Bland Silver Bill
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
one of the most notable measures of American Congressional history. The original bill, as introduced by Representative Bland and passed by the House late in 1877; provided simply for the free and unlimited coinage of silver by all the mints of the United States. This program represented The the full policy of the Silver men. silver dollar had been demonetized by the act of 1873, and its coinage had been wholly abandoned. The Bimetallists desired to restore it to perfect equality with gold as a standard of value, and the original Bland bill, permitting owners of silver bullion to have their commodity coined into dollars by the mints, was intended as the means to accomplish that object. But the Senate amended the measure materially. The free coinage clause was stricken out, and, as a concession to the Silver men, it was directed that the Secretary of the Treasury should purchase monthly not less than $2,000,000 and not more than $4,000,- 000 worth of silver bullion, at the market price of the metal, and coin it into standard silver dollars, which should be unlimited legal tender for all debts. The amended bill was reported by Senator Allison, Chairman of the Finance Committee, and hence received the name of the Bland-Allison Act. It was vetoed by President Hayes, but passed over his veto, Feb. 28, 1878, by 196 to 73 in the House, and by 46 to 19 in the Senate. The silver purchase clause in this act was repealed by the Sherman Act of 1890.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 the silver question was still living politics, and the writer could assume readers remembered the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 as a live grievance rather than a museum piece. The cause it served is long settled: the Gold Standard Act of 1900 put the country formally on gold, Franklin Roosevelt took it off gold convertibility for citizens in 1933-34, silver dollars stopped being struck for circulation after 1935, silver was removed from dimes and quarters by the Coinage Act of 1965, and redemption of silver certificates for bullion ended in 1968. Historians have also softened the old charge, implicit in the phrase "the silver dollar had been demonetized by the act of 1873," that the demonetization was a conspiracy; the "Crime of '73" is now usually read as a poorly explained technical decision that became explosive only when silver prices collapsed. The factual account of the bill's passage over President Hayes's veto on 28 February 1878 still stands as written.
Written for this edition, 2026.