advertisement, and the lowest and best bid shall be
11 accepted, the fineness o f the metals to be determined on the
12 mint assay. The gain arising from the coinage o f such metals
13 into coin of a nominal value, exceeding the cost thereof, shall
14 be credited to the special fund denominated the minor-coinage
15 profit fund; and this fund shall be charged with the
16 wastage incurred in such coinage, and with the cost o f dis17 tributing said coins as hereinafter provided. The balance
18 remaining to the credit of this fund, and any balance o f profits
19 accrued from minor coinage under former acts, shall be, from
20 time to time, and at least twice a year, covered into the
21 Treasury of the United States.
1
Sec . [31] 30. That the minor coins authorized by this act
2 may, at the discretion of the Director o f the Mint, be delivered
3 in any of the principal cities and towns of the United States,
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at the cost o f the mint, for transportation, and shall be
exchangeable at par at the mint in Philadelphia, at the discretion of the superintendent, for any other coins of copper,
bronze, or copper-nick el heretofore authorized by law ; and
it shall be lawful for the Treasurer and the several assistant
treasurers and depositaries of the United States to redeem, in
lawful money, under such rules as may be prescribed by the
H. R. 2934----- 3
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11 Secretary of the Treasury, all copper, bronze, and copper12 nickel coins authorized by law when presented in sums of not
13 less than twenty dollars; and whenever, under this authority,
14 these coins are presented for redemption in such quantity as
15 to show the amount outstanding to be redundant, the Secre16 tary of the Treasury is authorized and required to direct that
17 such coinage shall cease until otherwise ordered by him.
1
Sec. [32] 31. Th&t parcels of bullion shall be, from time to
2 time, transferred by the superintendent to the melter and refiner;
3 acareful record of these transfers,noting the weight and character
4 of the bullion, shall be kept, and vouchers shall be taken for
5 the delivery of the same, duly receipted by the melter and
6 refiner, and the bullion thus placed in the hands o f the melter
7 and refiner shall be subjected to the several processes which
8 may be necessary to form it into ingots of the legal standard,
9 and of a quality suitable for coinage.
1
Sec. [33] 3^. That tbe ingots so prepared shall be assayed;
2 and if they prove to be within the limits allowed for devia3 tion from the standard, the assayer shall certify the fact to
4 the superintendent, who shall thereupon receipt for the same,
5 and transfer them to the coiner.
1
Sec . [34] 33. That no ingots shall be used for coinage
2 which differ trom the legal standard more than the following
3 proportions, namely: In gold ingots, one-thousandth; in silver
19
AGREED
THREE-THOUSANDTHS
4 ingots, [two-thousandths;]Ain minor-coinage alloys, twenty5 five-thousandths, in the proportion of nickel.
1
Sec. [35] 34. That the melter and refiner shall prepare all
2 bars required for the payment o f deposits; but the fineness
3 thereof shall be ascertained and stamped thereon by the
4 assayer; and the melter and refiner shall deliver such bars to*
5 the superintendent, who shall receipt for the same.
1
Sec. [36] 35. That the superintendent shall, from time to
2 time, deliver to the coiner ingots for the purpose o f coinage;
3 a careful record o f these transfers, noting the weight and
4 character of the bullion, shall be kept, and vouchers shall
5 be taken for the delivery of the same, duly receipted by the
6 coiner; and the ingots thus placed in the hands of the coii*er
7 shall be subjected to the several processes necessary to make
rt
from them coins in all respects conformable to law.
1
Seo. [37] 36. That in adjusting the weights o f the gold
2 coins, the following deviations shall not be exceeded in any
3 single piece: In the double-eagle and the eagle, one-half o f
4 a grain; in the half-eagle, the three-dollar piece, the quarter5 eagle, and the one-dollar piece, one-fourth of a grain. And
6 in weighing a number of pieces together, when delivered by
7 the coiner to the superintendent, and by the superintendent
8 to the depositor, the deviation from the standard weight
STB—
2
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9 shall not exceed one-hundredth of an ounce in five thousand
10 dollars in double-eagles, eagles, half-eagles, or quarter-eagles,
20
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in one thousand three-dollar pieces, and in one thousand onedollar pieces.
Sec. [38] 37. That in adjusting the weight o f the silver
coins the following deviations shall not be exceeded in any
single piece: In the dollar, the half and quarter dollar, and in
the dime, one and one-half grains; and in weighing large numbers o f pieces together, when delivered by the coiner to the
superintendent, and by the superintendent to the depositor,
the deviations from the standard weight shall not exceed twohundredths of an ounce in one thousand dollars, half-dollars,
or quarter-dollars, and one-hundredth of an ounce in one
thousand dimes.
Sec. [39] 38. That in adjusting the weight of the minor
coins provided by this act, there shall be no greater deviation
allowed than three grains for the five-cent piece and two
grains for the three and one cent pieces.
Se c . [40] 39. That the coiner shall, from time to time, as
coins are prepared, deliver them to the superintendent, who
shall receipt for the same, and who shall keep a careful
record of their kind, number, and actual weight; and in receiving coins it shall be the duty of the superintendent to
ascertain, by the trial o f a number o f single pieces separately, whether the coins of that delivery are within the legal
limits of the standard weight; and if his trials for this purpose shall, not prove satisfactory, he shall cause all the coins
21
of sach delivery to be weighed separately, and such as are
not of legal weight shall be defaced and delivered to the
melter and refiner as standard bullion, to be again formed into
ingots and recoined ; or the whole delivery may, if more convenient, be remelted.
S e c . [4jL] 40. That at every delivery o f coins made by the
coiner to a superintendent, it shall be the duty o f such
superintendent, in the presence of the assayer, to take indiscriminately a certain number of pieces o f each variety for the
annual trial of coins, the number for gold coins being not less
than one piece for eac]i one thousand pieces or any fractional
part of one' thousand pieces delivered; and for silver coins
one piece for each two thousand pieces or any fractional part
of two thousand pieces delivered. The pieces so taken shall
be carefully sealed up in an envelope, properly labeled, stating the date o f the delivery, the number and denomination of
the pieces inclosed,* and the amount of the delivery from
which they were taken. These sealed parcels containing the
reserved pieces shall be deposited in a pyx, designated for the
purpose at each mint, which shall be kept under the joint
care of the superintendent and assayer, and be so secured
that neither can have access to its contents without the presence of the other, and the reserved pieces in their sealed
envelopes from the coinage of each mint shall be transmitted
quarterly to the mint at Philadelphia. A record shall also
22
21 be kept at the same time o f the number and denomination of
22 the pieces so taken for the annual trial of coins, and o f the
23 number and denomination of the pieces represented by them
STB
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and so delivered, a copy of which record shall be transmitted
quarterly to the Director of the Mint. Other pieces may, at
any time, be taken for such tests as the Director o f the Mint
shall prescribe.
Sec . [42] 41. That the coiner shall, from time to time, deliver to the superintendent the clippings and other portions of
bullion remaining after the process o f coining; and the superintendent shall receipt for the same and keep a careful record
of their weight and character.
Sec. [43] 42. That the superinten dent shall debit the coiner
with the amount in weight of standard metal of all the bullion placed in his hands, and credit him with the amount in
weight of all the coins, clippings, and other bullion returned
by him to the superintendent. Once at least in every year,
and at such time as the Director of the Mint shall appoint,
there shall be an accurate and full settlement of the accounts
of the coiner, and the melter and refiner, at Which time the
said officers shall deliver up to the superintendent all the
coins, clippings, and other bullion in their possession, respectively, accompanied by statements of all the bullion delivered
to them since the last annual settlement, and all the bullion
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returned by them during the same period, including the
amount returned for the purpose o f settlement.
Sec. [44] 43. That when all the coins, clippings, and other
bullion have been delivered to the superintendent, it $hall
be his duty to examine the accounts and statements rendered
by the coiner and the melter and refiner, and the difference
between the amount charged and credited to each officer
shall be allowed as necessary wastage, if the dnperin^
tendent shall be satisfied that there has been a bonafide waste o f the precious metals, and it the amount
shall not exceed, in the case o f the melter and refiner, onethousandth o f the whole amount of gold, and one and onehalf thousandth o f the whole amount, o f silver delivered to'
him since the last animal settlement, and in the case o f the
coiner, one-thousandth o f the whole amount o f silver, and
one-half thousandth of the whole amount of gold that has
been delivered to him by the superintendent; and all copper
used in the alloy of gold and silver bullion shal,l be separately
charged to the melter and refiner, and accounted for by him.
Sec. [45] 44. That it shall also be the duty of the superintendent to forward a correct statement of his balance-sheet,
at the close o f such settlement, to the Director of the Mint,
who shall compare the total amount of gold and silver bullion
and coin on hand with the total liabilities of the mint. At
the same time a statement of the ordinary* expense account,
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24
and the moneys therein, shall also be made by the superintendent.
Sec. [46] 45. That when the coins or bars which are equivalent to any deposit of bullion are ready for delivery, they
shall be paid to the depositor, or his order, by the superintendent; and the payments shall be made, if demanded, in the
order in which the bullion shall have been brought to the
mint; but in cases where there is delay in manipulating a re-,
fractory deposit, or for any other unavoidable cause, the payment of subsequent deposits, the value of which is known,
STB
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shall not be delayed thereby; and in the denominations of
coin delivered, the superintendent shall comply with the
wishes of the depositor, except when impracticable or inconvenient to do so.
S e c . [47] 46. That unparted bullion may be exchanged at
any of the mints for fine bars, on such terms and conditions
as may be prescribed by the Director o f the Mint, with the
approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; £nd the fineness,
weight, and value of the bullion received and given in exchange shall in all cases be determined by the mint assay.
The charge to the depositor for refining or parting shall not
exceed that allowed and deducted for the same operation in
the exchange of unrefined for refined bullion.
S e c . [48] 47. That for the purpose of enabling the mints and
the assay-office in New York to make returns to depositors
25
3 with as little delay as possible, it shall be the duty of the
4 Secretary o f the Treasury to keep in the said mints and assay5 office, when the state o f the Treasury will admit thereof, such
6 an amount of public money, or bullion procured for the pur7 pose, as he snail judge convenient and necessary, out of
8 which those who bring bullion to the said mints and assay9 office may be paid the value thereof, in coin or bars, as soou
10 as practicable after the value has been ascertained; and on
11 payment thereof being made, th6 bullion so deposited shall
12 become the property of the United States; but the Secretary
13 of the Treasury may at any time withdraw the fund, or any
14 portion thereof.
1
S e c . [49] 48. That to secure a due conformity in the gold and
2 silver coins to their respective standards of fineness and weight,
3 the judge of the district court of the United States for the eastAGREED
4 ern district of Pennsylvania, the Comptroller o f the Currency,
5 the assayer o f the assay-office at New York, and such other per6 sons as the President shall, from time to time, designate, shall
7 meet as assay-commissioners, at the mint in Philadelphia, to
8 examine and test, in the presence of the Director o f the Mint,
9 the fineness and weight o f the coins reserved by the several
.0 mints for this purpose, on the second Wednesday in Febru11 ary, annually, and may continue their meetings by adjourn12 ment, if necessary; if a majority of the commissioners shall
13 fail to attend at any time appointed for their meeting, the
H. R. 2934------4
26
14 Director of the Mint shall call a meeting of the commissioners
15 at such other time as he may deem convenient; and if it shall
16 appear by such examination and test that these coins do not
17 differ from the standard fineness and weight by a greater
18 quantity than is allowed by law, the trial shall be considered
19 and reported as satisfactory; but if any greater deviation
20 from the legal standard or weight shall appear, this fact
21 shall be certified to the President of the United States: and
22 if, on a view of the circumstances of the case, he shall so
23 decide, the officer or officers implicated in the error shall be
24 thenceforward disqualified from holding their respective
25 offices.
1
S e c . [50] 49. That for the purpose o f securing a due con2 formity in weight of the coins o f the United States to the
3 provisions of this act, the brass troy-pound weight procured
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21
4 by the minister of the United States at London, in the year
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, for the use o f the mint,
aud now in the custody of the mint at Philadelphia, shall be
the standard troy pound of the Mint of the United States,
conformably to which the coinage thereof shall be regulated.
Sec. [51] 50. That it shall be the duty of the Director o f
the Mint to procure for each mint and assay-office, to be kept
safely thereat, a series of standard weights corresponding to
the aforesaid troy pound, consisting of a one-pound weight
and the requisite subdivisions aud multiples thereof, from the
27
6 hundredth part of a grain to twenty-five pounds; and the
7 troy weights ordinarily employed in the transactions of such
8 mints and assay-offices shall be regulated according to the
9 above standards at least once in every year, uuder the
10 inspection of the superintendent and assayer; and the accu11 racy o f those used at the miut at Philadelphia shall be tested
12 annually, in the presence o f the assay-commissioners, at the
13 time of the annual examination and test of coins.
1
Sec. [52] 51. That the obverse working-dies at each mint
2 shall, at the end o f each calendar year, be defaced and
3 destroyed by the coiner in the presence of the superintendent
4 and assayer.
1
Sec. [53] 52. That dies of a national character may be
2 executed by tli$ engraver, and national and other medals
3 struck by the coiner of the mint at Philadelphia, under such
4 regulations as the superintendent, with the approval of the
5 Director of the Mint, may prescribe: Provided, That such
6 work shall not interfere with the regular coinage operations,
7 and that no private medal dies shall be prepared at said mint,
8 or the machinery or apparatus thereof be used for that
9 purpose.
-1
Sec. [54] 53.. That the moneys arising from all charges add
2 deductions ou and from gold and silver bullion and tbemanuAGrREED
m edals
3 facture o f [ metals] Aand from all other sources, except as herein4 before provided, shall, from time to time, be covered into the
28
5 Treasury of the United States, and no part of such deduc6 tions or medal charges, or profit on silver or minor coinage,
7 shall be expended in salaries or wages; but all expenditures
8 of the mints and assay-offices, not herein otherwise provided
9 for, shall be paid from appropriations made by law on
10
estimates furnished by the Secretary of the Treasury.
1
Sec. [55] 54. That the officers of the United States assay2 office at New York shall be a superintendent, an assayer, and
3 a njelter and refiner, who shall be appointed by the President,
4 by and with the advice aud consent of the Senate. The
5 business of said assay-office shall be in all respects similar
6 to that of the mints, except that bars only, and not coin, shall
7 be manufactured therein; and no metals shall be purchased
8 for minor coinage. All bullion intended by the depositor to
9 be converted into coins of the United States, and silver bullion
10 purchased for coinage, when assayed, parted, and refined, and
11 its net value certified, shall be transferred to the mint at
12 Philadelphia, under such directions as shall be made by the
J3 Secretary of the Treasury, at the expense of the contingent
14 fund of the mint, and shall be there coined, and the proceeds
15 returned to the assay-office.
And the Secretary of the
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22
16 Treasury is hereby authorized to make the necessary
17 arrangements for the adjustment of the accounts upon such
18 transfers between the respective offices.
1
Sec. [56] 55. Thatthe duties of the superintendent, assay29
er, and melter and refiner of said office shall correspond to those
of superintendents, assayers, and melters and refiners of mints;
and all parts o f this act relating to mints and their officers,
the duties and responsibilities of such officers, and others employed therein, the oath to be taken, and the bonds and sureties to be given by them, (as far as the same may be applicable,) shall extend to the assay office at New York, and to
its officers, assistants, clerks, workmen, and others employed
therein.
Sec. [57] 56. That there shall be allowed to the officers of
the assay-office at New York City the following salaries per
annum: To the superintendent, four thousand five hundred
dollars: to the assayer, and to the melter and refiner, each,
three thousand dollars; and the salaries o f assistants and
clerks, and wages to workmen, and their manner of appointment, shall be determined and regulated as herein directed in
regard to mints.
Sec. [58] 57. That the business of the branch mint at Denver, while conducted as an assay-office, and of the assay-office at
Bois6 City, Idaho, and all other assay-offices hereafter to be
established, shall be confined to the receipt of gold and silver
bullion, for melting and assaying, to be returned to depositors
of the same, in bars, with the weight and fineness stamped
thereon; and the officers of assay-offices, when their services
are necessary, shall consist of an assayer, who shall have
30
9 charge thereof, and a melter, to be appointed by the Presi10 dent, by and with the advice and consent o f the Senate; and
11 the assayer may employ as many clerks, workmen, and
12 laborers, under the direction of the Director of the Mint, as
13 may be provided for by law. The salaries of said officers snail
14 not exceed the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars to the
15 assayer and melter, one thousand eight hundred dollars each
16 to the clerks, and the workmen and laborers shall receive
17 such wages as are customary, according to their respective
18 stations and occupations.
1
Sec. [59] 58. That each officer and clerk to be appointed
2 at such assay-offices, before entering upon the execution o f his
3 office, shall take an oath or affirmation before some judge of
4 the United States, or o f the Supreme Court, as prescribed by
AGREED
se c o n d
5 the act of July [twentieth, ] A eighteen hundred and sixty-two,
6 and each become bound to the United States of America,
7 with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the Director
8 of the Mint or o f one o f the judges o f the supreme court of
9 the State or Territory in which the same may be located,
10 and of the Secretary o f the Treasury, conditioned for the
11 faithful performance of the duties of their offices; and the
12 said assayers shall discharge the duties o f disbursing agents
13 for the payment of the expenses of their respective assay14 offices.
1
Sec. [60] 59. That the general direction of the business of
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
STB
23
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
2
3
4
5
31
assay-offices o f the United States shall he under the Control
and regulation of the Director of the Mint, subject to the
approbation o f the Secretary o f the Treasury; and for that
purpose it, shall be the duty of the said Director to prescribe
such regulations and to require such returns, periodically and
occasionally, and to establish such charges for melting,
parting, assaying, and stamping bullion as shall appear to
him to be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect
the intention of this act.
S e c . [61] 60. That all the provisions o f this act for the
regulation of the mints of the United States, and for the
government o f the officers and persons employed therein,
and for the punishment of all offenses connected with the
mints or coinage of the United States, shall be, and they are
hereby declared to be, in full force in relation to the assayoffices, as far as the same may be applicable thereto.
S e c . [62] 61. That if any person or persons shall falsely
make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or prooure to be falsely
made, forged, or counterfeited, or willingly aid or assist in
falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting, any coin or J>ars in
resemblance or similitude of the gold or silver coins or bars,
which have been, or hereafter may be coined or stamped
at the mints and assay-offices o f the United States, or
in resemblance or similitude o f any foreign gold or
silver coin which by law is, or hereafter may be made, cur32
rent in the United States, or are in actual use and circulation
as money within the United States, or shall pass, utter, publish, or sell, or attempt to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or'bring
into the United States from any foreign place, or have in his
possession, any such false, forged, or counterfeited coin or
bars, knowing the same to be false, forged, or counterfeited,
every person so offending shall be deemed guilty o f felony,
and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding fi ve thousand dollars, and by imprisonment and confinement at hard labor not exceeding ten years, according to the
aggravation of the offense.
S e c . [63] 62. That if any person or persons shall falsely
make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause or procure to be falsely
made, forged, or counterfeited, or willingly aid or assist in
falsely making, forging, or counterfeiting, any coin in the
resemblance or similitude of any o f the minor coinage which
has been, or hereafter may be, coined at the mints of the
United States; or shall pass, utter, publish, or sell, or bring
into the United States from any foreign place, or have in his
possession any such false, forged, or counterfeited coin, with
intent to defraud any body politic or corporation, or any
person or persons whatsoever, every person so offending shall
be deemed guilty of felony, and shall, on conviction thereof)
be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars and
33
by imprisonment and cpnfinement at hard labor not exceeding
three years.
S e c . [64] 63. That if any person shall fraudulently, by any
art, way, or means whatsoever, deface, mutilate, impair,
diminish, falsify, scale, or lighten the gold or silver coins
which have been, or which shall hereafter be, coined at the
mints o f the United States, or any foreign gold or silver coins
STB
24
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
which are by law made current, or are in actual nse and circnlation as money within the United States, every person so
offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and.
shall be imprisoned not exceeding two years, and fined not
exceeding two thousand dollars.
