The
Cortland News,
Friday, July 6, 1883.
CORTLAND
AND VICINITY.
Neighbor
Jones, of the Democrat, has by illness been confined to the house for several
days past. He has our hearty sympathy and hope for his rapid
recovery.
Notwithstanding the panic on trade dollars
Mr. W. H. Tuttle announces that he will take them for 100 cents at his shoe
store. See his advertisement elsewhere.
Mr.
W. A. Huntington, the new partner at the Register office, came with his
family and goods, the overland route all the way from McGrawville and through
the drenching rains on Tuesday.—Moravia Rep.
Thomas Steenburg, of Willett, Cortland county, died suddenly Saturday. He
dropped from his milk wagon on which he had been at work all day. Death was
caused undoubtedly by heart disease.—Bing. Leader.
Miss
Florence G. Kinney, for a year past Preceptress of the Union School, has
returned to her home in Cortland. Most ably has she filled her position here,
and endeared herself to both her pupils and the people of the village.—Coxsackie
News.
The Fourth was a decidedly unpleasant day in
the way of weather—showers of rain, and great heat. Most of the business places
were closed in the afternoon and a great crowd attended the Emerald picnic at
the Fair Grounds. We shall have more to say about this next week.
Mrs.
W. P. Randall, who has been quite ill for several weeks past from cancer in the
breast, is now past recovery, her death being only a question of time, and of a
few days at the farthest. Senator E. B. Thomas, her youngest son, is constantly
with her, and Charles S. Thomas, Esq., her eldest son, is expected soon.
On
Monday during a thunderstorm the house of Jos. Dalton, in the western part of
the village, was struck by lightning and considerably shattered, and Mrs.
Dalton so much shocked as to be several hours recovering. On Tuesday Mr.
Madison Woodruff's barn, within a short distance of Dalton's place, was struck
and badly torn. On Wednesday Mr. Martin Gates' house on Railroad street was
struck, but not much damaged. Cortland is an attractive place.
The
address upon "Burns and Lyric Poetry," by Prof. James M. Milne, of the
Department of Classical Languages in Cortland Normal School,, was a scholarly production,
of which we dare not attempt even a synopsis, The professor is an enthusiastic
Scotchman, and his appreciation of the songs of the famous poet are
exceptionally fine. He called for more attention to the neglected higher branch of literature, which promises greater power than the oratory of legislative
halls, and his description of the life of Burns was certainly an interesting
proof of the truthfulness of the proposition.—Dryden Herald.
Although we have devoted much space this week
to the account of the Normal commencement, yet knowing that so much was said
and done which deserves to be placed on record, we feel that we are far from
doing justice to the excellent essays, orations, music, etc., of the former and
present pupils of the school. From first to last the exercises were of the most
interesting, enjoyable character, and were attended by more of the old pupils
than any previous commencement, which, on the whole, if not the best, was one
of the best in the history of the school, and that is saying much. It has
necessitated, however, the leaving out of much matter we had prepared for
publication.
A trade-dollar panic has again visited us,
and the banks and some of the business men have posted notices that trade
dollars will not be received by them except at 15 per cent discount.
The
annual session of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows of the State will be held in
Rand's Opera House, Troy, August 21st, 22d and 23d. About four hundred and
fifty lodges will be represented.
The
Civil Engineer of the U. I. & E. has been in town for several days,
prospecting for an outlet for this road via Smith's Valley. Several proposed
routes have been examined. It is very probable that the road will soon be
built.— DeRuyter Gleaner.
Judges Duell and Smith left Thursday morning
on their trip to the, seashore. The readers of THE NEWS may expect to hear from
them during their absence provided time, place, event, inclination, etc.,
permit. For further particulars, inquire within.
Mr.
L. D. C. Hopkins, Cortland's well-known market gardener, is furnishing our citizens with some fine vegetables, all the more desirable
because supplied fresh. And judging by the loads he brings into town, the
people appreciate his efforts to please them.
Saturday
afternoon the blacksmith shop of the Wagon Company, situated at the south end
of the village of Homer, caught fire, and an alarm was sounded, but the fire
was quenched before the department arrived at the spot though it promptly
responded. Damage light.
