was stated; looked amused at the double unit proposition advanced, and now replied : "The law I referred to this morning was passed April 2, 1792, and remained the law till 1873. You will find it in my valuable Handbook. I now read it from the United States Statutes:
"Dollars or units, each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four-sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard silver.
"If you omit the words referring to the Spanish milled dollar, it will then read: 'Dollars or units, each to contain 371 grains and 4-16 parts of a grain of pure silver.'
"This is the statute that fixed the unit and is the only statute on the subject till we come to 1873.
"Now, what you referred to is this. It is in section 9, and reads as follows:
"Eagles—each to be of the value of ten dollars or units."
"And on the ratio of 15 to 1, fixed in the same act, this made an eagle contain 247 grains of pure gold, or 270 grains of standard gold. You will observe that the law does not say, as you stated, that an 'Eagle or ten-dollar gold piece is ten units.' It says: 'Of the value of ten dollars or units.' In other words, a ten-dollar gold piece shall be of the value of ten silver dollars.
"Or to state it in another way: As the law fixed 371¼ grains of pure silver as a unit, the quantity of gold in a gold dollar would be regulated by the ratio fixed from time to time.
"Now," addressing Mr. Scott, "if I have not read your law right, I want you to say so. This is the place to settle all questions of fact. Your law does not say a gold piece has so many units in it, but instead of that, it
