Sherman

act. The act of July 14, 1890, which ordered the purchase each month by the Secretary of the Treasury of 4,- 500,000 ounces of silver bullion, or so much thereof as might be = offered at the market price, provided the market price did not exceed the coinage value, $1.29.29 an ounce. To pay for the silver so purchased an i ue of Treasury notes redeemable in coin was authorized. There was also a clause in the act repealing the purchasing clause of the Bland-All is on act of 1878 and providing for the coining of 2,000,000 ounces of silver per month until July 1, 1891, when coinage should cease, except when nece ary to supply silver dollars for the redemption of the Treasury notes. All the remaining bullion and that bought thereafter was to be held in the Treasury as security for the notes. Seigniorage was to accrue to the Treasury. The purchasing clause in the act was repealed November 1, 1893, it having been found that the government purchases of silver not only failed to accomplish the result hoped for, viz., the maintenance of the price of silver at the coining parity— $1.29.29 an ounce—but that silver was declining so rapidly in value as to threaten both impairment of the security it offered as backing for the notes and an entire upsetting of the monetary stability of the country. A severe busine panic had been brought about, complicated by political considerations in which the tariff also figured. Before the repeal the notes i ued under authority of the act were rei ued after redemption. Since 1893 they have been canceled when redeemed in silver and the bullion so released has been coined, gradually reducing the Treasury’s holdings of bullion. The seigniorage also is: coined as it accrues. For additional information see Treasury note. 477