- Sec. [65] 64. That if any o f the gold or silvercoins which
shall be struck or coined at any of the mints o f the United
States shall be debased, or made worse as to the proportion
6f fine gold or fine silver therein contained; or shall be of
less weight or value than the same ought to be, pursuant to
the several acts relative thereto; or if any of the weights
used at any o f the mints or assay-offices of the
United States shall be defaced, increased or diminished
through the fault or connivance of any of the officers or
persons who shall be employed at the said mints or assayoffices, with a fraudulent intent; and if auy of the said officers or persons shall embezzle any o f the metals which shall
at any time be committed to their charge for the purpose of
H. R. 2934-----5
34
14 being coined, or any of the coins which shall be struck or
15 coined at the said mints, or any' medals, coins, or other
16 moneys of said mints or assay-offices at any time committed
17 to their charge, or of which they may have assumed the
18 charge, every such officer or person who shall commit any or
19 either of the said offences shall be deemed guilfcy o f felony,
20 and shall be impriaoned at hard labor *br a term not less
21 than one year nor more than ten years, and shall be fined in
22 a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars.
1
Sec. [66] 65. That this act shall take effect on the first
AGREED
A p r il
s e v e n t y -t h r e e
2 day o f [ July, ] / \eighteen hundred and [seventy-two, ] A " hen
3 the offices of
the treasurer of the mints in
4 Philadelphia,
San
Francisco,
and New Orleans
5 shall be vacated, and the assistant treasurer at New York
6 shall cease to perform the duties of treasurer of the assay7 office. The other officers and employees o f the mints and
8 assay-offices now appointed shall continue to hold their
9 respective offices, they having first given the necessary bonds
,10 until further appointments may be required, the director o f
11 the mint at Philadelphia being styled and acting as superin12 tendent thereof. The duties of the treasurers shall devolve
13 as herein provided upon the superintendents, au4 said treas14 urers shall act only as assistant treasurers of the United
15 States: Provided, That the salaries heretofore paid to the
16 treasurers o f the mints at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and
35
17 New Orleans, acting as assistant treasurecs, shall hereafter be
18 paid to them as “ assistant treasurers of the United States” ,
19 aud that the salary of the assistant treasurer at New York
20 shall not be diminished bv the vacation of his office as treas21 urer of the assay-office.
14
Sec . [67] 66. That, the different mints and assny-offices
2 authorized by this a**t shall be known as. “ the mint of
3 the United States at Philadelphia”, the mint of the United
4 States at San Francisco” , “ the mint of the United States at
5 Carson,” “ the mint of the Uuited States at Denver,” “ the
6 United States assay-office at New York” , and “ the United
AGREKD “ t h e r s. a s s a y o f f i c e a t c h a r l o t t e , n . Ca r o l i n a ”
STK
25
7 States assay-office at Bois6 City,Idaho; ” /\ and all unexpended
8 appropriations heretofore authorized by law for the use o f the
9 mint of the United States at Philadelphia, the branch mint
10 o f the United States in California, the branch mint o f
11 the United States at Denver, the United States assay-office
VI in New York, and the United-States assay-office at Boisd
13 City, Idaho, are hereby authorized to be transferred for the
14 account and use o f the institutions established and located
15 respectively at the places designated by this act.
1
Sec. [6e$l 67. That this act shall be known as the “ Coinage
AGREED
1873
2 act of [eighteen hundred and seventy-two” ] A? an^ all other
3 acts and parts of acts pertaining to the mints, assay-offices,
4 and coinage o f the United States inconsistent with the pro5 visions of this act are hereby repealed: Provided, That this
36
6 act shall not be construed to affect any act done, right ac7 crued, or penalty incurred, nntjer former acts, but every such
8 right is hereby saved; and all suits and prosecutions for acts
9 already done in violation o f any former act or acts of Congress
10 relating to the subjects embraced in this act may be begun
11 or proceeded with in like manner as if this act had not been
12 passed; and all penal clauses and provisions in existing laws
13 relating to the subjects embraced in this act shall be deemed
14 applicable thereto: And provided further. That so much of the
15 first section of “ An act makiug appropriations for sundry
16 civil expenses of the Government for the year ending June
17 thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and for other pur18 poses,” approved July fifteen, eighteen hundred and seventy,
19 as provides that until after the completion and occupation
20 of the branch-mint building in San Francisco it sbalj be law21 ful to exchange, at any mint or branch-mint o f the United
22 States, unrefined or unparted bullion, whenever, in the opinion
23 of the Secretary of the Treasury, it can be done with advan24 tage to the Government, is hereby repealed.
Passed the House of Representatives May 27, 1872.
Attest:
EDWARD McPHERSON,
Clerk.
[Indorsement on back of bill.]
42i> CONGRESS, )
H R 2934
704
3d S essio n .
$
7U4
AN ACT
Revising and amending the laws relative to the
mints, assay-offices, and coinage of the United
States.
1872—M a y 29.—Read twice and referred to the Committee
on Finance.
D e c e m b e r 16, 1872.—Reported with amendments.
1873—J a n u a r y 7.—Additional amendments reported, which
were ordered to be printed with the bill.
J a n u a r y 17, C. W .—Amended, read the third time, and
passed.
J an . 17.
Ainended.
Pa s s e d .
No papers.
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26
The following proceedings were had in the Senate on Friday, Janary 17, 1373, wh en the foregoing bill was under consideration:
MINT LAWS.
The Presiding O fficer. The Calendar under the Anthony rule is now in order.
Mr. Sherman. I rise for the purpose of moving that the Senate proceed to
the consideration of the Mint hill. I will state that this bill will not probably
consume any more time than the time consnmed in reading it. It passed the Sen
ate two years ago after fall debate. It was taken np again in the House during
the present Congress, and passed there. It is a matter of vital interest to the
Government, ana I am informed by officers of the Government it is important it
should pass promptly. The amendments reported by the Committee on Finance
present the points of difference between the two Houses, and they can go to a
committee of conference without having a controversy here in the Senate about
them.
Mr. A nth ont. I hope the Calendar will be laid aside informally, not postponed.
Mr. Sherman. Let it be passed over informally until we finish the reading of
the Mint bill and dispose o f it. The reading is about half through, 1 am informed
by the Secretary.
Mr. Cragin. I shall not oppose this motion, but I wish to give notice that as soon
as the Mint bill is disposed of I shall move to call up the bill (H. B. No. 3010) for
the construction of six steam vessels of war, and for other purposes, which was
reported from the Committee on Naval Affairs. I hope that bill will be left as
the unfinished business this evening.
The Presiding O fficer. The Chair is informed that it is proposed that the
Calendar be informally passed over.
Mr. Sherman. I am perfectly willing that that should be done.
The Presiding O ffic es. That will regarded as the sense of the Senate, if there
is no objection, and the bill referred to by the Senator from Ohio is now before
the Senate.
The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the
bill (H. R. No. 2934) revising and amending the laws relative to the mints, assayoffices, and coinage of the United States.
The Chief Clerk resumed and concluded the reading of the bill.
The Presiding O fficer. The Committee on Finance report the bill, with
amendments, which will now be read.
Mr. Sherman. 1 send to the clerk some amendments of a formal character from
the Committee on Finance, adopted since the amendments first reported were
printed. I will ask that they be acted upon with the others in their order.
The first amendment of the Committee on Finance was, on page 4, section 5,
line 3, after the word “ coins, ” to insert “ or sample of b u llio n so that the clause
will read:
“ That the assayer shall assay all metals and bullion, whenever such assays are
required in the operations of the Mint; he shall also make assays of coin or sam
ples of bullion whenever required by the Superintendent.”
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendment was, on page 5, section 8, line 2, to strike out the word
“ wording, ” before the word “ dies, ” and insert the word “ working.”
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendment was, on page 6, section 9, line 1, before the word “ office,”
at the end of the line, to insert tne word "assay.”
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendment was, on page 9, section 14, to strike out the following
words:
“And any gold coin of the United States, if reduced in weight by abrasion not
more than one-half of 1 per cent, on the double-eagle and eagle, and 1 per cent, on
the other coins, below the standard weight prescribed by law, shall be received
at their nominal value by the United States Treasury and its offices, under such
regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe for the protection of
the Government against fraudulent abrasion or other practices; and any gold
coins in the Treasury of the United States reduced in weight below this limit of
abrasion shall be recoined.”
Mr. C ole. I hope that amendment will not be agreed to. I think it is a very
wise provision in the bill as it came from the House, and it ought to be allowed
to remain. It merely provides that coins, when a little abraded by natural use
and wear, shall be received at the Treasury of the United States, and the con*
eluding portion of the clause proposed to be stricken out provides:
“And any gold coins in the Treasury of the United States reduced in weight be
low this limit of abrasion shall be recoined.”
It is certainly the duty of tbe Government to provide the coins of the country
and at its own expense, and this section seems to be well guarded. The language
is:
“ Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe for the
protection of the Government against fraudulent abrasion or other practices.”
It strikes me that this clause ought not to be stricken out. I remember at the
STE
27
last session of Congress we passed a law which contemplated the restoration of
these coins. I will read it. It was passed at the earnest application of the Sec*
retary of the Treasury, and I believe at the unanimous suggestion of the Com
mittee on Finance of this body it was incorporated in an appropriation bill. It is
•as follows:
“ For loss and expenses involved in the recoinage of gold coins in the Treasury
which are below standard weight., under such regulations as the Secretary of the
Treasury may prescribe, $150,000.”
The Government makes provision for the restoration of the coins when they
have been reduced by natural wear, and I should think that this part of the sec
tion ought to be left in the bill. I see no reason why it should be stricken out.
Mr. Sherman. I can only say I have here a number of documents, not only
from the Director of the Mint in Philadelphia, but from Professor Barnard ana
the Comptroller of the Currency, calling our attention to this very important
feature of the bill, and the Committee on Finance, after a patient examination of
the whole matter, decided that it was clearly inexpedient and wrong to put in
this provision for the recoinage of all the present gold coins of the United States.
It is true, as the Senator says, we have provided for recoining the coin in the
Treasury of the (Tnited States; but we go no further than that. No nation in the
world has gone further than that. I do not wish to delay the Senate by reading
these documents, but I suggest to the Senator whether he had not better let this
proposition go to a committee of conference rather than undertake to discuss it
here, because if we are compelled to discuss it here I shkll be obliged to have
these letters read, which entirely convinced the Committee on Finance that the
United States dare not assume the loss of abrasion beyond the legal standard.
There is a legal standard within which the United States make the coin good,
but when coin depreciates below the standard of abrasion, then neither the United
States nor any other nation in the world undertakes to make the coins good except
for their intrinsic value. The ways in which these coins might be abraded by
fraud were shown to us, and it would be utterly impossible for any regulation of
the Secretary to prevent great loss to the Government if we attempt to main
tain these coins when they fall below the limit of abrasion and redeem thefti at the
nominal instead of the real value. It is a delicate question, and it will only be
necessary to read these papers in order to convince the Senator himself that it
would not be wise for the United States to undertake to do what the House pro
poses.
Mr. Cole. I should like it better if the chairman of the Committee on Finance
would give us some reasons why this amendment should be made. This clause
protects the Government fully. The degree of abrasion is prescribed in this clause
not to exceed one-half of 1 per cent, on double-eagles ana eagles, and not to ex*
ceed 1 per cent, upon coins of lesser denominator If it would involve the Gov
ernment in some expense to restore these coins after they had been received in
the ordinary business of the country, received at the custom-houses and in the
Treasury, it is very proper that the Government should bear that expense. And let
me again remind the Senator that we have entered upon that business, and at the
last session made an appropriation of $150,000 to do this very thing.
Mr. Sherman. That was for the coin belonging to the United States.
Mr. Cole. Exactly. This clause provides that when the coin reaches the
Treasury it may be so treated, and that this coin shall be received by the United
States at the Treasury and other offices.
Mr. Casserly. 1 had risen to ask a question of the Senator from Ohio [Mr.
ShermanJ which my colleague has anticipated. Authority is valuable only in
proportion to the reason which goes with it. The names mentioned are of course
names of authority in coinage and minting. But when it is said that we ought
to strike out a provision such as that which we are now considering because the
men of authority say it would be dangerous to enact it, we ought to know what
reason they have for so saying.
In the first place, everybody knows that it is almost a mechanical impossibility
to manufacture a coin that is exactly of the standard. The coin will be a little
above or below the standard in weight, but generally it is below it. So that when
you fix the limit *of the abrasion as here at one half of 1 per cent, on the double
eagle and eagle and 1 per cent, on the other coins you make your limit ex
ceedingly narrow. In addition to that, the Secretary of the Treasury is author
ized to make such rules as he sees fit for the protection of the Government against
fraud. Now, what danger can there be to the Treasury of the United States
tinder such a provision? Why should any respectable Government consent to
permit its gold coins to remain in circulation after they have suffered by abrasion
so as to fall much below the legal standard ? The loss by abrasion has to fall
somewhere in the*end, and it certainly ought to fall upon the whole people rather
than upon the innocent holder who has taken the com of the Government at its
face, on the faith of the Government, without being aware of the reduction from
its standard value.
I insist that it is the duty of the Government to make its coins of the standard
value in the first place, an,d in the next place to keep them up to the standard
value. The citizen is obliged by law to receive them for their full standard value,
and as the loss must fall somewhere, it ought to fall on the Government, and not
mss
28
upon the citizen. It is hard enough that the innocent holder of a coin which has
been fraudulently abraded, or reduced as by what they call “ sweating,” or by
any other fraudulent process, must lose by the fraud to which he was no party.
It is ever so much worse when you make hiim bear tbe loss of the natural and in*
evitable wear of the metal. Every such loss should be the loss of the Govern
ment, for it is the duty of the Government to keep its coin at the standard value
at its own expense.
I do not understand the last two lines of this amendment as the Senator from
Ohio understands them If I understand them aright, he would not press his
objection so strongly as he does. The language is:
*‘ A.nd any gold coins in the Treasury of the United States reduced in weight
below this limit of abrasion shall be recoined.”
Mr. Sherman. The reason that those words are proposed to be stricken out is
that the coins in the Treasury have already been provided tor. The law now pro
vides for recoining abraded coin in the Treasury of the United States. There is
no necessity, therefore, for putting it in here again. Indeed, when this clause was
inserted in the House the law providing for that recoinage had not been passed.
It w h s paesed in an appropriation bill on my own motion. I think, at the last ses
sion of Congress. The Mint was authorized to recoin the abraded coins in the
Treasury of the United States, some of which were taken at their reduced value.
Mr. Casserly. Of course, if the Senator says tbe clause is unnecessary because
it is the law now, there is nothing more to be said.
Mr. Sherman. The Senator’s colleague referred to the law a moment ago.
Mr. Casserly. I am content to take what the Senator from Ohio says on
that point. But that only corroborates what I say, that the Government recog
nizes it as its duty to restore its coins to the standard value after they have fallen
belo'v a certain limit of abrasion. Now, all that is asked is that before they fall
below the limit of abrasion and while passing current in the business transactions
of the country they shall be received at their denominational value by the United
States Treasury, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasurv may pre
scribe. I fully recognize what the Senator from Ohio says, that the whole subject
of specie coinage is one of groat intricacy, so that what appears a very small mat
ter m itself may have very wide-spreac consequences. But this provision now
under consideration is so plain, so reasonable, and so perfectly guarded that I had
very strong hopes the Senator from Ohio would consent to allow it to remain.
Mr. Shicrman. I think after a full explanation of this matter the Senators from
California themselves would vote for this proposition. I do not desire to take up
time, but will say ia few words in explanation of the amendmentj>roposed by the
committee striking out this clause.
All nations retain the nominal valne of abraded coin to a certain standard, but
when it falls below that the loss fall's on the individual who holds it. That has
been the custom of all countries. The coin that is held by the Tieasury of the
United Statt-s is received at its no-ninal value if it is within the limits of abrasion
fixed by the law, but if it falls below the limits the loss falls on the holder of the
coin, and much of that which is now being recoined in the United States was
taken afc the abraded value, that is, tbe reduced value. It was not taken at the
full nominal value, but at the reduced value. Consequently, when we issue it
again, we issue it in the form of coin up to the standard. Therefore, the ques
tion as to whether we shall recoin our own coin and the question whether we
shall recoin the coin in the bands of citizens are very different things. Upon this
iden' ical point 1 will read a letter of Mr. Comptroller Knox. I may say that this
clause was put in in the House, I believe, without the consent of the committee,
and upon some motion made in the House; at least I am so informed, although I
have not looked at the Globe to ascertain the fact. Mr. Knox writes this to the
committee:
“ I inclose herewith copy of a portion of a letter recently received from him,
(Professor Barnard,) in wliich y o u will be interested. I desire to call your especial
attention to his criticisms upon sections 14 and 15 in reference to abrasion.
So far as I can learn, no nation in the world has laws which offer inducements to
wrong-doers to lighten the coins which are in circulation. If I bad charge of
the bill now before the Senate I should certainly much prefer its defeat to its
passage, unless section 14 from line 20, and section 15, could be stricken from
the bill.”
That is what he says. Then I have here the letter of Professor Barnard, which
is very interesting. I will read a paragraph from it:
“ Section fourteen of the bill provides that any gold com, if reduced in weight
not more than one-half of 1 per cent, on the double-eagle and eagle, and 1 per
cent, on the other corns,,below the standard weight and limit of tolerance, shall
be received at their denominational value by the United States Treasury and its
officers, under such regulations, etc. This one-half of 1 per cent., with the toler
ance, makes on the double-eagle about six-tenths of 1 per cent.; that is to say, 12
cents on every such double eagle, and on the eagle seven-tenths of I per cent., or
7 cents on every such eagle. This is an enormous sacrifice for the Government to
propose to make, and one which will insure the return to tbe Treasury of a vast
number of gold coins much reduced in weight by means which can not. be proved
to be fraudulent. A coin, or a lot of coins, which has been to some extent reSTE
29
dnced by honest abrasion will be a Godsend to a rogue, for this may be still
‘ sweated’ down to the limit named in this section, without sensibly altering its
appeal ance. Coins may moreover be abraded by rubbing them with rouge powder
or with prepared chalk, by hand or by mechanical means, so as seriously to re
duce theta without leaving any traces of violence. I am at a loss txrknow on what
grounds the proposition is defended to receive ‘ at their nominal value ’ at all coins
depreciated by abrasion below the limits of legal tolerance.
“ It is true that this section authorizes the Secretary ofthe Treasury to ‘ prescribe
regulations’ under which such coins shall be received. If this authority extends
so far as to permit him to refuse to receive them at all, ‘ at their denominational
value,* it may prove a safeguard; otherwise the provision seems to me extremely
dangerous.”
Here is another and a later letter from Professor Barnard to the Comptroller of
the Currency under date of December 24:
“ My Dkak Sik : Dr. Torrey has just told me a very important fact. There is
a manufactory of watch-case's in Brooklyn. The workmen put the last polish on
the cases with fine paper and rouge powder. Some time since the proprietor ap
plied at the assay office for advice as to some method of burning thesepapers so as
to prevent gold from being carried away mechanically in the smoke. He said their
loss from this cause was serious, but that in spite of this they recovered $5,000
worth of gold from these papers per annum.
“ The establishment is a large one, it is true; but, on the other hand; the work
men do not work with the design to polish off as much gold as they conveniently
can, but just as little as the object in view will allow.
“ I mention this to show you how easy it would be for a designing man to live
off the coin of the country, setting up With a capital of a few thousand dollars. It
is needless to say that the coins so abased coula not be detectable by their bright
ness, for nothing is easier than to tarnish them.”
Within a certain degree, one-thousandth per cent., a small degree, the Govern
ment maintains the coins at their nominal value even if abraded, but when they
are abraded below that the loss falls on the holder, and every man who receives
a coin must look to it that it has not been abraded beyond the legal amount. If
it is so abraded, he can refuse to take it, or if he takes it at all he should take it
for what it is intrinsically worth. The recoinage of the gold coin now in circula
tion, although not very large, would amount to one or two million dollars. As a
matter of course, as soon as our attention was called to this fact we struck out
this clause. I do not wish to go any further into the details of the matter. I
think the action of the Committee on Finance was clearly right, and it would be
very wrong indeed to undertake in this ambiguous way to make good all the coin
now outstanding.
