The Government Stamp

Men write to The World to saj that 'it ia the governmeut stamp which jives gold coin its currency by making t legal tender for its face. ' ' But gold coin is not, in fact, either :urrent or legal tenckr "for its face." :t is both current and legal tender for vhat it is worth by weight ; no more, 10 less. The law is explicit and tho custom ;qv.aly so. The law says that Anieri■an gold coins shall be received in all payments, when of iull weight, according to their respective valnes, and when yi less than full weight at less values proportioned to their respective actual tveight. That is to say, the government stamp ;ei'tiflcs the qïiality and genuineness of ;he gold, and the law compels you to :ake it, not at its face value, but for what it is actually worth by weight. A.nd, in fact, that is the only way in ivhich the government itself or the banks take gold or pay it out. If your debtor offers to pay in Am erijan $10 goldpieces, you are. required by law to accept them, not at $10 apiece by any means, but for exactly what they are worth by weight. The government stamp gives value only in so f ar as it pledges the government to the direct or indirect redemption of the metal piece or the paper on which it is placed. It inakes minor subsidiary coins and paper notes good within the country because it pledges the government to take them back, and because the government refuses to issue more of them than are needed here or more than it can take care of. It does the same thing fcr silver dollars so long as their coinage is restricted to the country's own possibilities of use. It can do no more. It cannot add one cent to the actual value of a silver dollar which contains only 52 cents' worth of metaL The original weight of gold coins is fixed according to the actual value of the gold in them. As that gold is worth the same the world over an American $10 goldpiece will pay $10 worth of debt in any country. The weight of a silver dollar is determined by fiat of the government, and so wherever the fiat of the government is not law the silver dollar will pay no more of debt than the silver in it is worth. Under free coinage we shall be required to receive silver coins at $1.29 an ounce, which we can use only at 68 cents an ounce in the payment of foreign debts. No stamp of the government can make them worth more beyond its own jnrisdiction. This is why free coinage at present ratios and without international agreement is an invitation to chaos and aster.-