“Does not the Act of Congress of February, 1894, known as the free coinage law, permit you, Mr. Secretary, to substitute gold or silver bars of standard fineness, for the coined money and paper money in the treasury vaults?” “Yes,” replied the secretary, “but I do not see how that law can be invoked to relieve the situation. There are not three hundred millions of gold and silver ingots in private ownership in the country, or, probably, in the world. The very large output of $1,000,000 in gold per week from the Morning mine will not serve us in this exigency. It would require six years’ yield of your mine, Mr. Morning, to furnish enough gold to release the money now in the treasury, and baffle Messrs. Gray, Claybank, and Wolf. Three hundred millions of dollars is a good deal of money, Mr. Morning—a good deal of money.” “Relatively it is, Mr. Secretary, but I have five times that sum in gold bars here, in Philadelphia, and New York.” The secretary glanced at the Arizona Gold King, and looked uneasily at the bell cord which hung above his desk. “No, I am not crazy,” said Morning with a laugh, “though I do not blame you for thinking so. The time has come somewhat sooner than I expected for intrusting you with my secret. The Morning mine is a phenomenal deposit of gold. It is so large that, fearing any general knowledge of its extent might cause demonetization of gold by the nations, I took measures to conceal its true yield, and for every ounce of gold which I shipped to New York or London as the ostensible product of the mine, I shipped twenty-five other ounces disguised as pig-copper to this city, or New York, or Philadelphia, or Liverpool. In the latter place $1,000,000,000 are stored, and there are $500,000,000 in each of the American cities I have named. A month ago I sent four of my trusted men from the mine to this city, where they have since been busy with cold chisels, releasing the gold bars from their copper moulds. They will go from here to Philadelphia and New York, and thence to Liverpool, for similar labors. I did not intend, Mr. Secretary, to offer any of this gold for coinage or sale until able to present it simultaneously at European and American mints. But the present exigency induces me to turn over to the United States for coinage, the five hundred millions of gold bars now ready for delivery in this city. I may add, Mr. Secretary, to quiet the apprehensions which your deep interest in the commercial prosperity of the country might lead you to entertain, that I have not intended, and do not now intend, to throw $2,500,000,000 of new money immediately into the channels of commerce. I shall change the gold bars into money at once, in order that the present value may not, by demonetization, be taken away from gold; but, once transformed into money, it will be fed gradually to the world, and not precipitated upon it.”