Mr. Cabserly. I do not wish to be tenacious about this matter, still less per
tinacious. I am very glad that the Senator from Ohio has read the letters on
which he relies. I think they speak for themselves. The burden of thenr is that
gold coin may be abraded or reduced, fraudulently with such skill as to make it al
most impossible of detection at the Treasury. The last letter from Professor Bar
nard conjures up a phantom to terrify Senators withal. It is that if this provision
should become a law a man might with a capital of a few thousand dollars, by
fraudulent abrasion, make a good living out of the Treasury. 1 ask the Senator
from Ohio, what does such an argument amount to ? If a man can make a good
living out of the Treasury by fraudulent abrasion of the coin, so skillfully made
as to defy the detection of the officers, how is it to be with the community?
Mr. Sherman. 1 will say to my friend irom California that any citizen can
at any time test it by weight.
Mr. C asserly. I was just coming to that. The Senator says any one can
weigh each piece as he takes it. Just imagine a merchant in large business in
the city of San Francisco going about with a pair of scale's in his pocket to weigh
gold coin hourly^ as he receives it! The Senator surely is not serious when he says
so. W e are legislating for the American people, a rapid if not a fast people m
their enterprises; a people whose energies are impatient of pause, still less of de
lay. To suppose that such a people are to go about with scales: at their button
holes to weign coins is to suppose something which, wishing well to the Senator,
I hope he may live long enough to see.
Mr. President, we can not carry on a great Government like this without run
ning some risk. I am sure that nobody ought to put the whole risk of coinage
upon the citizens. As I said, the citizen has no choice. He must take the law
ful money of the country in the course of his lawful transactions, and at its de
nominational value. I f there must be loss even by fraud, I am not sure that it
ought not to be borne by the Government in the case of an innocent holder, but I
do not wish to raise that question now.
The portion of the clause proposed to be stricken out for which I am contend
ing i&that which provides for tne natural and lawful abrasion of the coins. I am
surprised that these learned and scientific men make such objections as those
which the Senator has read, although I think they pretty much answer theihselves.
Before I take my seat I wish to observe to the Senator from Ohio that this ap
pears to be a bill for the codification of all the laws on this subject. Consequently,
STE
30
the fact that there is another statute which covers the ground covered by lines
twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and thirty of this clause would not be a good reason for
striking them out. They should therefore be retained.
Mr. Sherman. I will say to the Senator from California that the amount
heretofore appropriated will probably be sufficient to h&ve that recoinage done be
fore this bill will take effect; at all events there will be no trouble about that,
and I do not care whether the clause is retained or stricken out. The thing is
provided for already by an appropriation as a distinct matter.
Mr. Casseblt . This is a codified law and repeals all other laws.
Mr. Sherman. If the Senator is willing to compromise on that I am perfectly
willing to allow those lines to remain in the bill.
Mr. Casseblt. I shall vote to retain the whole clause, but I shall not debate
it any further.
Mr. Shermav. I have no objection at all to the gold coin in the Treasury,
*hat which has fallen below the standard, being recoined; but that will be done
under the present law, under an appropriation which I moved myself.
Mr. Casseblt. To save any question about that, probably tne Senator will
consent to let those words remain.
Mr. Sherman. I have no objection to that.
Mr. Cole. 1 shall not detain the Senate from a vote on this question more than
a minute or two.
By the Constitution of the United States it is the duty of the Government to
furnish the circulating medium, the material which is the price of values in busi
ness transactions, the currency of the country. That they assume to do in one
form or another. Gold is a legal tender for all debts, and it is presumed when the
gold is presented with the stamp of the United States upon it, so indorsed by the
Government of the United States, that it is of a certain value and weight, Now,
what are the facts so far as the Pacific coast is concerned ? There is a quantity
of coin there that has been in circulation for more than a score ofyears, and of course
it has become more or less abraded by natural wear. It has become so in its use
in business, and the dates upon these coins will show that they have been in use
arlong time.
I hear it said about me, sotto voce, that we ought on that coast to have paper
mo* ey, and in that way avoid this difficulty of having coins which are worn used
in business transactions. What are the facts so far as this is concerned ? Why,
sir, in the first place, in California there never was any bank of issue, there never
was a dollar of paper money issued by any bank in that State; but before the
late rebellion gold and silver were the circulating mediums exclusively. When
the nation adopted as a legal tender che United States notes, it was, as it will be
well remembered, a long time before they were made to replace the bank notes
that were in circulation throughout the various States. It occurred by slow de
grees, and by the time you were ready to dispense with the State banking insti
tutions the legal tenders had fallen in value below the value of gold. They were
worth perhaps but 90, or 80, or 70 cents on the dollar, and before they had de
creased in value there was no supply possible to be obtained in the community
which I have tjie honor in part to represent. There was no possibility before
that time to receive enough there to supply as circulating medium the place that
was filled by gold and silver. California never resisted the acceptance of paper
money, but from the force of circumstances it could not be adopted there.
In the States on che Atlantic side the United States notes very naturally came
into use as money. They took the place of the bank notes at first circulated with
them and at the same value, and from one description of paper money they very
naturally fell into the use of another. Those circumstances never existed on the
Pacific coast, and we never have had any banks of issue or paper money there.
The United States notes or greenbacks never were furnished in sufficient num
bers or quantity to supply the wants of the country, and they never could circu
late as the money of the country. It is owing to these facts, and not to any
unfriendly disposition on the part of the State of California or her people, that
the United States notes have never come into general use there. It is owing to
the fact that gold and silver were all the currency there before the issuance of
United States notes. It is a great misfortune to us, and we realize it, that we
have not the use of United States notes there the same as here. That fact is real
ized by our business community very generally. But we have never seen the
time when we could use them or adopt them in place of gold and silver as the
measure of value for the reasons I have mentioned. And now, since there is in use
there this ahr&ded coin, it is very proper that it should be received when not
much abraded, when not abraded below the amount specified in this bill by the
United States for the various uses for which they accept that sort of currency,
-and I think this bill ought not to be amended as proposed by the Finance Com
mittee of this body.
Mr. Fbelinghutsen. I understand that the law has been for a course of
years that the Government would always receive at the nominal value coin that
was not abraded more than one-half of 1 per cent. So I do not see the hardship
which the Senator from California complains of. The people of that State and of
that community that use coin could under that law at any time have had the
abraded coin redeemed.
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31
Mr. Cole. Let me correct the Senator. I do not understand, at all event*, ihat
the coin is receivable now when abraded, as specified in this section, t<- the
amount of one-half of 1 per cent, upon eagles and double eagles, and 1 per cent,
upon coins of lesser denomination. I do not understand that that is the case.
Mr. Frelinghuysen. I understand that the law has been for a course of years
that if the coin was not abraded more than the rate fixed by the law, such a law
as existed, the Government received it at its nominal and not at its actual value.
Therefore I do not see the difficulty.
Mr. Sherman. I will read the Senator a paragraph on that subject in this very
bill. These coins are receivable now. The language is:
“ Which coins shall be a legal tender in all payments at their nominal value
when not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance.”
Mr. Cole . W hat is that?
Mr. Sherman. It is one-thousandth per cent. And another section provides
that when they do fall below the limit of tolerance they shall be received at their
actual value.
Mr. Frelinghuysen. And that is only a re-enactment of a pre-existing statute.
Mr. Sherman. Certainly; it is the law now.
Mr .Freylinghuysen. Therefore I do not see that there is any hardship
on the community that the Senator represents, inasmuch as they have had the
right at any time to have that coin received at its nominal value within the limit
fixed bv the existing law, and it is absolutely necessary that the Government
should nave such a law. If this Government is to receive at its nominal value
coin that has been reduced, abraded, it is a premium on fraud at once. Men will
go to work with this process of sweating, and make money by it, and come and
get the nominal value for the coin. This provision seems to me to be a very es*
sential feature in our laws. The Government will of course receive the coin at
its actual value; but if we should now pass a law that the Government would
receive at its nominal value abraded coin, this coin that is in circulation in Cali*
foraia, for instance----- —
Mr. Cole. How much abraded ?
Mr. Frelinghuysen. I do not remember the limit.
Mr. Cole . One-tenth of 1 per cent.
Mr. Frelinghuysen. The rate now is one-half of 1 per cent.
Mr. Cole. No, sir, one-tenth of 1 per cent.
Mr. Frelinghuysen. Very well. I t is altogether immaterial what the rate is.
The point of difference is that which is insisted on as covering the coin in Cali
fornia and that which is provided by this bill, and that is the point to which I am
directing my remarks. They could have gone and had that coin made anew, but
they did not do so. Now they want the rate increased; so as to cover the abrasion
which has taken place there, and that very provision any person who was dis
posed to commit a fraud upon the Treasury could avail himself of.
The Presiding O ffices. The question is on the amendment proposed by the
Committee on Finance, striking out the words which have been read.
The question being put, it was declared that the ayes appeared to have it.
M i. Casserly. I should like to have a decision on that.
Mr. Sherman. W e have not got a quorum.
The Presiding O fficer. Does the Senator call for a division ?
Mr. Casserly. Yes, sir, or the yeas and nays in order that we may have the
sense of the Senate on the question. By the sound the noes had it, I think.
Mr. Sherman. I think no one voted but the Senators from California. I sup*
pose if the question is put again and the Senators respond “ ay” or “ no,” there
will be no difficulty in deciding it.
The Presiding O fficer. The Chair will put the question again on striking
out the words which have been read.
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. Casserly. I understood the Senator from Ohio was willing to permit the
last two lines to remain.
Mr. Sherman. I have no objection to that clause, because it is in accordance
with existing law.
“ And any gold coins in the Treasury of the United States reduced in weight
below this limit of abrasion shstll be recoined.”
That is the law now, and I have no objection to retaining those words if ifcis
desired.
Mr. Casserly. That means, abraded below this limit of one-half of 1 per cent.
Mr. Sherman. Oh, no; we struck out all about that.
Mr. Casserly. The meaning of the language is to be taken according to the
place in which it is put.
Mr. Sherman. It is fixed above. If we strike out all between lines 19 and 27,
then this clause will relate to the language before line 19, which reads:
“.Which coins shall be a legal tender in all payments at their nominal value when
not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided by this act for the
single piece, and, when reduced in weight below said standard and tolerance, shall
be a legal tender at valuation in proportion to their actual weight.”
Mr. Casserly. I understood the Senator to be willing to keep those words
in the last clause of the section just in the meaning they had in that place; but of
STB
32
course if lie lias a different view of it I shall not contest it with him, because it is
evident very few Senators are paying attention to this subject.
The Presiding O fficer. The next amendment will be read.
The next amendment was to strike out the fifteenth section of the bill in the
following words:
“ Sec. 15. That any gold coin now in circulation the-weight of which is below
the limit of abrasion prescribed in this act may be received at the mints in Phila
delphia and San Francisco at par in exchange tor silver coins: Provided. That the
circulation of such gold coin, as shown by the date of coinage, has been sufficient
to produce such loss by natural abrasion; and the coins so received shall be re
coined ; but no gold coins which appear to have been artificially reduced shall
come within the provisions of this section.”
Mr. Casserly. It seems to me that section is a section which should be retained
not only for the general reasons applicable to the other section which I stated, but
for the further reason that there is a protection provided by the express language
of this section which it seems to me is absolutely sufficient. The language is:
“ That any gold coin now in circulation the weight of which is below the limit
of abrasion prescribed in this act may be received at the mints in Philadelphia
and San Francisco at par in exchange for silver coins: Provided, That the circu
lation of such gold com, as shown by the date of coinage, has been sufficient to
produce such loss by natural abrasion; and the coins so received shall be recoined;
but no gold coins which appear to have been artificially reduced shall come within
the provisions of this section.”
Ot course that section, if it is to remain in the sense in which I desire it to re*
main, should be modified so as to refer to the limit of abrasion just stricken out,
that is, not more than one-half of 1 per cent, on the double-eagle and eagle, and 1
per cent, on other coins. I presumed, after the amendment the Senate has just
adopted* the Senator from Ohio would be willing to retain the fifteenth section.
Mr. Sherman. No; the fifteenth section is the one I have been debating all the
time.
Mr. C a sserlt. Then I must have the wrong bill before me.
Mr. Sherman. It is the same bill that the Senator has before him ; but the two
amendments go together. If one falls the other falls. Is it right, is it just that
the people of the United States should maintain the gold in circulation in Califor
nia against the abrasion of honest people, as well as the abrasion of rogues, when
it refuses to maintain its own paper currency against the abrasion of accident ?
When our paper currency is reduced in value by being mutilated to the amount
of one-sixteenth, the holder of the bill loses to the extent of that mutilation, and
the Treasury redeems the paper at so much less, in proportion to the loss of the
bill. A mutilated bill presented to the Treasury is not redeemed at its nominal
value. It is reduced in proportion to the amount presented. In order to avoid
fraud, it is indispensably necessary $o have such a provision. Indeed the Sena
tors from California and their constituents are much more interested in the passage
of this bill than the people of Ohio; and I hope, therefore, if they want the sense
of the Senate on this question they will take it by yeas and nays, and let us go on
with the bill. I believe this is the only controverted point in the bill. I think
the people of the Pacific coast, who persist in circulating gold coin rather than
paper money, should not seek to get the people of the United States at large to
make good their abraded coin, not only against honest abrasion, but against dis
honest abrasion; and, as Professor Barnard has told us, it is ntt-erly impossible to
distinguish between honest ahd dishonest abrasion.
Mr. C ole. Before the Senator takes his seat I should like.to ask him who pays
for printing the United States notes ? Do not the people of the United States at
large pay for it, the people of California as well as the people everywhere else ? And
as to this other point about the notes being torn, what we are providing for is equiv
alent to furnishing notes that have been effaced without being tern. It is pro
vided here, that if the coin is not abraded beyond a certain extent it shall be re
coined at the expense of the United States. Tliat is the effect of the proposition;
but if it is reduced beyond that, as if a bill were torn one-sixteenth or one-fourth,
then there shall be no relief for the party holding it.
The Presiding O fficer. The question is on striking out the fifteenth section.
Mr. Casserly. I do not propose to debate this bill at any length; but it is quite
impossible for me to do my duty, as I understand it, to the people of California, or
indeed of the United States who use gold coin, without suggesting the objections
to it that occur to me. T understand the natural desire of the Senator from Ohio
to get the bill passed with expedition. At the same time, each one of us here has
to do his duty according to his lights.
I see no kind of analogy in the comparison which the Senator makes between
gold coin that is abraded and a legal-tender note which is reduced in size to the ex
tent of one-sixteenth. In the case of the note the reduction is visible, it is easily
ascertained. In the case of the coin it not only is not easily ascertainable, but
the whole argument of the Senator is it is so difficult to be ascertained as to make
it dangerous to receive them at the Treasury.
The Senator aims to make some point in what he says of thepeople of Cali
fornia, namely, that they iLsisted on retaining a specie currency, why, Mr. Presi
dent, the people there had no choice about it. . There never was a period of time
STE
33
between the going out of gold coin in the country at large and the coming in of
paper as the sole currency when we could have made any sucb change in Califor
nia. Our whole system of values was based upon gold coin. We could not have
•changed it if we had tried without such a disturbance as would have been a
calamity to the State, from which, perhaps, she would not have recovered for
years. We never have discredited the paper of the country* On the contrary,
we have always given from three-fourths of one per cent, to one and a half per
■cent, more for it than was paid for it in the State o f the Senator from Ohio. The
greenbacks of the Government, in reference to which so much is thrown out here
against California, are now and always have been in better credit to-day in the
city of San Francisco than in any city this side of the Rocky Mountains. You
can get fewer of them for the same amount in gold in San Francisco than you can
in Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, or Chicago. Yet we are constantly met
when we seek to do anything to relieve the people of California in reference to the
condition of the coinage there by the reproach that we insisted on keeping in Cali
fornia the gold coin of the country. Why, Mr. President, *was it wrong for a
State, when she had the right to choose between two kinds of lawful money, to
choose that kind which formed her currency, and more than that, which formed
her entire standard and basis of value ?
Our situation in California in regard to our gold currency is one of very consid
erable difficulty and may become one of danger at any time. By the practice of
the Federal officers there, all the new coin is systematically sent out or the coun
try and the old coin is retained. The miner who takes his bullion to the mint in
San Francisco to have it coined is, in nine cases out of ten, paid for it in the old
coin of the country, abraded and reduced in value as it is. The result is that the
old worn coin, instead of being taken up by the officers of the Government, as in
the custom-house, and sent on here to tne Treasury, is returned into the circula
tion of the State, to be more and more abraded and reduced, and the new twentydollar coins are sent forward to the Treasury at this side. It is not hard to see
what must one day be the result of this state of things.
It seems to me, sir, that when we provide as we do in this section for the re
demption of gold coins when the abrasion is no more than might honestly have
taken place in the time during which, as the figures on their face show, they must
have been in circulation, and when the section is further guarded for the protec
tion of the Government against any sort of fraudulent or wrongful abrasion, there
ought to be no unwillingness to retain the section as it came frt>m the House.
I have proceeded all through upon the theory that these fraudulent abrasions
were very difficult of detection, because that is the argument of the Senator from
Ohio. My recollection of a number of criminal cases in England on the subject
of sweating coin and similar offenses in the nature of fraudulent abrasions is that
the crime is not so very difficult of detection, and that the condition of the coin
will exhibit it to any person who inspects it closely.
The Presiding O fficer. The question is on the amendment striking out the
fifteenth section.
The amendment was agreed to.
The next amendinent was to strike out section [17] 16, in the following words:
“ Sec. [17] 16. That the minor coins of the United States shall be a five-cent piece,
a three-cent piece, and a ohe-cent piece; and the alloy for minor coinage shall be
-copper and nickel, to be composed of three-fourths copper and one-fourth nickel;
the weight of the piece of five cents shall be five grams, or seventy-seven and
sixteen-hundredths grains troy; of the three-cent piece, three grams, or lorty-six
and thirty-hundredths grains; and of the one-cent piece, one and one-half grams,
or twenty-three and fifteen-hundredths grains; which coins shall be legal tender,
at their nominal value, for any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any
one payment.”
And to insert in lieu thereof the following:
“ That the minor coins of the United States shall be a five-cent piece, a three-cent
piece, and a one-cent piece; and the alloy for the five and three cent pieces shall
be of copper and nickel, to be composed of three-fourths copper aud one-fourth
nickel; and the alloy of the one-cent piece shall be ninety-five per cent, of copper
and five per cent, of tin and zinc, in such proportions as shall be determined by
the Director of the Mint. The weight of the piece of five cents shall be seventy*
seven and sixteen-hundredths grains troy; of the three-cent piece, thirty grains;
and of the one-cent piece, forty-eight grains; which coins shall be a legal tender,
at their nominal value, for any amount not exceeding twenty-five cents in any one
payment.”
Mr. Sherman. There is an omission in the matter proposed to be inserted by
the committee. I move to insert in line eleven, after the words “ twenty-five cent
piece,” the words <(and a dime or ten-cent piece.”
The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.
The amendment as amended was adopted.
The next amendment was in section [18] 19, line 9, to insert, after the words
“ three-dollar piece,” the words “ the silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar.”
and also to insert in line 11, after the word “ omitted,” the words “ and on
the reverse of the silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, respect-
ste---- 8
34
ively, there shall be inscribed the w eight and th e fineness of th e coin;” so th a t
th e section w ill re a d :
“ Sec. [191 18. T hat upon th e coins of th e U nited States th ere shall be th e follow
ing devices and legends: TJpon one side there shall be an im pression em blem atic
of liberty, w ith an inscription of th e w ord “ L iberty ’’and th e year of the coinage,
and upon th e reverse shall be th e figure or representation oi an eagle, w ith the
inscriptions “ U nited S tates of A m erica” and “ E P lurib ns U num ,” and adesig*
nation of th e value of the coin; b u t on th e gold dollar and three-dollar piece, thfr
silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, th e dime, five, th ree and one cent piece
th e figure of the eagle shall be om itted, and on th e reverse side of th e silver dollar,
half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, respectively, there shall be inscribed th e
w eight ana fineness of the c o in ; and th e D irector of the M int, w ith th e approval
of th e Secretary of th e T reasury, m ay cause th e m otto “ In God we tru s t ” to be
inscribed upon such coins as shall adm it of such m otto; and any one of th e fore*
going inscriptions m ay be on th e rim of the gold and silver coins.”
