nd the amount of
charges or deductions, if any, to be made.

"Sec. 5. That so much of the act of February 28, 1878, entitled
'An act to authorize the coinage of the standard silver dollar and
to restore its legal tender character,' as requires the monthly
purchase and coinage of the same into silver dollars of not less
than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 worth of silver bullion,
is hereby repealed.

"Sec. 6. That upon the passage of this act the balances standing
with the treasurer of the United States to the respective credits
of national banks, for deposits made to redeem the circulating
notes of such banks, and all deposits thereafter received for like
purpose, shall be converted into the treasury as a miscellaneous
receipt, and the treasurer of the United States shall redeem, from
the general cash in the treasury, the circulating notes of said
banks which may come into his possession subject to redemption;
and upon the certificate of the comptroller of the currency that
such notes have been received by him, and that they have been
destroyed and that no new notes will be issued in their place,
reimbursement of their amount shall be made to the treasurer, under
such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe,
from an appropriation hereby created, to be known as 'National bank
notes: Redemption account,' but the provisions of this act shall
not apply to the deposits received under section 3 of the act of
June 20, 1874, requiring every national bank to keep in lawful
money, with the treasurer of the United States, a sum equal to five
per cent. of its circulation, to be held and used for the redemption
of its circulating notes; and the balance remaining of the deposit
so covered shall, at the close of each month, be reported on the
monthly public debt statement as debt of the United States bearing
no interest.

"Sec. 7. That this act shall take effect thirty days from and
after its passage."

The authorship of this law has been generally credited to me, and
it was commonly called the "Sherman silver law," though I took but
little part in framing the legislation until the bill got into
conference. The situation at that time was critical. A large
majority of the Senate favored free silver, and it was feared that
the small majority against it in the other House might yield and
agree to it. The silence of the President on the matter gave rise
to an apprehension that if a free coinage bill sh