Mr.
D. M. Kurtz, publisher of illustrated historical and descriptive sketches of
cities and towns, is in town for the purpose of gathering material for a
history of Cortland under the following title, which gives the scope of the
work: “Past and Present: a Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Cortland, N. Y.,
and its Manufacturing and Commercial Interests; Showing its Attractions as a Place
of Residence and Advantages as a Location tor Manufacturing Enterprises." Mr.
Kurtz comes with many excellent testimonials of his ability as a writer, of the
faithfulness and accuracy which characterize the sketches of other places he
has visited, and we have every reason to believe that Mr. Kurtz will issue such
a creditable work as our citizens will be proud to see sent out to the world.
Prof.
J. H. Kelley, for two years past Principal of the Coxsackie Union School, has
received and accepted a call to the Superintendency of the Middleburgh Union
School, at a salary of $1,000 a year, and will move his family there during the
coming vacation. His departure will cause deep regret among our best citizens,
and the Middleburgh Board of Education is to be congratulated upon obtaining
his valuable services. In making the announcement, the Middleburgh Gazette remarks: "Again have the trustees displayed wisdom,
as Prof. Kelley is one of the ablest instructors in the State, and the school
will flourish under his care." Right, Bro. Young.—Coxsackie News. Prof. Kelley was formerly a resident of McGrawville, where he married Miss Jennie
Smith.
Mrs.
A. P. Smith and her daughter Clara have gone to their farm at Bainbridge.
Rev.
Geo. W. Peck, of Buffalo, is preparing a biography of his uncle, Bishop Peck,
of Syracuse, recently deceased.
Mr.
W. A. Huntington announced in last week's McGrawville Sentinel that "with
this issue this paper passes into other hands."
Ex-Governor
Cornell passed through Cortland yesterday morning. He appeared to be in
excellent health and good spirits.
Col.
D. S. Lamont, Governor Cleveland's private secretary, came from McGrawville yesterday
morning and left on the Syracuse train.
Mr. S.
G. Hitchcock, of the Syracuse Sunday Times, formerly a Cortland county
printer, was in the village Monday looking in upon old friends. Come again, Steve.,
and stay longer.
Dr.
Hoose left town on Wednesday to attend the meeting of the National Council of
Education which is in session at Saratoga. To-day he reads a paper before the
New York State Teachers' Association at Lake George.
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
A
VIGOROUS war against the trade dollar has been inaugurated in New York [City],
all classes now refusing to take it, and unfortunate holders of the coin being
unable to get rid of it except at a reduction of ten or fifteen cents on its
face value.
THE TRADE DOLLAR.
R. E. Preston Gives the History and Fluctuating
Value of It.
Mr. R. E. Preston, acting director of the mint, said: "The trade
dollar was authorized to be coined by the act of February 12th, 1873. It was not
intended for circulation in the United States, but for export to China. That empire
possesses no mint for the coinage of gold or silver, and depends upon foreign
coins for its domestic circulation, and until the institution of the trade dollar
the principal shipments of coin to China were in the form of Mexican dollars.
It was designed to compete with the Mexican dollar, and for that purpose was
made a trifle more valuable, about two mills per piece. It therefore not only
afforded a market for the surplus silver of the mines on the Pacific coast, but
furnished merchants and importers from China with silver in a convenient form
for payment for commodities, instead of their being obliged to purchase Mexican
dollars for that purpose."
Of the fluctuations in value of
the trade dollar Mr. Preston is quoted as saying that at the time the coinage of
this piece was authorized, silver bullion was worth in London about 5s. 15-16d.
per ounce, British standard at which rate the intrinsic value of the trade dollar
was $1.0347 in gold. Its average value during that year (1873) was $1.033 in
gold. In July, 1876, silver had fallen to the lowest price on record, and the
bullion value of a trade dollar was only 80.7 cents in gold. In December of the same year it was 101 cents, and since that date it has
fluctuated within a range of thirteen cents to the dollar, until at to-day's
London quotation for silver bullion it is worth only 87.49 cents.