M r. Casserly. I t m ay be a m atter of sentim ent, b u t sentim ent som etim es goes
a g reat way, especially in those cases w here it is difficult to reduce th e action of
m en to a m athem atical standard. I regret th a t th e eagle is to disappear from the
dollar, half-dollar, and quarter-dollar of our coinage. I t w ill hardly be possible
to th in k of a half-dollar or a quarter-dollar as being such a coin w ithout th e eagle
upon it.
M r. Sherman. T he Senator w ill see th a t the reason is because it is necessary to
describe th e w eight and fineness of the coin. T his am endm ent has been proposed
by the officers ot th e m int. T hey have adopted a plan of describing on each coin
its w eight and fineness.
M r. Casserly. W h at is th e use of th a t w hen we know th a t th e w eight of thecoin is constantly being reduced?
M r. Sherman. T he reason given to us is because it has been adopted as a mode
of international coinage. T his m ethod has been adopted in th e correspondingcoins of France and all th e countries of Europe, p re tty m uch, of describing upon
th e face of the coin its intrinsic w eight and fineness.
M r. Casserly. I m ust say I never saw a coin m arked in th a t way.
M r. Sherman. T hat is th e ieason th e officers of the m int give for th is change.
M r. Casserly. I ask th e Senator w hether he is very strenuous in his advocacy
of th is am endm ent. I should like to save the A m erican eagle on the half-dollar
and quarter-dollar.
M r. Sherman. T he eagle is preserved on all th e gold coins in a size large, enough
to be caged. [Laughter.]
M r. Casserly. B ut the half-dollar and quarter-dollar are th e m oney of th e
people and they are the leading coins of our entire silver coinage. I do not th in k
it is of so m nch im portance to p u t the fineness or th e w eight upon a half-dollar or
a quarter-dollar as it m ight be upon a gold coin. I have never seen any foreign
coin, and of course no A m erican coin, m arked in th a t way. To have the w eight
of the coin upon gold coin m ay be a useful thing because of th e g reat preciousnessof the. m eta l; b u t w hat is the’ im portance of having the w eight inscribed upon th e
half-dollar or <iuarter-dollar ? Does anybody ever w eigh half-dollars or quarterdollars in business ?
M r. Sherman. I f th e Senator w ill allow me, he w ill see th a t th e preceding
section provides for coin w hich is exactly interchangeable w ith th e E nglish shil
ling and the five-franc piece of France ; th a t is, a five-franc piece of F rance w ill
be the exact equivalent ot' a dollar of the U nited S tates in our silver coinage ; and
in order to show th is w herever our silver coin shall float—and w e are providing
th a t it shall float all over th e w orld—we propose to stam p upon it, instead of oureagle, w hich foreigners m ay n ot understand, and w hich they m ay not distinguish
from a buzzard or some other bird, the intrinsic fineness and w eight of th e coin.
In th is practical, u tilitarian age th e officers of the M int seemed to th in k it w ould
be b etter to do th a t than to p u t the eagle on onr silver coins. I m ust confess I do
not th in k it is very im portant; b u t I th in k th e Senator ought to be w illing to deter
in these m atters to th e practical know ledge of th e officers who have charge of th is
branch of th e G overnm ent service. I w ill say th a t M r. Linderm an, whom the
Senator m ust know, has suggested th is as being a convenient mode ot* prom oting
international coinage.
M r. Casserly. W e can n ot have an international coinage on th e basis of oursilver coin unless our silver coin is up to th e standard of all th e nations w ith
w hich we expect to have relations. Now, I ask th e Senator w hether th is bill
proposes a silver coinage of th a t character.
M r. Sherman. T his bill proposes a silver coinage exactly the same as the French
and w hat are called the associated nations of Europe, who have adopted the in ter
national standard of silver coinage : th at is, the dollar provided for by th is bill is
th e precise equivalent of the five-franc piece. I t contains th e sam e num ber of
gram s of silv e r; and we have adopted the international gram instead of th e grain
for the standard of our silver coinage. T he “ trade-dollar ” has been adopted
m ainly for the benefit of the people of California, and others engaged in trade w ith
China. T hat is th e only coin m easured by the grain instead of by th e gram . The*
intrinsic value of each is to be stam ped upon the coin.
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35
M r. Casserly. Do I understand the Senator to say then th a t th e in trin sic v a lu e
of th e dollar, half-dollar, and quarter*dollar is raised bv th is bill ?
M r. Sherman. There is a difference of about one-half of 1 per cent.
M r. Casserly. I suppose it m ust be raised to th e basis of international ex
change.
M r. Sherman. I th in k it is slightly raised, so as to conform w ith foreign coins.
T he C ham ber of Commerce of N ew Y ork first recomm ended th is change, and it
h as been adopted, I believe, by all th e learned societies who have given atten tio n
to coinage, and has been recomm ended to u s I believe as th e general desire. T hat
is embodied in these th ree or four sections of amendm ent, to m ake our silver
coinage correspond in exact form and dimensions, and shape and stam p, w ith /the
coinage of th e associated nations of Europe, who have adopted an international
silver coinage. I do not like mysfclf to break in upon this plan or to change it in
the slightest degree, b u t prefer to leave it to th e proper officers of .the M int. In
deed, 1 would be perfectly w illing to leave the whole th in g to th e officers of th e
M int rath er th an to fix it by law. T h at w as not deemed convenient, and therefore
w e had to drop th e A m erican eagle from these m inor silver coins.
M r. Casserly. I am not prepared to go as far as th at. I would not leave
it to anybody to rem ove from the eyes and th e thoughts of th e people those sym
bols of nationality w hich have stood th is country in such good Btead in m any f a
hard-fought field by land and sea: and w hich m ay have to do th e sam e service m
th e sam e w ay for m any generations to come. W hile w e laugh agood dealabout the
A m erican eagle and the uses to w hich he is p u t by orators, political and other
wise, on th e F ourth of J u ly and other days, w e m ust all teel th a t the associations
th a t cluster around th e A m erican eagle are associations th a t m ake him a symbol
of pow er, and I am not a t all satisfied, because we desire to p a t the w eight and
fineness upon our h alf dollar and o ur quarter-dollar, th a t therefore it is neces
sary to abolish th e A m erican eagle. T he eagle, it is said, suffers little birds to
sing, and th e eagle w ill not object to having his value in th e countries of th e
w orld p u t under his w ing on th e coin. I say retain th e eagle and p u t w hatever
m arks you like upon th e face of your coin to indicate its w eight and fineness. I
do not th in k it w ill be of any value in regard to th e sim ple coins of th e denomina
tion of half-dollar and quarter-dollar: b u t if th e Senator is strongly of opinion th at
th ey ought to be there, le t them be tnere.
T he P residing Officer. T he question is on th e am endm ent of th e committee.
M r. Casserly. I propose to strik e out th e w ords in italics in line nine of sec
tion [19] 18, “ th e silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar.”
T he Presiding Officer. T he Senator from California can accom plish his object
b y voting against the am endm ent of the com mittee inserting those words.
M r. K ye . I should like to hear th e am endm ent of the com m ittee read.
T he C hief C lerk read th e am endm ent, w hich w as in section [19] 18, line 9, to
in se rt,a fte r th e words “ three-dollar piece,” the w ords “ the silver dollar, halfdollar, quarter-dollar; ” and in line 11, after th e w ord “ om itted,” to insert “ and
on the reverse of th e silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, re
spectively, there shall be inscribed the w eight and th e fineness Of the coin; ” so
th a t th a t portion of th e section w ill read:
“ B u t on th e gold dollar and three-dollar piece, th e silver dollar, half-dollar, quar
ter-dollar, th e dime, five, three, and one cent piece th e figure of th e eagle shall be
om itted; and on th e reverse of th e silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and
the dime, respectively, th ere shall be inscribed the w eight and the fineness of the
coin.”
M r. Casserly. I th in k th e question is n ot understood by th e Senate generally.
A s T understand, to vote for th e am endm ent of th e com m ittee is to abolish the
American eagle on the silver dollar, half-dollar, and quarter-dollar, and to vote
against it is to keep him there. T he subsequent amendm ent, in line 11, to
w hich there is no objection, w ill allow th e m ark of w eight and fineness to be p u t
upon th e coiji.
T he P residing Officer. Does th e Senator from California desire a separate vote
on the tw o branches of th e am endm ent?
Mr. S herman. I suppose the Senator has no objection to the last one.
M r. Casserly. None a t all to th e last one. T he only point is th at I wish to
retain th e A m erican eagle on th e silver dollar, half-dollar and quarter-dollar.
' T he P residing Officer. T he question w ill th en be taken on th e am endm ent in
line nine, w hich is to in sert th e w ords “ the silver dollar, half-dollar, quarter-dolla r.”
T he am endm ent w as rejected ; th ere being on a division—ayes 24, rioes 26.
M r. Sherman. A s th e Senate are so patriotic th a t they w ill not abolish the eagle,
I hope th ey will be perfectly w illing now to h u rry along w ith the bill.
T he P residing Officer. T he other p art of th e am endm ent w ill be considered
as agreed to, if there be no objection.
T he next am endm ent w as on page 13, section 22 [21], to add a t the end of th e
section th e following proviso:
“ Provided, T h at a t theoption of the owner silver m ay be cast into coins of stand
ard fineness, and of th e w eight of four hundred and tw en ty grains troy, desig
nated in section 15 of this act as the trade-dollar.”
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36
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent w as in section [25J 24, line two, to strik e out the word
so as to re a d :
th e superintendent th e quality or fineness of
the bullion assayed by him, etc.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent w as in section |25] 24, lines 5 and 6, to strik e out th e
w ords 44for th e cost of converting th e bullion into b a r s s o as to re a d :
• 44Provided, T h at the assayer shall rep o rt to the superintendent the quality or
fineness of th e bullion assayed by him, aud such inform ation as w ill enable him to
com pute th e am ount of the charges hereinafter provided for, to be made to the
depositor.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
M r. Sherman. T he next am endm ent is on page 14, in section [26] 25, line 2, to
in sert the w ords 44or for converting standard silver into trade-dollars.” They
should be transposed to line 7 of th e same section.
T he Presiding Officer. I t is suggested by th e C lerk th a t the w ords ought to
be inserted in line 8, after the w ord 44bullion.”
M r. Sherman. A t any convenient place, eith er after th e w ord 44bullion ” in line
8, or after th e w ord 44stan d ard ” in line 7.
T he Chief Clerk. T he am endm ent of th e com m ittee is section [26] 25, line 8,
after the w ord 44bullion” to in sert th e w ords 44or for converting standard silver
into trade-dollars; ” so th a t th e section w ill read:
44T h a t th e charge for converting standard gold bullion into coin shall be one-fifth
of 1 per cent.; ana th e charges for refining w hen th e bullion is below standard, for
toughening w hen m etals are contained in it which render it unfit for coinage, for
eopper used for alloy w hen th e bullion is above standard, for separating th e gold
and silver w hen these m etals exist together in th e bullion, or for converting stand
ard silver into trade-dollars, and lor th e preparation of bars, shall be fixed, from
tim e to tim e by th e D irector, w ith th e concurrence of th e Secretary of the T reas
ury, so as to equal b u t not exceed, in th eir judgm ent, th e actual average cost to
each m int and assay office of th e m aterial, labor, w astage, and use of m achinery
employed in each of th e cases aforem entioned.”
M r. Sherman. T he Senate will see th a t th e charge for converting standard sil
v er into trade-dollars, instead of being fixed a t one-fifth of I p er cent., is fixed a t
th e actu al cost. I t is provided that, the price for this w ork done a t the M int shall
be fixed by th e D irector of the M int, b u t n ot in auy case to exceed th e actual
cost o f th e operation.
M r. Casserly. I did not suppose that the amendment to section [26] 25 had
been disposed of.
T he P residing Officer. T h at is th e question now pending.
M r. Casserly. I supposed th a t th e charge there of one-fifth of 1 p er cent, for
siver coinage w as a clerical error.
M r. Sherman. T he w ords44or for converting standard silvar into trade-dollars”
w ere intended to come in after the w ord “ standard” in line 7. T he Com m ittee on
^Finance observing th a t it w as p rinted a t th e w rong place corrected it, and I gave
th e Secretary th e correct place w here it should be inserted. I t is only to be the
actual cost oi* the operation, w hatever th a t m ay be.
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent w as on page 16, section [29] 30, line 1, after the w ord
44coins ” to in sert 44other th an th e trad e-d o llar; ” so th a t th e clause w ill read:
44T h a t silver coins other th an th e trade-dollar shall be paid out a t the several
m ints and a t th e assay office in New Y ork city, in exchange for gold coins a t par,
etc.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
M r. Casserly. I w ish to ask w hat has become of th e am endm ent to section
26. I did not know th a t it h ad been passed upon.
T he P residing Officer. I t has been adopted.
M r. Casserly. I presum e it w ill still be in order to offer an am endm ent to th at
section after the am endm ents of th e com m ittee have been disposed of.
T he Presiding Officer. I t w ill be.
T he n ex t am endm ent was, on page 19, section [34] 35, line 4, to strik e o u t 44twoth ou san d ths” and insert “ three-thousandths;” so th a t th e clause w ill read:
44T h a t no ingots shall be used for coinage which difier from th e legal standard
more th an th e following proportions, nam ely: in gold ingots, one-thousandth; in
silver ingots, three-thousandths; inm inor-coinage alloys, tw enty-five-thousandths,
in th e proportion of nickel.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he nex t am endm ent was, on page 25, section [49] 48, line 4, after th e w o rd 44P enn
sylvania,” to in s e r t44th e C om ptroller of the C urrency ;” so th a t th e clause will
read :
44T h a t to secure a due conform ity in th e gold and silver coins to th eir respective
standards of fineness and w eight, the judge of th e d istrict court of the u nited
States for th e eastern d istrict of Pennsylvania, th e Com ptroller of the Currency,
th e assayer of the assay office a t N ew York, etc.”
44standard” and in s e r t 44fineness; ”
44T h at the assayer shall report to
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37
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent was, on page 27, section [54] 53, line 3, to strik e o nt “ m et
als ” and in sert “ m edals.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent was, on page 30, section [59] 58, line 5, to strik e o u t “ tw en
tieth ” and in sert “ second;” so as to read: “ as prescribed bv th e act of J u ly 2,
1862.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent was, on page 34, section [66] 65, line 2, to strik e out “ J u ly ”
and insert “A p ril,” and strik e out “ 1872” anti in sert “ 1873;” so th a t th e clause
w ill read : “ th a t th is act shall take effect on the 1st day of A pril, 1873,” etc.
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he n ex t am endm ent was, on page 35, section [68] 67, line 2, to strik e out “ 1872”
and in sert “ 1873;” so th at the clause w ill read: “ th a t th is act shall be know n as
th e coinage act of 1873,” etc.”
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
T he P residing Officer. T his concludes th e am endm ents proposed by the Com
m ittee on Finance. T he bill is open to fu rth er am endm ents.
Mr. Cole. 1 offer the following amendment, to come in on page 13, at the end of
section [21] 20:
“A nd th e Secretary of th e T reasury m ay issue th rough th e D irector of th e M int
certificates for gold bullion deposited a t any of th e m ints or assay office a t Nt»w
York, w hich certificates shall state th e value of the bullion less th e coinage and
other m int charges, and be payable to b earer on presentation a t th e m int or assay
office a t w hich th e bullion w as deposited, either in bullion or coin, a t th e opt ion
of the superintendent of th e m int or assay office, or in such proportion of bullion
or coin as th e superintendent m ay p re fe r: Provided, T h at if any holder of a cer
tificate dem ands to be paid in coin a certificate m ay be issued statin g th e tim e
w hen such coin w ill be ready for delivery.”
M r. N ye . T h at is a th in g th a t is already provided for by existing law. E ach
one of our m ints has a bullion fund provided from w hich th e depositor gets his
in coin for th e value of th e bullion as soon as i t is ascertained. T here is no
Say
el ay now or w aiting for coinage a t th** M int.
M r. Sherman. T he Senator from C alifornia showed me th is am endm ent. A s it
had never been considered by th e committee, I hesitated to give m y consent to
it, b u t I could n ot see any objection to depositing bullion w ith th e T reasury or
th e m ints or assay offices and allow certificates to be issued, and therefore I had
no objection to allowing th e am endm ent to be made- I f there seems to be any ob
jection to it we can abandon it in a com m ittee of conference, although if th ere is
any doubt about it I th in k it had b etter not go on the bill.
The am endm ent w as agreed to.
M r. Pool. In section [67] 66, line 7, after th e w ord “ Idaho,” I move to in sert
th e w ord 3 “ and th e U nited States assay office a t Charlotte, N orth C arolina.” T he
chairm an of th e Com m ittee on Finance I believe agrees to accept th is am endm ent.
M r. Sherman. T h at depends upon th e fact w hether th ere is a legal assay office
in N orth Carolina. I f th e Senator says th ere is, 1 shall not object; b u t I have th e
im pression it has been abolished.
Mr. P ool. No, sir; it has not been abolished.
Sherman. If there is still a legal assay office there it ought to be named in
thisMr.bill.
Mr. P ool. There is no question about its being such.
T he am endm ent w as agreed to.
M r. N ye . W ith th e consent of th e Senate I should like to have th e vote recon
sidered by w hich th e am endm ent of th e Senator from California [M r. Cole] re
garding certificates for gold bullion w as adopted.
M r. Cole. T he bill has n ot y et been reported to th e Senate. T he Senator can
have it reserved.
M r. N ye . T hen I shall reserve it in th e Senate. I do not th in k th e Senator him
self will in sist upon it.
T he bill w as reported to th e Senate as amended.
T he P residing Officer. T he question is on concurring in th e am endm ents
made as in Com mittee of th e W hole.
M r. Sherman. T he Senator from N evada w ished to reserve th e am endm ent
offered by the Senator from California [Mr. Cole].
Mr. Nye. I ask to have that amendment reserved.
T he Presiding Officer. I f there be no objection, th e C hair w ill p u t th e question on
concurring in all th e am endm ents together except th e one indicated by th e Sen
ator from N evada.
T he rem aining am endm ents w ere concurred in.
T he Presiding Officer. T he question now is on concurring in th e am endm ent
proposed by th e Senator from California, w hich will be read.
T he C hief C lerk read th e amendm ent, w hich w as to add to section [21] 20, the fol
low ing :
“A nd th e Secretary of th e T reasury m ay issue th rough th e D irector of th e M int
certificates for gold bullion deposited a t any of th e m ints or assay office a t N ew
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38
York, which certificates shall state th e value of th e bullion less th e coinage and
other m int charges, and be payable to bearer on presentation a t the m int or assay
office a t w hich th e bullion w as deposited, either in bullion or coin, a t th e option
of th e superintendent of the m int or assay office, or in such proportions of bullion
or. coin as th e superintendent may prefer: Provided, T hat if any holder of a certifl*
cate dem ands to oe paid in coin a certificate m ay be issued stating the tim e w hen
such coin w ill be ready for delivery.”
M r. N ye . I do not understand th a t th is am endm ent is insisted upon. T he Sen*
ate will perceive a t once th at it is p u ttin g another currency into circulation, and
one by w hich th e superintendents of m ints would be very likely to be injured and
defrauded. I hope, therefore, it w ill not be adopted. T hey get th eir coin w hen
ever th ey present th eir bullion now.
M r. Stewart . T here is a bullion fund provided for th e purpose.
M r. N ye . T here is a bullion fund for th a t very purpose.
T he am endm ent was non-concnrred in.
M r. Casserly. I w ish to move an am endm ent to section [261 25. A s it now
stands it reads:
“ T h at th e charge of converting standard gold bullion into coin shall be onefifth of 1 p er cent.”
I move to am end ifc so th a t it w ill read, “ th a t there shall be no charge for con
verting standard gold bullion into coin.”
T he question raised by th is am endm ent is n ot a new one in th e Senate, nor in
deed is it new in Congress. A s I understand it has happened a t least once th at
th e Senate adopted th e principle of m y am endm ent, and th at th e House also
adopted i t ; b u t n either of them adopted it upon the sam e bill. So th at th e am end
m ent has the sense of each H ouse ot Congress in its favor. T he principle of it is
obvious.
