Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1893 — RAG-TAG ROYALTY. [ARTICLE]

RAG-TAG ROYALTY.

On the 6th inst., the Chevalier d’ Hoppancourt, captain of the Austrian flagship Frundsberg, stationed in New York harbor since the naval review, called upon Mayor Gilroy and informed him that the heir to the Austrian throne, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, is now on his way to this country from the Orient, to attend the Fair, and that he is expected to arrive in August. The chevalier added that the Archduke did not expect to have his presence officially recognized. Archduke Francis Ferdinand is a nephew of the present Austrian Emperor, and became the heir to the throne on the death of the Crown Prince Rudolph, by suicide, something over a year ago. He is described as a person of mediocre talents and sullen disposition , a mere nobody, who, without expectations until recently, has by an unexpected turn of fortune's wheel become an individual of great importance. He is said to be the most unpopular person in the empire, and has been regarded as the black sheep of the Hapsburg family, although he is said to i>e austere ana temperate in his habits. His great failings are said to be boorishness, insolence and sullenness, and it is stated on "good authority that the Emperor has wound up several stormy scenes with his refractory nephew with the horsewhip. The Empress will not permit the Archduke to approach her and has forbidden him to come into her presence. It had been hoped that his accession to the dignity of the heir apparent would change his disposition to a certain extent, but time has proved that his character and conduct are the same. And yet it may be safely predicted that this princely scion of a storied line, notwithstanding his shortcomings, will be received with great acclaim and generous hospitality, and especially,

- -f ■ V. ' -1 : ..if as he is unmarried, will the mar* riageable daughters of multi-million-aires court his unsavory society, *=*# SILVER COINAGE. to The continued agitation of the silver coinage question gives current interest to all reliable information as to where we are at and how we gofr-there. - Secretary Carlisle,'in a has given to the public a mass of data on the subject that is exhaustive, and from this we have gleaned a few leading facts for this article: The United States mint was first opened for business in 1792. Up to 1873 it had turned out 8,045,838 silver dollars. In 1873 coinage of silver was stopped by act of Congress, but was resumed in 1878, under the Bland-Allison act, which provided that not less than 12,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 worth of standard silver dollars of 412 J grains each, per month be turned out from silver bullion which the act made it compulsory for the Secretary of the Treasury to buy. Under this act there was coined up to July 14, 1890, $378,166,796. In addition there have been coined from trade dollars $6,078,472, and from seigniorage of bullion purchased under the act, of July 14, 1890, $6,641,108, an aggregate of-$389,886,374 of legal tender silver money issued by the United States mints since 1878. Of this vast total only $58,016,019 were in circulation on the Ist of June. The act of July 14, 1890, required the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase 4,500,000 ounces silver bullion each month,, and continue the coinage of silver dollars at the rate of $2,000,000 per month till/uly 1, 1891. Under this act there have been coined $29,408,461, making a total silver coinage since 1878 of $419,294,835., In addition to this vast sum coined since 1878, there has accumulated in the vaults of the Treasury, purchased under the act of July 14, 1890, 124,292,532 fine ounces of silver bullion, at a cost of $114,299,920, worth today in the market $103,411,386, showing a loss of $10,838,534. Bullion was purchased under the terms of the act of July 14, 1890, with new Treasury notes, which were redeemable in gold or silver at the discretion of the Secretary, it “being the established policy of the United States to maintain the two metals on a parity.’’ In pursuance of this policy it becomes the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to keep the government in a condition to redeem its obligations in such coins as may be demanded, so as to prevent the depreciation of either. From May 1, 1892, to May 1, 1893, these treasury notes, issued' for the purchase of silver bullion, amounted to $49,961,184, and during the same period the amount of these notes redeemed in gold was $47,745,173, thus showing that all but $2,216,011 worth was paid for’in gold, while the bullion itself is stored in the treasury vaults.