DEWEY'S DEFENSE OF "AN AMERICAN
INSTITUTION"-VENDING MACHINE
Arthur Krock, famous col
umnist of the New York Times,
reported in his column “In The
Nation” of June 16, 1942, how
Representative Dewey protected
an American Institution. We sa
lute Statesman Dewey and to
Newspaperman Krock! Krock’s
story follows:
WASHINGTON, June 15 —
The dollar has friends every
where. Just now the dollar has
more friends abroad than ever
before, and there is reason to
suspect that some influential
coin-collectors among the Axis
personages— hedging against a
growing certainty of the success
of the United Nations in the war
— are among them. “She is a
good girl, that dollar,” once re
marked Clemenceau (or perhaps
it was Andre Tardieu). There
fore, an account of a move to
protect the highest unit coin of
the United States and its uses
would in all likelihood contain
nothing novel.
But this is a story of a gallant,
eleventh-hour defense of the
broader and more intimate uses
of a much humbler American
coin, an active part of the daily
lives of nearly all citizens. They
constantly are a s k i n g f o r
“change” so that this most con
venient of our monetary units
will be steadily in their posses
sion. The coin is the nickel, and
its defender in this instance was
Representative Charles S. Dewey
of Illinois.
Im plications Realized
When Mr. Dewey was Assist
ant Secretary of the Treasury
and, financial adviser to the gov
ernment of Poland, he was ac
customed to deal in millions. But
this did not prevent him from
realizing the social and economic
implications of a proposed new
coinage of nickels and proceed
ing swiftly and successfully to
modify the metallic formula.
In the second W ar Powers Act
of 1942 there is a direction to the
Mint to eliminate the metal
known as nickel from the coin
with the same name because of
a shortage of the metal, vitally
essential to armament produc
tion. The Director of the Mint
was instructed, as soon as the
act became effective, to turn out
nickels composed of equal parts
of copper and silver until De
cember 1, 1946. But during con
sideration of the act Congress
added a provision, authorizing
the Director, with the approval
of the Secretary of the Treasury
ANOTHER MONTH
NEARER VICTORY!
INTERNATIONAL MUTOSCOPE REEL CO., Inc.
PENNY A R C A D E H EA D Q U A RTER S S IN C E 1895
Manufacturers of Photomatic and O ther Famous Coin O perated Equipment
44-01 Eleventh Street
Long Island City, New York
6
AUTOMATIC AGE
© International Arcade Museum
and the chairman of WPB, “to
vary the proportions of silver
and copper and to add other ma
terials if such action be in the
public interest.”
It was further provided that
these five-cent pieces “shall be
deemed to be minor coins or coin
age and not silver coins,” which
leads to the impression that the
silver bloc in Congress saw a
chance for another use of 71
cents silver against a world price
of 35 cents. That, however, has
nothing to do with Mr. Dewey’s
rescue act.
A C ry fo r H elp
One day he was informed by a
manufacturer of nickel-in-the-
slot vending machines, which
have become an American insti
tution, that the Treasury was
about to order the Mint to begin
the production of five-cent pieces
composed of equal parts of silver
and copper. Since all of these
vending machines, including
“juke boxes,” are set in opera
tion by a nickel that is suscepti
ble to magnetic attraction, the
silver-copper coins would not
have started the machinery.
Mr. D e w e y communicated
with the Treasury and urged offi
cials not to bring out a coin
which, unless it were carefully
distinguished from the existing
one, would impel citizens to
smash unresponding vending
machines; and, if it were not,
would tend to end the functions
of the machines. He said he be
lieved the Treasury had been
thinking entirely of the mone
tary aspect of the nickel, and
nothing of its social and eco
nomic significance.
“The economic significance,”
said Mr. Dewey, “comes from
the development of the vending
machines. Thousands are in
stalled in manufacturing plants,
including those doing war work,
where, for security’s sake, hu
man vendors are not wanted,
and wherever the American peo-
September, 1942
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