I w ish to say b u t th is w ord in reference to it, th a t the only ground upon w hich
the coinage charge has ever been supported was th a t th e person depositing bullion
for coinage ought to pay the G overnm ent for tu rn in g his bullion into the current
coin of the country. I th in k it only requires a statem ent of th a t proposition to
enable any of us to see its fallacy.
T he person who furnishes th e G overnm ent w ith the m eans to coin money for
th e necessary uses of its own citizens never should be taxed to pay for th a t w hich
really is a g reat advantage to the G overnm ent. W hy, sir, governm ents would be
forced, if th ey could not get bullion w ithout charge, to pay for it in order to
m anufacture th eir coins. I t is contrary to the first principles of governm ent, it
seems to me, especially as applicable to th is subject, th a t coinage charge should be
continued. I t is one w hich U evil in its results. I t keeps up a discrim ination
w hich is always against u s ; and the reason to-day w hy th e A m erican m an of b usi
ness loses, a t the rate of two cents and a fraction of a cent upon every pound ster
ling of exchange, all of w hich goes to the benefit eith er ot the b anker on this
side or the payer of the exchange on the other, rests precisely in th e m aintenance
of th is extraordinary charge. But. for this cliarge there w ould be no such dis
crim ination in th e rate of exchange against us.
A g reat m any other grounds m ight be given, b u t I hope th e Senator from Ohio
w ill be w illing to concede th is am endm ent a t th is time, and th at w hat the tw o
H ouses have both indorsed m ay now be embodied in th is bill.
M r. Sherman. I m ust confess m y regret th a t the Senator from C alifornia should
raise th is disputed question a t th is stage of the bill, ju s t as it w as about on its
passage. T he Senate of th e U nited States deliberately, after full discussion,
after hearing the Senator a t length aud other Senators who m aintain his view of
th is question, decided to retain th e charge for coinage a t one-fifth of 1 p er cent.
I t is now one-half of 1 p er cent. T he Senate, by a very decided vote, after a
full debate, settled th a t question. T he bill w ent to th e H ouse of Representatives,
and there th ere w as another effort m ade by the m em bers from th e Pacific coast to
repeal th e coinage charge, and there, after full debate, it w as settled by an over
w helm ing m ajority to retain th e charge of one-fifth of 1 p er cent. T he Senator
says both Houses have a t some tim £ or other passed a bill abolishing th e coinage
charge. I am quite sure a proposition of th a t kind has never passed either House
after debate and w ith full consideration.
I f th is question about the coinage charge is to be opened and pressed, it w ill
com pel those of u s who are in favor of retainin g th e coinage charge to enter into
an elaborate debate. I did so w hen it was here before. T he Senator now in the
chair [Mr. M orrill, of Verm ont] and m any other Senators p articipated in th a t dis
cussion. T he question has been settled, and th is bill has now gone to its last stage.
T his bill once passed th e Senate a few years ago, and w as fully discussed, and th e
charge of one-fifth of 1 p er cent, w as retained. I trust, therefore, th a t th e Senator
w ill not now seek to reverse the decision taken first by th e Senate, and after
w ard agreed to by th e House. T his point is beyond our consideration practically.
W e ought n ot undertake, a t th is period of the session, to review th a t decision.
T he people of California are very largely interested in th e revision of th e m int
law s. Indeed I have received m ore letters from th a t S tate about th is coinage bill,
desiring it to pass, th an from any other portion of th e country. I can see th e
g reat im portance of it to them , and I believe it to be one of g reat im portance to
STB
39
th e whole people of the U nited States. Therefore I do not w ish to enter into a
discussion m regard to th is coinage charge th a t m ay probably w eary the Senate
and delay th e passage of the bill. I prom ised th a t th e bill would not tak e more
th an an hoar, and w hen I made th a t prom ise I supposed these am endm ents w hich
have been acted upon would be acted upon sub silentio, and th a t other questions
w hich had been settled w ould not be revived.
I therefore w ill n ot undertake to answ er the argum ent of the Senator from Cal
ifornia except to say th a t the question is res adjudicata so far as th is bill is con
cerned. If, however, it is to be opened, as the Senator has a rig h t to open it, it
w ill lead to a long debate. I therefore prefer n ot to say anything on th e question
except th a t th e coinage charge has not been and ought n ot to be repealed en
tirely. W e have reduced it now to th e low est rate of any nation in th e w orld
except only G reat B ritain.
Mr. Cassebly. I f I have m ade a m istake as to the fact of th e adoption in each
H ouse of th e principle of th is amendm ent, of course I desire to w ithdraw w hat I
said.
Mr. Sherman. I do not deny th a t if th e Senator say-s it is so ; b u t I do n ot re
m em ber it ever passing th e Senate.
M r. Cassebly. I w as so informed, and I have th e im pression th a t among th e
gentlem en so inform ing me w as th e Senator from Ohio.
M r. Sherman. I have no recollection of it.
M r. Cassebly. I understand fully th e objection to p ro tracting debate a t th is
late hour of th e day, and I w as v ery reluctant to say a word, even so m uch as w as
necessary to propose th is am endm ent. I felt it to be m y duty, however, to do so.
I desire now to say th a t the continuance of th is coinage charge repels from San
Francisco, and of course from th is country, alm ost th e entire gold bullion product
o f A ustralia. ¥ e refine so m uch more cheaply in San Francisco th an they do in
London th a t b u t for th is coinage charge th e whole gold bullion of A ustralia w ould
com e to San Francisco to be refined.
Mr. Sherman. Oh, no.
M r. Cassebly. P erhaps th e Senator does not understand m e. I say th e cost of
refining in London is so m uch more th an it is in San Francisco th a t b u t for th is
coinage charge th e gold bullion product of A ustralia w ould come to us. W hy ?
Because w hat they w ant in E ngland all the w hile is silver for their A siatic ex
changes w ith Ind ia and China. W e have m ore silver than we w ant. N evada ap
pears to be getting ready to deluge th e world w ith silver. I see th a t h er silver
product last year was probably over $20, 000,000.
Now, sir, there could n ot be a better basis for exchange, nor a m ore profitable
operation for the A m erican people, th an to take the gold bullion of A ustralia and
coin it in San Francisco and diffuse th a t m uch m ore specie th rough all th e arte
ries of business, getting ready for th e resum ption of specie paym ents, of w hich
th e Senator spoke so w ell and so tru ly th e other day, and to give them in re
tu rn for th eir bullion this silver w hich we do not w an t and w hich before a great
w hile m ay be a t an absolute discount on our bands. I w ish to say th a t muon. I
feel v ery earnest about this m atter, because I th in k I understand th e financial
and commercial bearing of th e great blunder w e m ake in continuing th is obsolete
coinage tax. H aving said so much, I leave th e question to th e Senate.
T he Presiding Officer. T he question is on th e am endm ent of th e Senator
from California.
T he am endm ent w as rejected.
T he am endm ents w ere ordered to be engrossed and th e bill to be read a th ird
tim e.
T he bill w as read th e th ird time, and passed .—(Congressional Globe, p arts 1 and
2, th ird session, Forty-second Congress, 1872-73, p ag e s 668 to 674.)
The amendments were engrossed and reported to the House of
Representatives as follows:
I n the Senate of the U nited States , January 17,1873.
Resolved, T h at th e bill from th e H ouse of R epresentatives (H. R. 2934) entitled
“ A n act revising and am ending th e law s relative to the m ints, assay offices, and
coinage of th e U nited S tates” do pass w ith th e following am endm ents:
1. Page 4, line 21, a fter “ coins’ insert or sam ples of bullion.
2. P age 5, line 20, strik e o ut [wording] and in sert w orking
3. P age 6, line 4, after “ or ” in sert assay.
4. P age 9, strik e out all after “ w eig h t” in line 14 down to and including line 27.
5. P age 11 strik e out Sec. 15.
6. P age 11 strik e out Sec. 16 and in sert the follow ing:
Sec. 15. T h a t the silver coins of th e U nited States shall be a trad e dollar, a halfdollar or fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar or tw enty-five-cent piece, a dime or tencen t piece; and th e w eight of th e trad e dollar shall be four hundred and tw enty
grains tr o y ; th e w eight of th e half-dollar shall be tw elve grains and one-half of a
g ra in ; th e quarter-dollar and th e dime shall be, respectively, one-half and oneSTB
40
fifth of the w eight of said h alf dollar; and said coins shall be a legal tender a t
th eir nom inal value for any am ount not exceeding five dollars in any one paym ent.
7. Page 11 strik e o u t Sec. 17 and insert the following:
Sac. 16. T h at the m inor coins of the U nited S tates shall be a five-cent piece, a
three-cent piece, and a one-cent piece, and th e alloy for th e five and three cent
pieces shall be of copper and nickel, to he composed of three-fourths copper and
one-fourth nickel, and th e alloy of th e one-cent piece shall be ninety-tive p er
centum of copper and five p er centum of tin and zinc, in such proportions as
shall be determ ined by the D irector of the M int. T he w eight of th e piece of five
cents shall be seventy-seven and sixteen-hundredths grains troy; of th e three-cent
piece, th irty g ra in s; and of the one-cent piece, forty-eight grains; w hich coins
shall be a legal tender a t th eir nom inal value for any am ount not exceeding tw entyfive cents in any one paym ent.
8. Page 12, line 11, a fter “ omitted*' in se rt: and on the reverse of the silver dol
lar, half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime, respectively, th ere shall be inscribed
th e w eight and th e fineness of the coin.
9. Page 13, a t the end of line 8, in sert th e following:
Provided, T h at a t the option of th e ow ner silver m ay be cast into coins of stand
ard fineness, and of th e w eight of four hundred and tw enty grains troy, desig
nated in fe c tio n fifteen of th is act as th e trade dollar.
10. P age 13, line 24, strik e o ut [standard] and in sert: fineness.
11. P age 13, strik e out all after “ depositor,” in line 26, down to and including
line 27.
12. P age 14, line 6, after “ bullion” in sert: or for converting standard silver into
trade dollars.
13. Page 14, line 27, after “ coins” in sert: other th an the trade dollar.
14. P age 17, line 20, strik e out [tw o-thonsandths] and insert : three-thousandths.
15. Page 24, line 4, after “ P ennsylvania,” in sert: th e Com ptroller of the C ur
rency.
16. Page 30, line 12, strik e out [tw entieth J and in se rt: second.
17. P age 34, line 23, strik e out TJuly] and in sert: A pril.
18. P age 34, line 24, strik e out [seventy-tw o] and in sert: seventy-three.
19. P age 36, a t th e end of line 2, in sert: the “U nited States assay-office a t Charlotte, N orth C arolina.”
20. Page 36, line 14, strik e out [1872] and in sert 1873.
A tte s t:
GEO. C. GORHAM , Secretary.
In
the
H ouse
op
R epbesentatives , January 25,1873.
Resolved, T h a t th e H ouse non-concur in the am endm ents of the Senate to th e
bill (H. R. 2934) revising and am ending th e law s relative to the m ints, assay offices,
and coinage of th e U nited States, and ask a conference w ith th e Senate on th e
disagreeing votes of th e tw o H ouses thereon.
Ordered, T h at M r. Sam uel Hooper, M r. Stoughton, and M r. M cNeely be th e
m anagers of th e conference on th e p a rt of th e H ouse.
A tte st:
E D W A R D M cPH ERSO N , Clerk.
In the Senate of the U nited States January 27,1873.
Resolved, T h a t th e Senate in sist upon its am endm ents to the bill (H. R. 2934) re
vising and am ending th e law s relative to the m ints, assay offices, and coinage of the
U nited States, disagreed to by th e House of R epresentatives, and agree to the con
ference asked by th e House on th e disagreeing votes of th e t.wo H ouses thereon.
Ordered, T hat M r. Sherman, M r. Scott, and Mr. B ayard be the conferees on th e
p a rt of th e Senate.
A tte st:
GEO. C. GORHAM , Secretary.
CONFERENCE REPORT.
IN SEN A T E .
T hursday, F ebruary 6, 1873.
MINT LAWS.
M r. Sherman submitted the following report:
T he com m ittee of conference on th e disagreeing votes of th e tw o H ouses on
the bill (H. R. No. 2934) revising and am ending the law s relative to th e m ints and
assay-offices and coinage of the U nited States, having met, after fall and free
STE
41
conference have agreed to recomm end and do recomm end to th eir respective
H ouses as follow s:
T h a t th e House recede from its disagreem ent to th e am endm ents o f th e Senate
num bered 1,2,3,5,7,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18, and 20; and agree to th e same.
T h a t the Senate recede from its fourth am endm ent, and agree to the words pro
posed to be stricken out, w ith th e following am endm ents: after th e w ord “ b y,” in
line 16, in sert “ n a tu ral;” in lines 17 and 18 strik e out th e w ords “ on th e double
eagle and eagle, and 1 p er cent, on th e other coins;” and in line 19, after “ law ,”
in sert th e w ords “ after a circulation of tw enty years, as show n by its date of
coinage, and a t a ratab le proportion for any period less th an tw enty y ears;” and
th e H ouse agree to the same.
T hat th e H ouse recede from its disagreem ent to th e sixth am endm ent of. th e
Senate and agree to th e same w ith th e following am endm ents: in line 5 strik e o ut
th e w ord “ g ra in s” a t th e end of th e line, and in sert in lieu thereof “ gram s
(gram m es;”) and in line 6 strik e out “ g rain ” and in sert “ gram (gram m e;”) and
th e Senate agree to th e same.
T h at th e House recede from its disagreem ent to the eighth am endm ent of th e
Senate, and agree to th e sam e w ith th e following am endm ents: after “ silv er” in sert
“ trade*,” strik e out th e w ords “ half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and th e dime, respect
ively, th ere shall be inscribed,” and th e w orn “ th e ” before “ fineness;” and after
“ coin,” a t th e end of th e am endm ent, in sert the w ords “ shall be in scribed ;” and
th e Senate agree to the same.
T h a t th e H ouse recede from its disagreem ent to the n in th am endm ent of th e
Senate, and agree to th e sam e w ith an am endm ent, as follows: strik e out the
w ords proposed to be inserted, together w ith the rem ainder of th e section, and in
lieu thereof in sert th e follow ing: “ th a t any ow ner of silver bullion m ay deposit
th e sam e a t any m int to be form ed into b ars or into dollars of th e w eight of four
nundred and tw enty grains troy, designated in th is act as trade-dollars, and no
deposit of silver for other coinage shall be received; b u t silver bullion contained
in gold deposits, and separated therefrom , m ay be paid for in silver coin a t such
valuation as m ay be from tim e to tim e established by th e D irector of th e M int
and the Senate agree to th e same.
T h at th e H ouse recede from its disagreem ent to th e tw elfth am endm ent of the
Senate, and agree to th e sam e w ith am endm ents as follow s: strik e o ut the w ords
proposed to be inserted and in sert after “ for,” in line 3, section 26, the words
“ converting standard silver into trade-dollars, for m elting a n d ; ” and in line 3,
strik e o ut “ th e ; ” and th e Senate agree to th e same.
T hat th e H ouse recede from its disagreem ent to th e nineteenth am endm ent of
th e Senate, and agree to th e sam e w ith an am endm ent as follows: insert after
“ N ew Y ork,” in line eight, page 36 of the bill, th e w ords “ th e U nited States as
say-office a t C harlotte, N orth Carolina: ” and th e Senate agree to th e same.
JO H N SHERM A N,
JO H N SCOTT,
T. F . BA Y A RD ,
Managers on the part of the Senate.
S. HOOPER,
W M . M. STOUGHTON,
Managers on the part o f the Rouse.
T he rep o rt w as concurred in.—( Congressional Qlobet p a rt 2, th ird session, F ortysecond Congress, 1872-’73, page 1150.)
Mr. President, I have now laid before the Senate all the record in
formation that exists as to the passage o f the bill through the Senate
which demonetized silver. The use made by the gold monometal
lists of the fact that I was a member o f the Senate at the time this
legislation took place has compelled me to do this to exonerate my
self. In common with all of the members of the two Houses of Con
gress who have spoken on the subject, with the exception of the
Senator from Ohio, so far as I am informed, I was ignorant o f the fact
that silver v/as
D E M O N E TIZE D IN T H E ^ C T C O D IFYIN G T H E M IN T L A W S .
The Senator from Ohio alone, so far as I am advised, contends that
this unfortunate legislation was the result of public discussion, care
ful consideration, and was in pursuance o f the enlightened judgment
o f Congress.
1 now submit to him in all candor two questions: First, did he
comprehend the consequences which have resulted from the demon
etization of silver ? Second, if so, did he desire to produce the re
sults which have followed that demonetization ?
42
The Senator from Ohio [Mr. S h e r m a n ] a few days ago interrupted
the Senator from Virginia [Mr. D a n i e l ] in the course of his speech
on silver, and the following running debate took place:
M r. Sherman. I know tb e Senator from V irginia does not w ish to m islead upon
a faci. of th a t k in d ; and if I do not in te rru p t him, for I never choose to in te rru p t
a Senator in the m idst of a speech, I rem em ber th a t in a debate betw een the late
Senator from K entucky, M r. Beck, whose death we m ourn, h e m ade th is sam e
statem ent, th a t has been m ade over and over again in th e Senate and House, th a t
th e silver dollar w as surreptitiously d t opped from th e coinage. I then got the
original files and showed th e original le tte r of A pril 25, 1870, had it read, and
showed every stage of th a t bill. I t w as printed a t least eight or ten times, circu
lated w idely all over<the country, and sent to everybody who w as supposed to
know anything about th e bill, and attention w as especially called to th e ta ct th a t
th e silver dollar w as dropped from th e coinage. T he bill w as debated in both
Houses. T he tact w as brought out here only the other day by the Senator from
Oregon [Mr. D olph]. T he Senator from K entucky, w ith th e m anly generosity
th a t distinguished him, because, although he w as very strong in his opinions, he
w as alw ays w illing to be corrected, a t once acknowledged his e rro r; and there are
Senators here w ithin the hearing of my voice who probably rem em ber the cir
cum stance.
T hat dollar w as never surreptitiously dropped. I t m ay have been foolishly
done, b u t it w as done after debate. T he circum stances connected w ith it, th e w hy
and the w herefore, were given in both H ouses of Congress and stated by th e Sec
reta ry of th e T reasury. I have no objection to any com ment being m ade upon
th a t fact. I t m ay have been very unw ise; I w ill not in te rru p t th e Senator here
to debate th a t; b u t the fact is th a t it w as know n to every m em ber of Congress. I t
is tru e G eneral G rant said he did not know the effect of th e m easure, and m any
other outsiders did n ot; b u t no m an could have been p resent here in th e Senate
C ham ber as a m em ber or in the other H ouse of Congress and attended to his duties
and not have know n it.
M r. Hoar. H ow m any tim es w as th e bill printed?
M r. Sherman. I t w as printed some eight or ten tim es, perhaps more th an th at,
from th e beginning to th e end for th ree years during tw o Congresses, from A pril
25, 1870, to F ebruary, 1873, and th e fact th a t th a t dollar w as dropped from th a t bill
w as as bold and palpable a fact as any fact of legislation in th e h istory of our
country.
M r. Daniel. M r. P resident, th e Senator from Ohio w as entirely rig h t to inter*
ru p t me, or a t least to m ake his explanation, and he b u t does me sim ple ju stice
in saying th a t h e know s I would be glad to allow any explanation o f th a t kind.
M r. Sherman. I suppose th e Senator knew th at, out I w as g reatly surprised
w hen another Senator m ade th e sam e declaration about the silver dollar being
surreptitiously dropped who w as present here as a m em ber of th e Senate, and I
can show over and over again he refers to it here. I knew the Senator did not in
tend to m islead.
M r. D aniel. But, M r. P resident, th e fact is very little short of th e statem ent
m ade. So far as th is m ovem ent to dem onetize th e silver dollar w as concerned, it
w as a m atter unknow n to Congress and unknow n to th e people of th e U nited
States w hen it. w as done. Speaker Blaine did not know it w hen th e act passed.
