which it is hoped will be provided by
Congress during its present session.

The coinage of gold by the mints of the United States during the last
fiscal year was $40,986,912. The coinage of silver dollars since
the passage of the act for that purpose up to November 1, 1879, was
$45,000,850, of which $12,700,344 have been issued from the Treasury
and are now in circulation, and $32,300,506 are still in the
possession of the Government.

The pendency of the proposition for unity of action between the United
States and the principal commercial nations of Europe to effect a
permanent system for the equality of gold and silver in the recognized
money of the world leads me to recommend that Congress refrain from
new legislation on the general subject. The great revival of trade,
internal and foreign, will supply during the coming year its own
instructions, which may well be awaited before attempting further
experimental measures with the coinage. I would, however, strongly
urge upon Congress the importance of authorizing the Secretary of the
Treasury to suspend the coinage of silver dollars upon the present
legal ratio. The market value of the silver dollar being uniformly and
largely less than the market value of the gold dollar, it is obviously
impracticable to maintain them at par with each other if both are
coined without limit. If the cheaper coin is forced into circulation,
it will, if coined without limit, soon become the sole standard of
value, and thus defeat the desired object, which is a currency of both
gold and silver which shall be of equivalent value, dollar for dollar,
with the universally recognized money of the world.

The retirement from circulation of United States notes with the
capacity of legal tender in private contracts is a step to be taken
in our progress toward a safe and stable currency which should be
accepted as the policy and duty of the Government and the interest
and security of the people. It is my firm conviction that the issue of
legal-tender paper money based wholly upon the authority and credit of
the Government, except in extreme emergency, is without warrant in the
Constitution and a violation of sound financial principles. The issue
of United States notes during the late civil war with the capacity of
legal tender between private individuals was not authorized except as
a means of rescuing the country from imminent peril. The circulation
of these notes as paper money for any protr