Mr. Preston is reported as
saying of the legal-tender quality of the dollar that it was legal-tender until
July 22d, 1876, when Congress, by a joint resolution, abrogated the
legal-tender quality. This resolution also restricted further coinage to the
actual export demand. It was found, however, that the law was evaded by persons
who made affidavit that the coin was needed for export, and shipped it to China
and back again to the United States, where it was put in circulation. Mr.
Preston is also quoted as saying that it is a mistake to suppose that the trade
dollar is a government coin; that "under the coinage act which authorized
the coinage of trade dollars, these pieces were coined for depositors of silver
bullion at the mints, and a charge imposed for coinage at a rate not to exceed
the actual cost to the government of manufacture. By this act any owner of
silver bullion could have the same coined into trade dollars. They therefore
were not issued or paid out by the government in payment of obligations or
exchanged for other money. The standard silver dollar and silver fractional
coins are coined from silver bullion purchased by the government for that
purpose, and on its own account, and are not coined for depositors, differing
in this respect from the trade dollar which was coined. The truth is that the
government has endeavored to keep the trade dollar in its lawful and proper
channel, and that from ignorance of the law relative to this coin people have
taken them in ordinary business transactions when they could have been lawfully
refused."
When asked what remedy he would
propose, Mr. Preston replied: “There is none, unless Congress takes up the matter
and legislates upon it. My idea would be to call all the coins in and redeem them,"
and he added that Congress would have to settle the rate at which they should
be redeemed.—Washington Post.
A Financial Problem.
What are we to do with the silver is the great question now confronting
the country. The trade dollars of 420 grains, which is up to the standard, has been
kicked and booted and knocked clear out of the field. $35,000,000 of them were
coined, of which only $4,500,000 are in circulation in this country.
The movement against the trade
dollar is not likely to create any new friends for the standard dollar. It is
hard for Congress to legalize this unlawful dollar, which, though a legal
tender in payment of duties, is not redeemable in any other money.
There is now in the groaning
vaults of the depositaries in New York, Washington and elsewhere $111,798,175
of standard dollars —weighing 6,600,038 pounds—$72,532,791 of which is
represented by silver certificates, leaving $40,000,000 which is stored as idle
capital. There is no danger of any one stealing this trash, as every million
weighs over thirty tons.
Should Congress stop the
coinage, the price of silver will be greatly depreciated. This is one of the questions that will confront the wisdom of over 180 new
and untried statesmen in the next Democratic House.
What the Republican Party Has Done.
The debt statement for July
furnishes some remarkable facts showing the paying ability of our government.
During the last year, while no industry has suffered perceptibly by the burdens
of taxation, Uncle Sam's obligations have been reduced $137,823,234.34, of
which $125,581,250 was interest bearing debt, reducing the annual
interest account $5,923,431. In August, 1865, the annual interest charge was
$151,000,000, which is now reduced nearly $100,000,000, leaving it only
$58,436,709; and during this period of eighteen years the principal of the
national debt has been reduced over one thousand millions of dollars.
This large reduction in the face
of the enormous payments made for pensions and arrears and the liquidation of claims
of various kinds growing out of the war is a most marvelous fact in the
nation's history. Judging of the future by the past the next ten years will see
the national debt entirely wiped out, and future historians will record for the
information of oncoming millions, that this young republic in a single
generation, beginning with no army, navy or credit, equipped over 1,000,000 of her
brave sons, fought a four years' war, gave 500,000 precious lives as a
sacrifice to liberty, raised a navy a terror to every foe, established a
currency and gave it a credit by
force of her conquests on sea and on land, and when victory came pensioned
every soldier and soldier's widow, paid every creditor interest and one hundred
cents on every dollar of her debt of over three thousand millions, and did all
this within thirty years, during which the country made the most rapid strides
in material development, while the entire population enjoyed the most marvelous
prosperity.
Surely with such a history in the
past and with such a pregnant future before us we ought to be grateful to God
for giving us so goodly a heritage.
Past and Present, Kurtz: http://www.usgenweb.info/nycortland/books/pandp-1.htm
1883 Proof Trade Dollar and comments: http://www.tradedollarnut.com/Home%20Page/Home%20first%20links/dates/1883/1883P.htm
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