Senator Stewart, of N evada, representing th a t g reat silver com munity, who was
a m em ber of th e body, did not know it. T he Senator from Texas [M r. Reagan ],
who has alw ays had an eye on silver, did n ot know it.
M r. Sherman. H e w as not here.
M r. D asiel . W as he n ot then a m em ber of th e other House?
Several Senators . N o.
M r. A ldrich. W ill the Senator allow me to say th a t the Senator from N evada,
w ho also has his eye alw ays upon silver, w as here and voted for th e bill.
M r. T eller. H e did not know it.
M r. Stewart. I did not know it, and I w ill give th e Senator, if he w ants it, the
entire discussion. I t w as not stated in the discussion th a t there w as any inten
tion to leave th e dollar out. On th e contrary, th e very last th in g th a t w as done
w as an am endm ent offered by th e Senator from Ohio providing for the inscription
on the silver dollar. I w ill get it in a m om ent and show it. T h a t w as adopted.
Mr. S herman. The trade-dollar.
M r. Stewart . No, the silver dollar and th e trade-dollar both.
M r. Sherman. In th e bill as it came to us—I w ill get the original flies again and
introduce th e sam e evidence I did here before. (Congressional R ecord, Fiftyfirst Congress, first session, M ay 24, 1890, page 5438.)
The Senator from Ohio stated that the Senator from Kentucky
[Mr. B e c k ] intimated that he had taken back his charge and I will
read what the Senator from Kentucky said after the colloquy be
tween him and the Senator from Ohio on the occasion referred to in
my remarks in regard to this bill. The Senator from Ohio failed to
STB
43
satisfy the Senator from Kentucky on the occasion to which he al
luded in the foregoing debate with Mr. D a n i e l . After the colloquy
which took place Detw een the Senator from Ohio and the Senator from
Kentucky, to which the Senator from Ohio alluded in the foregoing
quotation, the Senator from Kentucky proceeded as follows:
W H A T S E N A TO R B E C K S A ID .
M r. B eck. W h at I com plain of, and w hat I th in k I have proved, is th a t the
H ouse never knew w hat w as in th a t bill.
*
*
*
* *
•
*
*
I need not w aste tim e in regard to w hat took place w hen th e H onse bill reached
th e Senate. T he Senator from N evada [Mr. Stewart ] has shown very fully w hat
took place there. I f th e Senator from Ohio is content w ith th a t statem ent I am.
M r. Casserly, of California, w as in th e Senate and otfyer able and distinguished rep
resentatives of silver-producing States. M r. C orbett, of Oregon, and others took
p a rt in th e debate. W ill any sane m an believe th a t th ey deliberately consented
to strik e down silver coinage ? M r. Sherman says th ey all did. I do not believe
him. W hen th e H ouse bill w as brought up by M r. Sherman th e record shows
th a t he used th is language:
“ M r. Sherman. I rise for th e purpose of m oving th a t th e Senate proceed to th e
consideration of th e M int bill. I w ill state th a t th is bill w ill not probably con*,
sum e any m ore tim e th an th e tim e consumed in reading it. I t passed th e Senate
tw o years ago after fall debate. I t w as taken up again in th e H ouse during the
present Congress and passed there. I t is a m atter of vital interest to th e Gov
ernm ent, ana I am informed by officers of th e G overnm ent it is im p ortant it should
pass prom ptly. T he am endm ents reported b y th e Com m ittee on Finance present
th e p oints of difference betw een th e tw o Houses, and th ey can go to a com mit
tee of conference w ithout having a controversy here in th e Senate about them .”
A gain he sa id :
“ I f the Senator w ill allow me, he w ill see th a t the preceding section provides
for coin w hich is exactly interchangeable w ith th e E nglish shilling and th e fivefranc piece of F ran c e ; th a t is, a five-franc piece of F ran ce w ill be th e exact
equivalent of a dollar of th e U nited States in our silver coinage.”
That was stricken out, and there was no such thing left in the bill.
“A nd in order to show th is w herever our silver coin shall float-7-and w e a re '
providing th a t it shall float all over th e w orld—we propose to stam p upon it,
instead of our eagle, w hich foreigners m ay not understand, and w hich th ey m ay
not distinguish from a buzzard or some other bird, th e intrinsic fineness and
w eight of th e coin. In th is practical, u tilitarian age th e officers of th e M int
seemed to th in k it w ould be b etter to do th a t th an to p u t th e eagle on our silver
coins. I m ust confess I do n o t th in k it is very im portant, b u t I th in k the Senator
ought to be w illing to defer in these m atters to th e practical know ledge of the
officers who have charge of th is branch of th e G overnm ent service. I w ill say
th a t M r. Linderm an, whom th e Senator m ust know, has suggested th is as being
a convenient m ode of prom oting international coinage.”
D id not every w ord of th a t indicate th e continuance of silver coinage w ith fall
legal-tender quality as it had alw ays had?
International coinage in a trade-dollar, w ith a legal-tender quality of only $5, and
even th a t poor quality w as stricken o ut in 1875, so as to m ake it sim ply m erchan
dise. T h at w as th e coin th e Senator from Ohio said w as to float, and th ey w ere
providing i t should float, all over th e world, w herever our flag floated, and th a t it
should be international coinage equivalent to th e coins of other nations. L ittle
w onder the Senator from N evada said to h im : “ W hatever m ay be your construc
tion of th e m eaning now, the w ords used then induced me to vote w ith you, because
you m ade me believe th a t you w ere sending out a bona fide silver dollar as good as
any in th e w orld.” T he Senai e so believed. T he debate showed th a t M r. C asserly
announced th a t N evada alone w as th en producing $20,000,000 of silver, and th e
question was, as to w hether silver-ow ners should pay th e coinage charge ot half, a
uarter, or one-eighth p er cent.; nothing w as suggested anyw here th a t th e silver
ollar w as to be stricken down. T he Senator from Ohio w as as silent as th e grave
on th a t subject.
B ut th a t w as all. To show th a t w henever things are n ot done as th ey ought
to be th e trac k can be followed, and ’it will be in th e sam e direction, th e Revised
S tatutes w ere adopted shortly afterw ards. W hen it is said th a t w e had coined
no silver dollars, practically, up to th a t tim e, th a t is n ot th e fact. W e had
coined in th e m onth of Jan u ary , 1873, and in th e first tw elve days of F ebruary,
1873. nearly tw o m illion standard silver dollars of 412i grains, nearly one-fourth
of all ive ever had coined. By the way, if Senators w ill tu rn to Dr. L inderm an’s
w ork on M oney and Legal Tender, w hich you w ill find in th e L ibrary, you w ill
see th a t w e never had coined a. gold dollar from th e foundation of th e G overn
m ent u n til long after the discovery o f gold in California, and th a t w e had up
to 1848 about as m uch silver as w e had gold coin of all sorts. A t th e tim e we
fought th e w ar of 1812 and th e w ar w ith Mexico, and acquired Louisiana, we
Q
STB
44
w ere upon a silver basis, if th a t is w orth suggesting. A ll o ar acquisitions w ere
obtained, w ith silver coin, th e M exican dollar being th e legal tender, as well as
other foreign coins, m ost of the time. T he table furnished by Dr. Linderm an
show s it all, and th e fact is proved by his tables th a t we had coined nearly tw o
million standard dollars in less th an six w eeks before th is act of 1873 w as passed.
I th in k I can guess th e reason w hy th e bankers of E urope w ere pushing the act
of 1873. T he R othschilds, who held our bonas, and th e g reat b ankers of th e
Rhine, a t F ran k fo rt and elsewhere, w ere, of <ourse, all anxious for it to pass. M r.
Hooper and th e other bankers knew w hy. H ow m uch th e Senator from Ohio w as
allowed to know I can not s ta te ; b u t D r. Linderm an showed in November, 1872,
th a t silver w as falling, and falling ra p id ly ; a t had fallen from 3 p er cent, prem ium
down to p ar w ith gold w hen th e act. w as passed dem onetizing it, and th a t it w as
sure to fall still more rapidly. A ll th eir bonds were payable m it w hile it w as be
ing stricken down in th eir countries. D r. Linderm an tells th e w hole story in a
report made th e fall of 1872, after th e bill had passed th e H ouse. H e takes credit
for th e trade-dollar as having been first suggested in his report. H e says w e dis
covered very soon a fter th e bill passed th e H ouse—as early as Septem ber or Oc
tober, 187^—th a t G erm any w as going to sell her silver. T he H ouse had passed
th e bill, recollect, in May, 1872; it came to the Senate practically in December.
D r. L inderm an in his book states w h at he said in th e fall of 1872:
“ T he am ount of silver bullion annually produced from th e m ines of the U nited
S tates has been increased during the last th ree years, and now am ounts to about
$20,000,000 p er annum , exclusive of the gold it co n tain s; and a fu rth er increase
in th is product being quite certain, th e tu tu re value of silver as compared w ith
gold is a m atter of national im portance.
“ T he fluctuations in th e relative value of gold and silver during th e la st h un
dred years have not been very great, b u t several causes are now a t w ork, all
tending to an excess of supply over demand for silver, and its consequent de
preciation. Am ong these causes m ay be stated the increasing production, its
dem onetization by th e G erm an Em pire, and continued disuse in th is country,
except to a lim ited extent, as a p a r t of the circulating m edium .
“ I t has also been dem onetized bv Japan, w hile in some other countries silvercoin
has been wholly or p artially expelled from circulation by p ap er money, the effect
of w hich will be to Bring to m arket as bullion large am ounts h itherto used as coin.
1 h e am ount of silver coin in th e G erm an E m pire a t th e date pf the enactm ent of
th e recent coinage law (December, 1871), w hich changed th e standard from silver
to gold, is estim ated by com petent authority a t $350,000,000, being equal to five
years’ total production of the globe.
“ Even if silver should be adopted by G erm any for subsidiary coinage, not m ore
th an $50,000,000 w ill be required for th a t purpose, w hich w ill leave $300,000,000, o r
about 9,000 tons, to be disposed of as bulhon. A m ark et for th is im m ense supply
of silver can only be found in such of the E uropean states as m aintain the single
standard of silver or th e double standard of gold and silver and in China and th e
Indies.
“ T he facts above stated indicate th e gradual b u t eventually certain adoption of
th e gold standard and consequent dem onetization of silver by all commercial
countries. N ot only is the tendency to adopt gold as th e sole standard and meas
ure of value, b u t to use paper m oney redeem able in gold as the b ulk of the circu
lating m edium .”
T hen h e proceeds to show th a t gold would necessarily appreciate, w hich he said
m eant the same th in g as depreciation of property by reason of silver being stricken
down. I m ay refer to his table giving the am ount of silver and gold we had then
coined and th e relation th ey bore to each other in 1873, show ing th a t the pretense
th a t silver w as dem onetized because it w as eith er not a coin th a t th e people w anted
or because it w as m ore valuable than gold is not true. I t was stricken down be
cause the g reat gold brokers, foreign and domestic, saw th at gold w as becoming
m ore and m ore valuable every day, and silver w ould necessarily fall because of
the action of G erm any. T he production of gold had fallen off m th is country from
$66,000,000 in 1856 to $32,000,000 in 1873. Silver production had gone up f . om less
th an $14,000,000 four years before to thirty-odd million dollars in 1873. T h at w as
th e real cause of its being stricken down in th e interest of th e bond olders and
th e bankers and the u surers of E urope and A m erica .—(Congressional Record, vol
um e 19, p a rt 3, 50th Congress, 1st session, pages 2001- 2002.)
I have gathered quotations from members o f Congress and from
the President, showing their utter ignorance on the b ill; these I will
also print. I will not take time to read them, but they are from
quite a number o f members, and from these quotations it will ap
pear what each has said about it, so far as I have been able to deter
mine, and from the evidence of these men who participated they
were all in the same boat with me, I believe, and no one has come
out and said that he understood it.
STB
45
CERTAINLY IT WAS NOT BEAD AT THE DESK.
It can not be supposed that Senators here should understand what
is contained in every bill, especially when its contents are not stated.
Certainly if this change had been discussed it is so important that
it would have occurred to somebody to ask to have it read at the
desk, or something would have been said about it if it was going to
be deliberately considered.
SOME OF THOSE WHO KNEW NOT.
The persons from whom I make quotations who were oblivious of
this subject are:
Senator Bogy, Senator Conkling, Senator A l l is o n , Senator Blaine,
Senator V o o r h e k s , Senator Beck, Senator Hereford, Senator Howe,
Mr. H o l m a n , Mr. C a n n o n , Mr. Kelley, Mr. Burchard, General Gar
field, and General Grant.
These are some of the persons who were ignorant of what occurred,
as will be shown by the extracts when they are printed in my re
marks.
I will now submit what these Senators and Members of Congress
have from time to time, in debate, said with regard to the passage
of the act demonetizing silver:
A CONSENSUS OP DENIALS.
Mr. H o l m a n , in a speech delivered in the House o f Representa
tives July 13, 1876, said:
I have before me the record of the proceedings of th is H ouse on th e passage of
th a t m easure, a record w hich no m an can read w ithout being convinced th a t the
m easure and the m ethod of its passage through th is H ouse w as a “ colossal swin
dle.” I assert th a t th e m easure never had th e sanction of th is House, and it does
not possess th e m oral force of law. (Congressional Record, volum e 4, p a rt 6, Forty*
fourth Congress, first session, appendix, page 193.
Again on August 5,1876, he said:
T he original bill w as sim ply a bill to organize a bureau of m ines and coinage.
T he bill w hich finally passed th e H ouse and w hich ultim ately became a law was
certainly
n ot read
in th is *House. *
*
*
*
*
*
I t w as never considered before th e H ouse as it w as passed. U p to th e tim e
the bill came before th is House for final passage th e m easure had sim ply been one
to establish a bureau of m in es; I believe I use th e term correctly now. I t came
from the Com m ittee on Coinage, W eights, and M easures. T he su bstitute w hich
finally became a law w as never read, and is subject to th e charge made against
it by the gentlem an from M issouri [M r. B land], th a t it w as passed by th e H ouse
w ithout a know ledge of its provisions, especially upon th a t of coinage.
I m yself asked th e question of M r. Hooper, w ho stood near w here I am now
standing, w hether it changed the law in regard to coinage. A nd th e answ er of
M r. H ooper certainly left th e im pression upon th e whole H ouse th a t th e subject
of the coinage w as not affected by th a t bill.— (Congressional Rhcord, volum e 4.
p a rt 6, F orty-fourth Congress, first session, page 5237).
Mr. C a n n o n , of Illinois, in a speech made in the House on July 13.
1876, said:
This legislation w as had in th e Forty-second Congress, F eb ru ary 12,1873, by a
bill to regulate th e m ints of th e U nited States, and practically abolished silver as
m oney by failing to provide for th e coinage of th e silver dollar. I t was not dis
cussed, as show n by th e R ecord, and neither m em bers of Congress nor the people
understood th e scope of th e legislation. (Ibid, appendix, page 197.)
Senator Bogy, of Missouri, uttered the following words in a‘speech
made in the Senate June 27, 1876:
W hy th e act of 1873, w hich forbids th e coinage o f th e silver dollar, w as passed,
no one a t th is day can give a good reason.— (Congressional R ecord, volum e 4,
p a rt 5, Forty-fourth Congress, first session, page 4178.)
Mr. Burchard, o f Illinois, in a speech made in the House o f Rep
resentatives on July 13, 1876, said:
T he coinage act of 1873, unaccom panied by any .written rep o rt upon the subject
from any com m ittee, and unknow n to th e m em bers of Congress, who w ithout op*
position allowed it to pass under the belief, if not assurance, th a t it made no alter*
STE
46
ation in th e value of th e current coins, changed the u n it of value from silver to
gold.— Ibid., page 4560.
Senator Conkling, in the Senate on March 30, 1876, during the re
marks of Senator Bogy on the hill (S. 263) to amend the laws relat
ing to legal tender of silver coin, in surprise, inquired:
W ill the Senator allow me to ask him or some o ther Senator a question ? Is it
tru e th a t there is now by law no A m erican dollar ? A nd, if so, is it tru e th a t th e
effect of th is bill is to be to m ake half-dollars and quarter-dollars the only silver
coin w hich can be used as a legal tender ?— (Congressional Record, volum e 4, p art
3, F orty-fourth Congress, first session, page 2062.)
General Garfield, in a speech made at Springfield, Ohio, during the
fall of 1877, said:
P erhaps I ought to be asham ed to say so, b u t it is th e tru th to say that, 1 a t
th a t tim e being chairm an of the Com mittee on A ppropriations, and having my
hands overfull during all th a t tim e w ith w ork, I never read th e bill. I took it
upon th e faith of a prom inent D em ocrat and a prom inent Republican, and I do
not know th a t I voted a t all. T here was no call of the yeas and nays, and nobody
opposed th a t b ill th a t I know of. I t w as p u t through as dozens of bills are, as m y
friend and I know, in Congress, on th e faith of the report of the chairm an of the
com m ittee; therefore I tell you, because it is the truth , th a t I have no know l
edge about it.—(Congressional Record, volum e 7, p a r ti, F orty-filth Congress,
second session, page 989.)
Sepator A l l is o n , on February 15, 1878, when the bill (H. R. 1093)
to authorize the free coinage of the standard silver dollar and to re
store its legal-tender character was under consideration, observed:
B ut w hen the secret history of th is bill of 1873 comes to be told, it w ill disclose
the fact th a t th e House of R epresentatives intended to coin both gold and silver,
and intended to place both m etals upon th e French relation instead of on our
own, w hich w as the tru e scientific position w ith reference to th is subject in 1873,
b u t th at the bill aft erw ard w as doctored, if I m ay use th a t term , and I use it in no
offensive sense of course-----
Mr. Sargent interrupted him and asked him what he meant by the
word “ doctored.”
Mr. A l l is o n said:
I said I used the w ord in no offensive sense. I t w as changed after discussion,
and th e dollar of 420 grains w as su bstituted for it.—(Congressional R ecord, vol
ume 7, p a rt 2, Forty-fifth Congress, second session, page 1058.)
On February 15, 1878, during the consideration of the bill above
referred to, the following colloquy between Senator Blaine and Sen
ator V o o r h e e s took place:
Mv. V oorhees. I w ant to ask m y friend from M aine, whom I am glad to desig
nate in th a t way, w hether I m ay call him as one m ore w itness to the fact th a t it
w as not generally know n w hether silver w as dem onetized. Did he know, as
Spe k er of the House, presiding a t th a t time, th a t the silver dollar w as demone
tized in the bill to w hich he alludes ?
M r. Blaine. I did not know anything th a t w as in th e bill a t all. A s I have
before said, little w as know n or cared on the subject. [Laughter.] A nd now I
should like to exchange questions w ith the Senator from Indiana, who w as then
on the floor a id whose business it was, far more th an mine, to know , because by
th e designation of the House I w as to p u t questions; th e Senator from Indiana,
then on the floor of the House, w ith his pow er as a debater, w as to unfold them
to the House. Did he know ?
M r. V oorhees. I very frankly say th a t I did not.
(Ibid., page 1063.)
Senator Beck, in a speech made in the Senate January 10, 1878,
said: '
I t [the bill dem onetizing silver] never w as understood by eith er H ouse of Con
gress. I say th at w ith full knowledge of the facts. No new spaper rep o rter—and
they are th e m ost vigilant men I ever saw in obtaining inform ation—discovered
th a t it had been done.— (Congressional R ecord volum e 7, p a rt 1, Forty-fifth
Congress, second session, page 260.)
Senator Hereford, in the Senate, on February 13,1878, in discussing
the demonetization of silver, said:
So th a t I say th a t beyond th e possibility of a doubt (and th ere is no disputing
it) th a t bill w inch dem onetized silver, as it passed, never w as read, never w as disSTE
47
cnssed, and th a t th e chairm an of the com mittee w ho reported it, who offered th e
substitute, said to M r. H olman, w hen inquired of, th a t it did not affect th e coin*
age in any w ay w hatever.—Ibid., page 989.
