People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 November 1894 — THE SEIGNIORAGE. [ARTICLE]

THE SEIGNIORAGE.

The Kind of Silver Dollars the Mint Is Now Coining. There seems to be some misunderstanding among the eastern gold-bug editors in regard to the coinage of silver that is now going on. Some say it is all right and some say it is all wrong; some declare that it is the seigniorage that the secretary is turning into dollars, and some declare that it is the bullion that is going through the mint; some are inclined to hold Mr. Carlisle responsible for the “scheme,” and others venture to suggest that the secretary would refuse to undertake it in opposition to Mr. Clevelad’s views. The most important thing is that the coinage is really going on, but we do not see how any editor can make a mistake as to the nature and purpose of the coinage, after reading Secretary Carlisle’s letter to Mr. Heard. We may wonder that Mr. Cleveland should consent to the further coinage of what Secretary Smith describes as 50-cent dollars, but there can be no doubt that the secretary is coining the bullion. He says so himself, and, as his remarks have appeared in print, it seems to us that there is no reason why the eastern gold-bug editors should be pulling one another’s hair about it. The secretary says he is coining silver for the purpose of re.deeming the treasury notes that were issued in purchasing the bullion. Necessarily,therefore, he is coining the bullion and not the seigniorage. As fast as the bullion is coined, the seigniorage accrues and is covered into the treasury. The seigniorage is a fund by itself, and is not represented by any notes or certificates. If it were coined into dollars it would represent a clear addition to the volume of currency. On the other hand, the coinage of the bullion itself will not add a single dollar to the currency, provided Secretary Carlisle continues to use the dollars so coined as a fund for the redemption of the treasury notes of 1890. The law says that these notes may be reissued after redemption, but it is clear that Mr. Carlisle regards that as discretionary. He is redeeming the notes and canceling them as fast as they find their way to the treasury. Consequently, the gold-bug editors who are inclined to resent the coinage of silver dollars that is now going on are simply talking in the air. We shall have silver dollars instead of paper dollars with which the bullion was purchased, and if the seigniorage is not coined not a dollar will be added to the circulation. There will be only this difference—the silver dollars cannot be retired and canceled. —Atlanta Constitution.