a conference committee, where it took the form in which it was passed finally and became a law, July 14, 1890.

As passed, it directed the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase 4,500,000 ounces of silver bullion each month at the market price thereof, not exceeding $1 for every 371 grains of pure silver, and to issue in payment for such purchase Treasury Notes of the United States.

Those Treasury Notes were made redeemable in coin, gold or silver, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, and had full legal-tender value. Following this clause was one which read, "It being the established policy of the United States to maintain the two metals on a parity with each other upon the present legal ratio, or such ratio as may be provided by law."

The Act also provided for the actual coinage of 2,000,000 silver dollars a month up until July 1, 1891.

By comparing the two Acts of 1878 and 1890, a better view of the silver controversy may be had. The Act of 1878 made it compulsory on the Government to buy silver bullion to the value of $2,000,000 and not exceeding $4,000,000 monthly, and to coin the same into silver dollars. This was a drain on the Treasury of at least $24,000,000 a year. Holders of silver dollars could exchange them at the Treasury, in sums of ten dollars, for Silver Certificates, the coin remaining in the Treasury for the payment of the Certificate on demand. These Certificates were not given full legal tender value, except for payment of customs and all public dues. This approval of them by the Government confirmed them in popular estimation, and they were as freely accepted by the people as if they had been a full legal tender.

The Act of 1890 made compulsory on the Treasury the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver per month, or 54,000,000

ounces a year. But instead of paying cash for it, payment was to be made in Certificates, called Treasury notes, especially issued, redeemable in gold or silver coin, and clothed with full legal tender power.

It will be seen that payment for the bullion, under the Act of 1878, was in cash; while payment for the bullion under the Act of 1890 was by Certificate, or Treasury note.

There was no compulsory coinage of the bullion under the Act of 1890, except at the rate of $2,000,000 a month up till July 1, 1891. After that date no silver dollars were coined, but the bullion purchased was held in the form of fine silver bars. Under the Act, $28,298,455 were coined, and up to April 1, 1891, $89,602,198 in Treasury notes, to pay for bullion deposited, had been issued, $77,605,000 of which were in circulation. At the same date the value of silver bars held by the Treasury was $65,720,000.

On November 1, 1891, the total of silver dollars coined and in existence in the United States, under all the Acts, was $409,475,368, of which $347,339,907 were in the Treasury, and only $62,135,461 outside of the Treasury, or in circulation.

Against this $323,668,401 silver certificates had been issued, $321,142,642 of which were outside of the Treasury and $2,525.759 inside. At the same date the stock of silver bullion in the Treasury was $33,094,234.

The 54,000,000 ounces of silver which the Government is required to buy yearly, and to issue Treasury notes therefor, was the exact output of the silver mines in the United States in 1890. A prime object of the law was, therefore, to furnish a sure market for the product of our mines, at the prevailing price of silver bullion when presented at the Treasury. The Act was a compromise Act, and both mineowners and advocates of "free and unlimited coinage" ac

cepted the compromise, as the best that could be done to secure a certain home market for their product, and at the same time increase the circulating medium of the country by just the number of Treasury notes required to purchase 54,000,000 ounces of silver.

Experience has shown that the Act really authorized the purchase of more than the silver product of American mines, available for coinage purposes, since some three to five million ounces of said product are annually used up in the

arts.

It was a general belief, at the time of the passage of the Act of 1890, that its effect would be to increase the market price of silver. Indeed this was confidently prophesied by mine-owners and free-silver-coinage advocates. In anticipation of such rise, silver speculators entered the market and drove silver bullion up to $1.05 an ounce in April, 1890; to $1.08 in May; to $1.15 in August; to $1.21 in September. But now the natural law of supply and demand began to operate against them. They had to contend with the world's market and the world's prices, and no longer with a home market and home prices. The inevitable consequence was that the price of silver broke. The country that could sustain a certain amount of silver coin, as a circulating medium, at par with gold, could not sustain the market value of silver bullion at a point above where the laws of supply and demand, as established by the world at large, chose to fix it.

In October, 1890, silver fell to $1.09 per ounce; in December to $106. The decline was gradual for a long time. In December, 1891, silver was worth 941⁄2 cents an ounce, and the fine silver in a dollar was worth only 73 cents. On May 23, 1892, silver sold for 884 cents per ounce. Therefore, even with so excellent a customer as the

Government, and one ready to take the entire output of the silver mines of the country, the market price of the product declined. The law of the world proved mightier than the law of the United States.

THE BLAND FREE COINAGE BILL-PROPOSED ACT OF 1892.

Failure of silver producers to realize their expectations under the Act of 1890, a growing desire to relieve depressed industrial and trade conditions, especially in the West and South, and the fact that political conventions in a great many States had given the silver question a party turn, rendered the opening of the Fifty-second Congress an opportune time to seek new coinage legislation. In the Democratic Conventions the planks favored the "free and unlimited coinage of silver;' in the Republican Conventions they favored the "maintainance of silver on a parity with gold."

The Congress opened with an overwhelming Democratic majority, and Mr. Bland, of Missouri, became the recognized leader of his party on the silver question. He introduced into the House what became known as the "Bland Free Silver Coinage Bill," and advocated it with his well-known ability. It drew around it the advocates of "free and unlimited coinage" and became the subject of animated and prolonged debate. When ripe for passage Mr. Bland demanded the previous question, which failed by the very remarkable vote of 148 yeas to 148 nays; there being enough of Eastern Democrats voting with the Republicans to cause this disappointing result to the friends of the measure.

As this vote by no means disposed of the measure finally in the House, or if so, as the question proved a leading one in the National campaign of 1892, it is well to understand the provisions of the bill.

It provides that the unit of value shall be the standard silver dollar as now coined, of 4121⁄2 grains standard silver, or the gold dollar of 25.8 grains standard gold.

That the standard gold and silver coins shall be full legal tender.

That any holder of standard gold or silver bullion shall be entitled to have the same minted into coins free of charge, or may deposit said bullion at the mints and receive coin notes therefor, equal in value to the coinage value of the bullion deposited, the bullion thereupon to become the property of the government.

That the coin notes shall not be less than one nor over one thousand dollars in value and shall be a legal tender.

That issue of the Treasury notes in pay for bullion, provided for in the Act of 1890, shall be discontinued, and all such as are outstanding shall be called in and destroyed and coin notes shall be substituted for them.

That the issue of coin notes shall never be greater than the coinage value of the bullion in the Treasury.

That said coin notes shall be redeemed in coin at the Treasury, and the bullion deposited shall be coined as fast as said coins are needed for such purposes of redemption.

That any holder of gold or silver coins may deposit the same, in sums of ten dollars, and demand coin notes therefor.

That the Act of 1890 is repealed; and that the silver dollar of 4121⁄2 grains may change to one of 400 grains as soon as France reopens her mints to free and unrestricted coinage of silver at the ratio of 15% of silver to I of gold.

Under the Act of 1890 the government must purchase 54,000,000 ounces of silver per annum, for which it pays the market price.

Under the proposed Act of 1892 the owner of gold or