Mr. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, who had charge of the bill, in a
speech made in the House of Eepresentatives on March 9, 1878, said:
In connection w ith th e charge th a t I advocated the bill w hich dem onetized th e
standard silver dollar, I say th at, though the chairm an of the Com mittee on Coinage, I w as as ignorant of th e fact th a t it would dem onetize the silver dollar or ot
its dropping th e silver dollar from our system of coins as were those distinguished
Senators M essrs. B laine and V oorhees, who w ere th en m em bers ot th e House, and
each of whom a few days since interrogated th e other: “ D id you know it w as
dropped w hen the.vbill p assed?” “ N o,” said M r. B laine; “ did you ?” “ N o,”
said M r. V oorhees. I do n ot th in k th a t th ere w ere three m em bers in th e H ouse
th a t knew it. I doubt w hether M r. Hooper, who, in m y absence from th e Com
m ittee on Coinage and attendance on th e Com mittee of w ay s and M eans, m anaged
th e bill, knew it. 1 say th is in ju stice to him .—(Congressional R ecord, volum e
7, p a rt 2, Forty-fifth Congress, second session, page 1605.)
Again on May 10, 1879, Mr. Kelley said:
A ll I can say is .that the Com mittee on Coinage, W eights, and M easures, w ho
reported the original bill, w ere faithful and able, and scanned its provisions closely:
th a t as th eir organ I reported i t ; th a t it contained provision for both the standard
silver dollar and th e trade-dollar. N ever Jiaving heard until a long tim e after its
enactm ent into law of the substitution in th e Senate of th e section w hich dropped
th e standard dollar, I profess to know nothing of its h isto ry; b u t 1 am prepared
to say th a t in all th e legislation of th is country th ere is no m ystery equal to th e
dem onetization of the standard silver dollar of th e U nited States. I have never
found a m an w ho could te ll ju s t how it came about or w hy. — (Congressional
R ecord, volum e 9, p art 1, F orty-sixth Congress, first session, page 1231.)
Senator Howe, in a speech delivered in the Senate on February 5,
1878, said:
M r. President, I do n o t regard th e dem onetization of silver as an attem pt to
■wrench from the people more th an th ey agreed to pay. T h at is n ot th e crim e of
w hich I accuse the act of 1873. I charge it w ith guilt com pared w ith w hich th e
robbery of tw o hundred millions is venial.— (Congressional R ecord volum e 7,
p a rt 1, F orty-fifth Congress, second session, page 764.)
President Grant was also ignorant of the demonetization o f silver.
Eight months after the passage of the bill he wrote a letter to Mr.
Cowdrey, from which the following extract is taken:
T he panic has brought greenbacks about to a p ar w ith silver. I w onder th a t
silver is not already com ing into th e m arket to supply th e deficiency in th e circu
lating medium, w hen it does come, and I p redict th a t it w ill soon, we will have
m ade a rapid stride tow ards specie paym ents. C urrency w ill never go below sil
v er after th at. T he circulation of silver w ill have other beneficial effects. E x
perience h as proved th a t it takes about forty m illions of fractional currency to
m ake small change necessary for th e transaction of th e business of th e country.
S ilver w ill gradually tak e th e place of th is currency, and, farth er, w ill become
th e standard of values w hich w ill be boarded in a small w ay. I estim ate th a t this
w ill consume from two to three hundred millions, in tim e, of th is species of our
circulating m edium . I t w ill leave th e paper currency firee to perform the legiti
m ate functions of trad e and w ill tend to bring us back w here we m ust come a t
last, to a specie basis. I confess to a desire to see a lim ited boarding of money.
I t insures a firm foundation in tim e of need. B u t I w ant to see th e hoarding of
som ething th a t has a standard of value th e w orld over. Silver has this, and if
w e once get back to th a t our strides tow ard a higher appreciation of our currency
w ill be rapid. O ur m ines are now producing alm ost unlim ited am ounts of silver,
and it is becom ing a question, “ W hat shall we do w ith it? ” I suggest here a
solution th a t w ill answ er for some years, and suggest to you bankers w hether
you m ay not im itate it: To p u t it in circulation now ; keep it th ere until it isfixed, and th en w e w ill find other m arkets.— (McPherson's Hand-Book o f Politics for
1874, pages 134 and 135.)
On January 14,1875, the same date that he signed the resumption
act, President Grant sent a special message to Congress advising
the establishment of two or more mints at Chicago, St. Louis, ana
Omaha to coin silver dollars to provide for resumption, when by
law, signed by himself, it was provided
STB
48
THAT NO MORE SILVER DOLLARS 8HOULD BE COINED.
I submit that it is unfair for the Senator from Ohio, in view of the
facts which I have presented, to claim that the question o f demon
etizing silver was discussed and understood, and that Senators who
were present and voted for the bill knew that the silver dollar was
omitted.
HE UNDOUBTEDLY KNEW WHAT THE BILL CONTAINED,
because it was in harmony with the views which he had entertained
and often expressed. It is quite probable that he did not realize
the consequences of the great change in the standard money o f the
world which the law he framed would produce, jand that he was
mistaken in the consequences which would follow the demonetiza
tion of silver. If the law was a mistake he should in all fairness
have been the first one to rectify that mistake and aid in the resto
ration of the money o f the Constitution. Has he done so? On the
contrary, he has during all the years that have passed since 1873
persisted in his advocacy of the single gold standard, and he is not
now willing to restore silver to the place it occupied before it was
demonetized in the manner I have described. If the Senator from
Ohio to-day would advocate the unlimited coinage of silver, a law
for that purpose would speedily' be placed upon the statute-book.
He is the author of the demonetization o f silver and the great
leader in the advocacy of the gold standard. If he should change
his views the battle would be won and the money o f the Constitu
tion restored.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. President, I have but a very few words to say
in conclusion. The dollar that the Senator from Nevada is talking
about—and he seems to have gotten into a mare’s nest about it—is
the subsidiary dollar that was put on in the House containing 385
rains, 26$ grains less than the old silver dollar. It was the French
ve-franc piece. Perhaps the Senator is not aware, and I will now
tell him so that he can not be mistaken, that he is in error in sup
posing that the French silver coinage is upon the basis of 15£ to 1.
That is a mistake. The French people, like all the people of Eu
rope, have adopted silver as a subsidiary coin. It is true they main
tain a standard o f 15J- to 1, but when they coin it at all they coin
upon that standard, and the French silver to-day is like other coins,
it is a subsidiary coin, but they found they would not have any sil
ver during the time when gold was at a premium.
Another thing; in all the remarks that have been made, I call at
tention to the fact that the dollar in the bill as it came from the
House of Representatives here, about which the discussion arose,
was the French dollar, a dollar of 385 grains. That was stricken
out by the action o f the Senate. That was not the 412^-grain dol
lar at all. The dollar that was stricken out was the dollar of 385
grains which was legal tender for only $1.
Mr. STEWART. All right; let me go on.
Mr. SHERMAN. I thought the Senator was through.
Mr. STEWART. N o; I beg your pardon; I am not. The Sena
tor is right in saying that as it came from the House the silver dol
lar was equivalent to the five-franc piece. He says that was only a
subsidiary coin. He is mistaken about that. That was an interna
tional coin at the time of the international convention, and it was
circulating as the standard at that time. It was the unit of value in
all o f
f
THE ASSOCIATED NATIONS OF EUROPE
and it was regarded as better than gold. They had not given up the
idea of demonetizing gold then, and our silver dollar was at a pre
mium of 3 per cent., and it was stated by the Senator that this dol
STE
49
lar was going to circulate all over the world, this five-franc-piece dol
lar. It was the five-franc-piece dollar that his argument referred to,
for that was still in the bill and did not go out o f the bill until the
engrossment, when it gave j)lace to the provisions that demonetized
silver. It went out or bhe bill
OUTSIDE OP THE SENATE
to give place to the trade-dollar of 420 grains; but I say the section
in the law which demonetized silver was never read in either House
of Congress.
With what grace men get up here and charge me with dereliction
of duty in not protesting, when it was never read or discussed or
brought to the attention of Congress other than by number 6 in the
report of the conference committee is amazing to m e! Perhaps we
ought to understand all the amendments which are reported, but we
do not all the time do our duty in that respect.
There are a great many bills passing every day that other people
have charge of where we do not know of the amendments which
are reported. It is only those that are acted upon and discussed, and
the important measures that are brought before the Senate and. dis
cussed, that we know about. But the responsibility of demonetiz
ing silver without calling the attention of the Senate to the fact
rests npon the then chairman of the Committee on Finance. If it
had been discussed it would have been in the Globe. These discus
sions about outside matters amount to nothing, but here is a crowd
of witnesses who were present and all come forward and say they did
not know it. The House did not know it. They did not know what
amendment No. 6 meant; the Senate did not know what No. 6 meant
when it was read.
SILVER WAS DEMONETIZED IN THE CONFERENCE REPORT
by amendment No. 6; it was never read in either House!
CONFUSING THE ISSUE.
The Senator from Ohio, in discussing this question, constantly
dwells upon the value of gold and the value of silver, as if it had in
herent value which could not be affected. How was the value of
silver put down ? It remained at par with gold for nearly a cent
ury. It did not vary one-half of 1 per cent, for more than a cent
ury until silver was rejected as money, and the Old World admits
that fact now and the Royal Commission admitted that fact. It
was put down because of the want o f demand, because it could not
be coined. It is the demand that puts up the price. Value consists
of two things: limitation o f quantity and the desire of man as mani
fested by demand.
Now, he pretends to say that if we would demand all the silver by
free coinage that would not put up the price, and he tells us that
there would be a gap of from 20 to 30 per cent, between silver
and gold. The gap was made by rejecting silver. Silver has lit
tle value without the demand as money. It would be very poor
security but for its money value, and if we demand it for money we
make a demand for six or eight hundred millions, and we take it all.
If we make a demand for #300,000,000 we take it all, and I believe a
demand for $200,000,000, or much less, would put it to par. It takes
but a slight demand, because there is more coin, as shown by the
Royal Commission on the Depression o f Trade, by 18 per cent, than
has been produced, and has been for many years; and we can only
account for it by the recoinage of old coins. There is no surplus
production of silver. The want of coinage demand in Europe and
the United States has depressed its value, npthing else. Before the
STE------- 4
50
United States could be supplied enough would be absorbed to raise
silver to par.
And why should there be a departure from established custom ¥
Why should the sacred usages o f the people for centuries be assailed ?
Why should not the coin of the Constitution be restored, when it
was rejected without even the reading o f a fatal amendment ? It was
rejected, I say, without reading the amendment. If it be restored,
will there be too much money if we have both gold and silver ? Why
was it rejected at all ? I deny that it was done by discussion.
NOBODY UNDERSTOOD IT.
I do not believe the Senator from Ohio understood its far-reaching and its terrible effects. I do not believe he did, and if he had
come out and said it was by mistake, and he had not fully understood
its effects, nobody would have blamed him, because at that tirqe the
question of coinage was not being discussed. We were under coin
suspension, very Tittle money was being coined, and it was very easy
for a mistake to be made by the Senator from Ohio or anybody.
But, having been made, the people having lost their money of the
Constitution through a mistake, to which nobody’s attention was
called, what I say is that those engaged in that should rectify it,
and should not have kept the country in these seventeen years of
depression. They should not have robbed the country of its money
all this time.
Talk about the value o f gold remaining stationary!
WHAT HAS PUT UP THE VALUE OF GOLD?
The purchase of it by our people with their produce, the sacrifice of
their property. The farmers and producers of this country have been
compelled to sell their property at a discount of from 30 to 40 per cent,
to buy gold to pay debts because the Government of the United States
would not allow them to be paid in the money o f the Constitution,
because by an amendment that was never read silver was demone
tized, and they could not pay in silver as well as gold, and so they
were compelled then to get money at all hazards; and they have done
it nobly„ but they have done it at the expense o f the prosperity of
the country.
Mr. SHERMAN. I should like to see the original bill o f 1873,
which the Senator has, in order that I may reply to him.
Mr. STEWART. I was pretty nearly through with that subject.
Perhaps I had better let the Senator make his statement here.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Both Senators are inaudible at
the desk.
Mr. SHERMAN. I have lost my voice and.therefore I am excus
able, but the Senator from Nevada has not lost his voice and is not
excusable.
The Senator from Nevada certainly does not want to misstate or
mislead, and his statements are now misleading except to a person
who would examine the papers and know and see the exact facts.
He will see that he is mistaken. The amendment referred to by
him is No. 6. 1 will read it and then show you that that very
amendment was adopted, but probably the Reporter, in the con
fusion there may have been, dropped it out.
Mr. President, here is the bill of the House with Senate amend
ments, the same that went to a conference, the last, final papers [ex
hibiting]. Here is section 16 o f the House bill changed to 15, and
now I will read i t :
Sec . [16] 15. [T hat th e silver coins of th e U nited S tates shall be a dollar, a half*
dollar, ana a dime or ten-cent piece; and th e w eight of th e dollar shall be 384 grains;
the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and the dime shall be, respectively, one-half, one*
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51
q uarter, and one-tenth of th e w eight of said dollar; w hich coins shall he a lega.
tender a t th eir nom inal value for any am ount n ot exceeding $5 in any one paym ent.
The amendment proposed by the Senate, printed in italics, pro
vides—
That the silver coins of the United States shall be a trade-dollar, a half-dollar or
fifty-cent piece, a quarter-dollar or twenty-jive-cent piece; and the weight of the
trade-dollar shall be 420 grains troy; the weight o f the half dollar shall be twelve
grams and one-half o f a gram ; the quarter-dollar and the dime shall be, respectivelyt
one-half and one-fifth of the weight of said half d, liar; and such coins shall be a le
gal tender at their nominal value fo r any amount not exceeding $5 in any one pay
ment.
The amendment proposed by the Committee on Finance being to
strike out the words in the House bill between brackets [ ] and in
sert those printed in italics.
Here, then, is the House proposition, with the Senate committee’s
amendment, as reported from the Committee on Finance, printed in
italics, which must have been open before every Senator and could
not be mistaken. On the margin of this Senate amendment, in the
handwriting of the Clerk, is plainly written “ Agreed to.” Not only
this, but I will show that another amendment was made to this Sen
ate amendment.
The difference between the two was in respect to the dollar. The
House proposed the subsidiary dollar of 385 grains. The Senate Fi
nance Committee, at the request of the people o f California, pro
posed the trade-dollar of 420 grains, and the Senate agreed to that.
Here is the official record, kept by Mr. McDonald, whom we all re
member with great pleasure. Here it is in his own handwriting,
but the Senator says it is not in the Globe. Suppose it is not. It
was probably dropped out there by the Reporter. Is there any other
evidence of this f The highest evidence is this very paper. It is
the bill under consideration before the Senate. O'thers just like it
had been printed for the benefit o f all, and here it is marked “ Agreed
to.”
Now, to show that it was agreed to, as appears by the Globe, there
was an amendment to the Senate amendment numbered 6, which I of-1
fered, and I called attention to the fact that that amendment had
not been adopted, had not been acted upon as an amendment to the
amendment numbered 6, and here is the conversation called to my
attention by the officers of the Senate; and here I show, on the same
page of the Globe that the Senator read from, and he would have
found if he had gone a step further. I said:
M r. Sherman. T here is an omission in the m atter proposed to he inserted hy th e
com mittee. I move to in sert in line 11, after th e w ords “ tw enty-five-cent piece,”
th e words “ and a dime or ten-cent piece.”
Here the words are inserted in the copy kept by Mr. McDonald in
his handwriting, agreed to on my motion; and this is the amendment
which the Senator says was never read. It must have been read be
cause here it is amended by an amendment and that amendment went
to the committee of conference. I f the Senator will not believe upon
an exhibition of this kind, then I do not know what will convince
him.
Then it must be remembered that that amendment was again amend
ed by the conference committee, and here the report is signed by all
of them, Messrs. Hooper, Stoughton, and McNeely, of the House;
S h e r m a n , Scott, and Bayard, of the Senate. Here is an amend
ment to that sixth amendment which was itself acted,, upon in con
ference, and thi9 amendment which passed the Senate as an amend
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52
ment to the House bill was acted upon in the committee o f confer
ence and amended, and here it is :
T hat the House recede from its disagreem ent to th e sixth am endm ent of th e
Senate——
Mr. TELLER. That is the one.
Mr. SHERMAN. Yes—
and agree to th e sam e w ith th e following am endm ents: In line 5 strik e ont th e
w ord “ grains,” a t th e end o f the line, and in sert in lieu thereof “gram s (gram m es);”
and in line 6 strik e o nt “ g rain ,” and in sert “ gram (gram m e);” and th e Senate
agree to th e same.
Here it is ‘ gramme.” So not only must this amendment have been
read here, but it was amended in the Senate. It was printed in italics,
laid before the Senator himself, and sent to the committee o f confer
ence, and there again amended.
Mr. TELLER. What amendment is that?
Mr. SHERMAN. The sixth amendment amended in conference by
inserting the word “ grammes instead of “ grains.” It was origi
nally *1grains” and they inserted here “ grammes,” and the word
u grammes” was properly inserted in the amendment.
Mr. TELLER. What I wanted to call the attention of the Senator
to is whether that is the amendment which dropped out the silver
dollar.
Mr. SHERMAN. This was the amendment that dropped out the
silver dollar. The silver dollar Was dropped out by both Houses.
The silver dollar was never proposed by mortal man in either House
a-t that time.
Mr. TELLER. Not the silver dollar, but a silver dollar.
Mr. SHERMAN. A silver dollar. That subsidiary French dollar
was proposed by the House and sent to the Senate, and we substituted
the trade-dollar, and no mortal man in either House during those
three years of controversy ever thought of or ever proposed the old
silver dollar. It was conjured up afterward for the purpose o f mis
leading, and I say, sir, that there it is, and the man who does not
believe that testimony o f men now dead would not believe anything.
Mr. STEWART. I f any man will read this record and find that
section mentioned----Mr. SHERMAN. I have done it. Here it is. I showed it to the
Senator.
Mr. STEWART. That was when there was another amendment
under consideration.
Mr. SHERMAN. This amendment is amended, inserted in writing.
Mr. STEWART. Then there was no action upon the sixth amend
ment at all. It was when the other amendment was under consid
eration. Anybody can study it for himself.
Mr. SHERMAN* I have not examined the record critically, but the
Senator says that the Reporters o f the Globe failed to record the adop
tion of the sixth amendment. I say that here is the sixth amendment
printed in italics in the bill before him, marked u agreed t o ” by Mr.
McDonald, and not only “ agreed to,” but amended, and the amend
ment is shown in the very paper the Senator read from.
Mr. STEWART. Then the next amendment considered was in sec
tion 17. I can read this right along.
Mr. SHERMAN. Show me the place where you say it was omitted
and not read.
Mr. STEWART. Here is section 15; that is the section that was
struck out. Here is the discussion in regard to it [exhibiting]. Then
here is the next amendment marked “ amendment agreed to.” The
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53
next amendment was to strike out section 17 (16 in the amended bill)
“ in the following words
Sec. [17] 16. T h at the m inor coins of th e U nited States shall be a five-cent piece, a
tfrree-cent piece, and a one-cent piece—
And so on.
A nd to in sert in lieu thereof th e following.
Then Mr. S h e r m a n said:
Mr. Sherman. There is an omission in the matter proposed to be inserted by
the committee. 1 move to insert in line 11, after the words “ twenty-flve-cent
piece,” the words “ and a dime or ten-cent piece.”
T he am endm ent to the am endm ent w as agreed to.
That was when the next amendment was under consideration----Mr. SHERMAN. Now, Mr. President, if the Senator has com
pleted that statement, I say the amendment referred to by “ Mr.
S h e r m a n ” here is this identical amendment which the Senator says
was never read or adopted, and here it is in the handwriting of Mr.
McDonald.
Mr. STEWART. Let anybody take it and study it.
Mr. SHERMAN. I do not want any doubt about it. I say that
any one who can not under these circumstances see this must be
willfully blind. I say that I myself called attention to the fact that
a certain amendment to the amendment proposed by the committee
had not been agreed to, and the amendment was read, and here it is
written, “ a dime or ten-cent piece,” the very amendment which the
Senator says was not read.
Mr. STEWART. I do say it was not read.
Mr. SHERMAN. Here it was all the time before the Senator, and
how could it be otherwise than read ?
Mr. STEWART. Will you find where it was read?
Mr. SHERMAN. Because the Reporter does not happen in the
hurry o f business to catch every amendment in the precise order in
which it was presented, the Senator would therefore convict some
one of some grave wrong. There is no justice in i t ; and I was going
to say worse than that.
