362 THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. 



silver coinage of all its members should not exceed $24,000,000, 

 and that it should not be legal tender for sums above $10. 

 Subsequently, in 1876, all coinage of silver, except subsidiary 

 coins, was discontinued by the Latin Union, and a similar 

 course was gradually taken by all other European countries 

 except Russia, which is on a silver basis, and subsequently by 

 British India and Japan. 



As silver continued to fall in spite of purchases by the 

 United States, the Secretary of the Treasury, in 1890, was 

 directed to increase his purchases to 4,500,000 ounces per 

 month, of which 2,000,000 ounces were to be coined, the 

 remainder to lie in the treasury as bullion, unless called for, 

 as coin, by the demands of commerce. Gold and silver 

 were at that time at a ratio of nineteen and six-tenths to 

 one. It was hoped that these liberal purchases would surely 

 sustain the price of silver, but they did not, and in 1893 the 

 purchasing clause of the act was repealed, and since that time 

 no silver has been purchased by the United States, and little, 

 if any, coined. On November 1, 1894, the United States, since 

 1873, had coined silver dollars of the face value of $421,776,- 

 408, and had on hand, in addition, silver bullion to the amount 

 of 138,809,081 fine ounces. The total cost, in gold, of the 

 coin and bullion had been $508,993,975. It was worth, at that 

 time, $293,549,258* in gold, and as this is written, with the 

 ratio of silver to gold thirty-four and seven-tenths to one, is 

 worth, as bullion, $278,472,525— the United States being 

 pledged, as to the portion which is coined, to maintain it at 

 its face value of sixteen to one. 



It became evident that the United States could not sustain 

 the price of silver in this way, and tiiat the attempt to do so 



deposits of silver to be coined rose from 5,000,000 francs to 054,000,000 francs. 

 If a ditference of .25 could cause such a rush to dump silver, it can be imagined 

 what would happen if the diflerence were greater. As the Latin Union, like 

 the United States, guaranteed the ratio of 16^ to 1 on all its coinage, it was 

 compelled first to restrict and then to suspend free coinage of silver. 



* At average prices of silver for 1894. Thosi; figures are not extended to 

 absolute; correctness. 