Mr. STEWART. It was not only not read, but the subsequent
discussion shows that the omission o f the old dollar was not there.
Mr. SHERMAN. No dollar was there.
Mr. STEWART. The subsequent discussion shows that it had not
been adopted, because you describe in your reply to Mr. Casserly
that it was equivalent to the five-franc piece, and if the amendment
had been adopted there would not have been any five-franc piece there
at all, any more than the dollar of 412£ grains.
Mr. SHERMAN. The dollar o f 412£ grains was never in any bill
whatever during the whole discussion. It was lost to sight. The
dollar in that bill was the French dollar.
Mr. STEWART. Certainly it was, but you stated that it was in
there, and you called attention to i t ; whereas, if the amendment had
been adopted there would not have been any French dollar there,
but the trade-dollar, and consequently your argument shows that it
was not acted npon.
Mr. SHERMAN. The French dollar was in the House bill, not in
the Senate proposition. The Senate proposition was the trade-dollar. Can not the Senator understand that ?
Mr. STEWART. Can not the Senator understand this, that after
the bill was passed and there was a discussion as to the inscription
on the coin he stated that the reason for it was because he wanted
the weight and the fineness stamped upon it, and that that was equiv
alent to thefiveTfranc piece? That was the reason he assigned. I f
the amendment had been adopted, as he says it was, he could not
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54
have assigned that reason, because there would have been no fivefranc piece there. Can you understand that ?
Mr. SHERMAN’. I can understand that perfectly. We were talk
ing about these coins and devices, and I spoke of the half-dollar and
the quarter-dollar, and all of them. It is perfectly clear the two
propositions were there, and the only difference between them was
not the old dollar, but whether the French dollar o f384 grains or the
trade-dollar of 420 grains should be inserted; and the question was
put, and it could not be otherwise. It would not be possible in the nat
ure of things for an amendment’ of that kind to be overlooked, and
it was not overlooked, and you will find that the amendment was
amended in the way I proposed, and in the very words which it ap
pears by the Globe are in the amendment which I offered. It appears
from the Globe, and is recorded in this paper in the record in the
handwriting of Mr. McDonald.
Mr. STEWART. There will be no trouble about this hereafter, be
cause before we conclude this matter I will put all these papers in
their order in the R e c o r d , so that anybody who has curiosity about
the subject can study it. I repeat again, he will find that the sec
tion which demonetized silver
WAS NEVER READ IN EITHER HOUSE,
and any one who examines it will find it was never read in either
House.
Mr. SHERMAN. It was never mentioned or spoken of.
Mr. STEWART. Then I shall be exonerated for having been here
and having voted for this bill, and my excuse will be taken. I f the
provision was read in my hearing and I did not object to it I might
stand convicted, but I have shown that it was not read, and I repeat
again, the record will be before the world now because I have put it
iu methodical order.
I say, the legislation contained in this bill which changed one of
the standards of money, which revolutionized the financial history
of the world, ought to be corrected without a word. We ought to
put it back where it was before. The people of the United States
ought to have a new trial for mistake, if not for fraud. When this
was discovered and brought to the attention of the country, what
ever the policy might thereafter have been, it was, in all good con
science and all justice and honor, the duty of everybody who had
anything to do with it, to say “ The people have not had a hearing;
the money of the Constitution has been taken away from them with
out a hearing, and we will undo the wrong.” Now, we come here
again and ask that the wrong be undone at this late day.
WE ASK FOR THE RESTORATION OF SILVER,
and we are told that we are disturbing the finances of the country,
the settled policy of the world. A “ settled policy,” established as this
was, ought to be disturbed. It ought not to stand. It has no place
upon the statute-book. I have brought a crowd of witnesses who
have proved that they did not know what it was.
I do not stand alone. I stand with Presidents and ex-Presidents,
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD,
who have borne the testimony which I print in my remarks that
they did not know of this transaction. Suppose it had been known
that we were to change the standard, there would have been a lively
discussion about it in the Senate. Do you suppose we should have
been discussing immaterial things if a great question of that kind
were pending? Was it proper for the chairman of the Committee
on Finance to fail in calling the attention of the Senate to what was
being done? If he was proposing to fairly make this great change,
STB
55
which he perfectly understood and which had been recommended,
it would have been the first thing that he would have called to the
attention of the Senate for discussion. That is usual. That is done
every day.
I f it was done accidentally and nobody knew about it and the
Senator was mistaken as to its consequences, then nobody would
ever blame him, because, as I said before, we were in suspension at
that time,
NOT USING GOLD OB SILVEB,
and a mistake of that kind might very well happen. We knew very
little about finance at that time. As the Englishmen used to say
laughingly, “ We were blundering along in the dark, using paper
money/' and a mistake at that time might naturally occur. But
when a mistake so fundamental as that occurred it should be cor
rected at the first demand that the money of the Constitution be re
stored,
THAT CONTBACTION STOP;
and when we remonetize silver I predict we shall put it at par, for
remonetization will create a demand for it. There is no excess of
supply. The only fear is that we shall not get enough of it. The
world has not enough of gold and silver, as is evidenced by the fact
that to-day more than one-third of the money o f the world is paper,
and as long as we have more than one-third paper to do the business
of the world it can not be said that
t h e b e is d a n g e b o f to o m u c h g o l d a n d s il v e b .
There is, in round numbers, $3,900,000,000 of paper, about $3,700,000,000 of gold, and about $3,800,000,000 of silver, according to the
report made up for me in the Treasury Department, and as long as
you have more than one-third of the world’s money in paper is there
any danger of there being too much gold and silver? No, the world
never dia have too much gold and silver in any age, and it never
had any prosperity in any age when the mines were not productive.
We have gone through depression time and again. Our race is only
in danger of barbarism from the failure of the mines. The product
ive mines in the different epochs stand out as mile-posts showing
when the people prosper. Show me when the people of any country
advanced in civilization, and I will show you that at that time they
were securing large supplies of the precious metals, gold and sil
ver. Show me when they were in decay and poverty, and I will
show you that the mines failed every time in all the history o f the
world. In the first part of this century, after the wars in Mexico,
South America, and Spain, we had hard times up to 1850, when the
great boom came by the discovery of gold in California and Aus
tralia, which revivified the commerce o f the world and put it on
ward in progress, and the whole world rejoiced, and more progress
was made in twenty-three years than had been made in any century
since the beginning of recorded history.
But then the hand of the misers, the usurers, who manipulated
individual contracts previous to that time, who were hated by all
mankind, despised as the most wicked of wretches—the usurers com
bined not to change individual contracts, but to change all the con
tracts of the world. First, they proposed to enhance the value of
bonds and obligations by the demonetization o f gold. These com
bined usurers against the producers commenced this discussion in
1853, and they have continued it ever since.
THET FAILED IN DEMONETIZING GOLD.
Then they started in to demonetize silver and produce a revolution
in the money of the world. They did it to enhance the value of bonds.
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56
They stated that as the reason. We were as lambs dumb before the
shearers. We uttered not a word. The American people had no
opportunity to utter a word. We joined the army of usurers to en
hance the obligations of contracts. We have doubled the indebted
ness o f the world and we have transferred from the masses thousands
o f millions of their hard earnings to the hands of the few by this
usurious legislation. We have made millionaires and
WE HAVE CREATED SERFS
and slaves of the producers. Do we propose to continue that process
indefinitely ? Do we propose to adhere to the gold standard?
Do we propose to chain the people to the gold standard of Europe?
Do we propose to make them sell their property at 50, 60, or nearly
100 per cent, discount to buy gold to pay debts contracted when
money was plenty and gold was cheap, before it was hoarded, and
when bonds were cheap and greenbacks plenty?
There was as large a circulation in 1«65 in the North alone, before
the rebellion was conquered, as there is now in the whole country.
Why did not the Secretary o f the Treasury take those figures ? There
was as much then as there is to-day. Since that time there has
been one-third increase in the population by the reacquisition of
the South; at least we have to-day the growth o f thirty years.
Yet there has been no increase in circulation. We have gone, how
ever, into a pool with Europe to corner gold. We have been buying gold. Austria and Italy have been buying gold. Germany was
on a silver basis. She retired her silver and commenced buying gold,
and thus we put gold up. Although we have been strong, although
we have sustained our credit, we have done it at the expense of the
producing classes. Cotton and wheat have had to be sold to buy
gold, because the Government of the United States denied us the
right to use silver and denied it by legislation which was never dis
cussed, and
BY AN AMENDMENT THAT WAS NEVER READ IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS.
I say it is time to right that wrong and give us back the money of
the Constitution.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. President, in a document that my attention
has been called to within a few minutes, I find a matter that I should
like to have the Senator from Nevada explain, for I have no doubt
he then felt exactly as Mr. Casserly did about silver. A great deal
is said about silver being wonderfully productive. The last words
o f the debate in the passage o f the bill referred to were in the fol
lowing statement o f Mr. Casserly, who was then a Democratic Sen
ator from California:
I say th e cost of refining in London is so m uch m ore th an it is in San Francisco
th a t b u t for th is coinage charge th e gold bullion product of A ustralia w ould come
to us. W hy ? Because w hat th ey w ant in E ngland all th e w hile is silver for th eir
A siatic exchanges for In d ia and China. We have more silver than we want. Ne
vada appears tooe getting ready to deluge the world with silver. 1 see that her sil
ver product last year was probably over $20,000,000.
Now. sir, there could not be a b etter basis for exchange, nor a more profitable
operation for the A m erican people, th an to tak e th e gold bullion of A ustralia and
coin it in San Francisco and diffuse th a t m uch more specie through all the arteries
of circulation, getting ready for th e resum ption of specie paym ents, of w hich
th e Senator spoke so w ell and so tru ly th e other day, and to give them in re tu rn
for th eir bullion this silver w hich we do not w ant and w hich before a g reat w hile
m ay be a t an absolute discount on our hands. I w ish to say th a t m uch. I feel
v ery earnest about th is m atter, because I th in k I understand th e financial and
com mercial bearing of th e blunder we m ake in continuing th is obsolete coinage
tax. H aving said so m uch, I leave th e question to th e Senate.
That was the very idea of the silver men, that they were getting
too much of it, and they wanted it to go away and the gold from Aus
tralia to come to us. That is what they wanted because we hfed so
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57
much silver, and yet, forsooth, it is alleged because somebody de
monetized silver all this fuss ismade!
Now, Mr. President, any man who will take that paper [exhibit
ing] will find that it contains testimony that can not be denied, a
paper old with age, and here is the amendment which the Senator
from Nevada upon the face of that paper dares to say was never
read in the Senate, simply because the Reporter did not catch the
amendment. It seems to me that is going far beyond what has ever
been done before, especially when you have thp fact that that amend
ment was itself amended according to the testimony of the Globe
itself, so that it must have been considered and read more than once.
That amendment was to strike out the House proposition contain
ing a dollar of 384 grains and insert upon the motion of the people
of California a dollar of 420 grains, and it never appears in all these
three long years of debate that, while that bill was pending, any
man proposed to retain and continue the silver dollar of 412$ grains.
It had no place. The last word said in this debate by a gentleman
from California was that they had too much silver and that they
wanted the gold o f Australia, and were willing to have the silver ot
Nevada go to India or wherever else it would go.
M r. President, I confess I am somewhat disappointed that the Sen
ator from Nevada, when he saw this evidence, did not frankly state
that he had been misled and relieve the imputation which would
rest otherwise upon every man connected with that legislation, and
especially upon the members of the conference committee before
whom these amendments were brought, were read, and by whom
they were acted upon in their report here made known to the Sen
ate, and voted upon with full knowledge of every amendment stated
in the conference report. I supposed the Senator from Nevada to be
a frank man, and I expected he would state frankly and fairly, es
pecially where he saw that there was a feeling manifested, and my
honorable friend from Vermont [Mr. M o r r i l l ] and myself feel the
same way in regard to this matter. When this imputation is made
by any man we resent it, and I resent it now, and express my pro
found regret that a Senator of the United States, when convinced on
the testimony before him, does not say, “ I withdraw any charge of
impropriety from gentlemen on this account.”
Mr. STEWART. Mr. President, again I have been charged with
being present when this discussion took place, and I am denied the
right of exonerating myself by giving the printed record here. I
have been very fair, for I have printed in my remarks the entire
record, and everything connected with it, and I can not be responsible
if the record condemns the Senator from Ohio.
THERE WILL BE NOTHING BUT THE RECORD,
and the people will examine it. I print it in the C o n g r e s s i o n a l
R e c o r d because these papers are not accessible, and this one is the
only copy of the o r ig in a l bill. The engrossed amendment can not be
found, except in this file copy of the Senate. I put them all in to
gether, seriatim,, so that the Senator from Ohio will be able to have
the complete record by which to defend himself, and it will enable
me to place the record before my constituents to show what occurred
when I was here, for I have had it charged upon me repeatedly by
gold bugs, and it was also charged by the Senator from Rhode Island
[Mr. A l d r i c h ] ,
VERY GLEEFULLY AND BOASTFULLY,
that I was in my seat in the Senate when this action was had and
that I voted for this bill.
If I had been here and voted for the bill knowingly, I would not
STB
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come up and say that I did so ignorantly; but the man who voted for
it knowingly and not ignorantly is responsible for changing the
values o f this country. He is responsible for changiug every con
tract in the world after it was made; he is responsible for all the gain
that the miser extracted from the laboring classes by usurious inter
est, acquired by changing contracts after they were made—a charge
that I would not like to have lie at my door. If he did it igno
rantly he is excused, because men can not know everything, and that
I may do exact justice to the Senator from Ohio I put it in the R e c
o r d . I stand by the record, and say I did not know it, and I further
say that I did not have a reasonable opportunity to know it, such
an opportunity as Senators usually have.
I STAND WITH GARFIELD AND GRANT AND CONKLING
and others who defended themselves by pleading ignorance of this
transaction. If the great men whose names I have read could plead
ignorance of this matter, why should not an obscure individual like
myself make the same defense ? If in making that defense I have
reflected upon the Senator, I can not help it. It was not to reflect
upon him that I did it, but it was to defend myself. Let him defend
himself as chairman of the Committee on Finance for not calling
the attention of the Senate to his amendment demonetizing silver be
fore he charges others with being parties to that unfortunate trans
action.
Mr. ALDRICH. Mr. President----Mr. TELLER. I should like to ask the Senator from Ohio a ques
tion, if the Senator from Rhode Island will allow me.
Mr. ALDRICH. I yield if it will not take long. I should like to
make a few remarks in answer to the suggestions of the Senator from
Nevada.
Mr. TELLER. I merely wish to ask a question, but I will wait.
Mr. ALDRICH. Mr. President, it is true that in the course of the
discussion I made the suggestion that the Senator from Nevada [Mr.
S t e w a r t ] was present and voted for the bill which demonetized
silver in 1871.
Mr. STEWART. That is not the one.
Mr. ALDRICH. The one that passed the Senate. The Senator
was present and voted for that bill upon the yeas and nays. I now
understand him to say that he was ignorant of its provisions, that
he did not know what he was voting for. The Senator from Nevada
took quite an important part in the discussion o f that bill in the
Senate, and he discussed the twenty-fifth section, and stated in the
course of that discussion:
I have been unfortunate enough to be engaged in m ining enterprises and to
have bullion for sale, and I know th a t th e coinage charge is deducted.
That was in regard to a provision of the twenty-fifth section of the
bill. Now, I want to call the attention o f the Senate and o f the coun
try to the provisions of three sections of that bill which were under
consideration, and then the Senate can judge. The twenty-first sec
tion provided in terms—not by indirection, mind you, or by implica
tion, but provided in terms—that any owner of silver and gold bullion
might deposit the same at the mints. I will read section 15 first in
order to get them in the logical sequence in which they should be
stated:
Sec. 15. T h a t of th e silver coins th e w eight of th e half-dollar or piece of 50
cents shall be 192 g ra in s ; and th a t of th e quarter-dollar and dime snail be re
spectively one-half and one-fifth of the w eight of said half-dollar. T h a t th e sil
v er coin issued in conform ity w ith th e above section shall be a legal tender in any
one paym ent of debts for all sum s less th an $1.
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The eighteenth section provided:
S ec . 18. T h at no coins, eith er of gold, silver, or m inor coinage, shall hereafter
he issued from th e m in t other th an those of th e denom inations, standards, and
w eights herein set forth.
,
A distinct and positive prohibition npon the mints of the United
States to coin anything but the half-dollar, quarter-dollar, and dime,
which were set forth in the provisions of the bill.
If the Senator from Nevada did not know what the bill contained,
and was familiar with bullion, and represented a State that was of
the first importance in its mining interests of any State in the United
States, all that I can say to him is that he has grown immensely in
zeal and in intelligence in representing his constituents since 1871.
Mr. STEWART. When that bill was under consideration the Sen
ator from Ohio [Mr. S h e r m a n ] offered an amendment, which will be
found on page 396, part 1 of the Congressional Globe, o f the third
session, Forty-first Congress. That amendment was in these words:
F or coinage, w hether th e gold and silver deposited be coined or cast into bars,
or ingots, in addition to th e charge for refining or p artin g th e m etals, three-tenths
of 1 p er cent.
That was the matter which was read and brought to the atten
tion of the Senate and that was all. The whole Pacific coast dele
gation said
THAT THIS WAS AN UNJUST CHAEGE,
and they voted against it, and made a fight on it. They supposed,
and everybody supposed, that this was an ordinary codification of
the Mint laws, and it went through as many other bills go through,
and, whether I was remiss in my duty or not, I say it was never
called to my attention, and I repeat again that the parties having
it in charge, if they knew that it contained a thing of that kind, un
der the pretense of being a bill to codify the Mint laws, should never
have attempted to change the coinage of the world without notify
ing the Senate; and everybody connected with the committee failed
to do that. I f we voted for the bill we did not know that it con
tained any such provision. I was not familiar with Mint arrange
ments, and it being a bill to codify the Mint laws, I did not exam
ine its provisions with any particular care. Can any Senator say
that he reads every bill which comes before the Senate and knows
everything that is contained in the same ? Under no circumstances
would I ever at any time have voted to demonetize silver.
Mr. ALDRICH. There is one other section which I omitted, which
I want to read for the benefit o f the Senator from Nevada. The
twenty-seventh section, two sections from the section which he dis
cussed so long and so ably in the Senate, contained this provision in
terms:
T h at silver bullion, deposited by p rivate holders, shall be paid for in silver
b ars or disks only, and th a t no deposit for coinage in to silver coin shall be re
ceived.
Who will say that that was put there by implication, and what
sort of a plea is it for a man who represented a mining State and
who was interested in bullion to say he did not know what the pro
visions of the bill were ?
Mr. STEWART. I saw, as I said, that you had a bill codifying the
mint laws, and I, in common with nearly all the members of both
Houses, was ignorant of the fact that you were changing the coinage
o f the country. The section was not read. The amendment pro
posed by the Senator from Ohio was not discussed then, and I repeat
that silver was demonetized without discussion in either House of
Congress; it was demonetized without warning to the people, and
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60
IT WAS EITHER A MISTAKE OR SOMETHING WORSE.
So far as I am concerned, I was ignorant of it, and others say the
same thing; and I am ready, and have been ever since I discovered
it, to do all in my power to right the wrong. The fact that I was
here when this great wrong- was perpetrated has been one o f the
reasons why I have worked for the last sixteen years in this canse.
I believe no one will charge me with having missed an opportunity
to do whatever was in my power to right this wrong. One of my
great objects in life is to seethe people’s money restored to the place
where it was before this bill was passed through Congress in the
manner in which it was.
I wish the Senator from Ohio and the Senator from Rhode Island
were as willing to give back to the people the money of the Consti
tution as I am. I f they were willing to right the wrong it would be
sooner remedied. If those who are
IN FAVOR OF FREE COINAGE,
in favor o f restoring the silver dollar, had their way the people would
have back the dollar of the Constitution in two weeks. Those in
favor of the gold standard have the advantage by this legislation
without giving the people a hearing. The people say they had not
a fair trial, and they are asking for a new trial; and if those gentle
men think that the people will not press their case until they get a
fair hearing they mistake the temper of the people of the United
States.
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