The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-03 00:00:00

FORTH AND CLYDE JUNCTION.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
on Saturday at Stirling—Mr. H. R. Cooper in the
chair.

The CHAIRMAN said that the traffic continued to
increase. The revenue amounted to £8,479 against
£8,229 for the corresponding period in the preced-
ing year, showing that the financial shares of the
company were in a healthy state, and, considering
the state of trade in the past half-year, the increase
was satisfactory. The directors regretted that the
amalgamation bill had been thrown out, for had it
passed it would have been the best thing that could
happen. For some reason unknown to the directors,
the committee had seen fit to decide against the bill;
he hoped, however, that some arrangement might
be come to with the Coledonian or some other rail-
way company. He concluded by moving the adop-
tion of the report.
Mr. J. M. DOUGLAS seconded the motion, and it
was agreed to unanimously.
The dividend on the preference stock and shares
was declared payable the 29th April, and a vote of
thanks concluded the proceedings.

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 3, 1867

moos might be displeased if it were depreciated
when he attempted to vindicate its character. They
might depend upon it that, when a better under-
standing was arrived at between the House of Com-
mons and assemblies like the present, such marks of
disapprobation would cease. Now, he would again
recur to what he had said, that no bill could be sup-
posed to pass the House of Commons without much
criticism, without much alteration, and, he believed,
much improvement. All the suggestions that had
been made that day would be carefully considered,
and he had now only to thank the members of the
League for the honour they had done himself and
his colleagues. lie trusted that this conversation
would not prove unsatisfactory.
There were loud cries for Lord Stanley.
Lord STANLEY said that he could add nothing to
what had been stated by the right hon. gentleman.
He would only express his great regret that the Earl
of Derby had not been able to attend to meet the
deputation on account of his temporary indisposi-
tion.

Mr. BEALES thanked the right hon. gentleman and
the noble lord for their courtesy, and the deputation
retired ; but it can scarcely be said that they showed
any strong signs of satisfaction at the result of their
interview.

It was announced that the League will hold a
meeting forthwith to present a report to the dele-
gates on the subject.

International Coinage.

W for our last number an article
from the Pit°theeßnmuinsdedTable on International Coinage,
but in the crush with which a weekly paper gene-
rally concludes, it was squeezed out, though in
print. The Round Table must not, therefore, ac-
cuse us of plagiarism, for taking up some of its
ideas in our own leading columns. The two na-
tions most interested in commerce, are the United
States and Great Britain. France has perhaps
taken an equal place in virtue of the convention by
which that country Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland
have adjusted their coinage to a uniform standard.
If, then, the coinage of Great Britain can be brought
into some sort of harmony with that of France, and
the United States consent to modify theirs to the
same measure of value, the extension of the system
would be secured at no very distant date to the
whole commercial world. Gold, is the true
standard ; to which silver readily adjusts itself ;
gold, therefore, is the metal with which we are
concerned. For France, the napoleon is the coin,
for England the sovereign, and for the United
States the eagle. The question is, can these three
coins be struck off so as to assume an exact and
easily calculated proportion to each other, so
that each can freely pass in the other countries at a
recognised national standard? It is essential that
this should be accomplished without disturbing in
any material way the existing standards. Can
France, together with the countries in convention
with her, retain her napoleon, England her sove-
reign, the United States her eagle, and so harmo-
nise these coins that they can each be exchanged for
the others, and pass throaghout these countries at
an exact, well recognised, and easily calculated
measure of value? We believe all this can be ac-
complished. By a small change in the value of the
English sovereign, scarcely noticeable in ordinary
transactions, it can be brought into a simple rela-
tion with the napoleon. The sovereign exceeds in
value a napoleon and a quarter by twopence, which
is considerably less that 1 per cent., and it is
freely taken in France as a piece of 25 francs.
Thus, if the sovereign be reduced this infini-
tesimal amount, it could be exchanged freely and
without loss in continental countries, where the
napoleon is the standard, and the napoleon have
currency in England as a piece of sixteen shillings.
This would make the gold coins of these countries,
fcr all practical purposes, equivalent, without
disturbing the nomenclature, or the established
worth, of any at present in use. America is
be e
not so well placed for equalising with these nations
the value of her gold currency, as the change re-
quired would be greater. She has, however, an
advantage in another direction, which
will here-
after be lost, unless the change
soon. Gold in the United States is an article of
barter, as her currency has ceased to be metallic •
and therefore a change can be made with less risk
of disturbing existing values. The half-eagle, a
five-dollar gold piece, is worth about 16 cents more
thant el 3
e thered
reduced
English 1 its‘hv
espoevueuree,i sovereign. 4
cents, to harmonise it. Suppose the sovereign
with the napoleon, then the half-eagle would exceed
the sovereign by nearly 20 cents, or about 4 per
cent. The most violent change would thus be
thrown on the country, which in the present state
of its currency is best able to bear it, and
a grand step be gained in the commercial pro-
gress of the world. The half-eagle would
be the exact value of the sovereign ; the napoleon
would be exactly worth four-fifths of either. The
people of each nation could receive and pass the
coins of the others by a recognised and well-estab-
lished calculation in their own currency. As the
value of silver fluctuates with the demand, there
would be no great difficulty in adjusting the dif-
ferences. For all large commercial and national
transactions gold must be the measure of value, and
though francs and dollars are the coins at present
named both in France and in the United States, yet
such transactions mean as well as resolve them-
selves into payments in gold. For instance, the
debt of the United States best known in Europe,
(the dollar bonds termed Five-Twenties) the Govern-
ment
Spanish gold, though the dollar is
asilver anish and Mexican dollars
einThe
vary greatly in weight from each other, and can
only be truly adjusted by a scale. They are merely
an article of commerce, and in China, where they
have the greatest circulation, are always estimated
by weight. If on the Continent a sovereign
or a half eagle, when altered as proposed,
passed readily for 25 francs--if a napoleon was
received in England as 16 shillings, and in Ame-
rica as four dollars ; if the sovereign passed in the
United States as five dollars, and a half-eagle passed
in Great Britain as 20 shillings—the silver currencies
of each country would readily adjust themselves, and
being required chiefly for personal or domestic pur-
poses, very slight discrepancies in value would not
be felt. Although the adjustment of silver
would be comparatively little required, it would
readily follow. The franc certainly could
not easily be harmonised with any silver
English coin, as it too closely approximates
to tenpence, while those who calculate it at
tenpence would lose too much, even on the pro-
posed reduction of the sovereign; but calculating
the five-franc piece at four shillings, the difficulty
disappears. The five-franc piece, on the reduction
of the half-eagle, would be the exact equivalent
for a dollar ; the dollar for four shillings ;
the half-dollar for an English florin or
two-shilling piece ; the quarter dollar for one shil-
ling ; the napoleon for four dollars, or 165., and the
franc for a double dime. For practical purposes
this is all that is required, and the change would
amount to little more than a reduction of less than
one per cent. in the value of the sovereign, and the
determination on the part of the United States when
returning to a metallic currency, to harmonise its
coins with those of England and France. The
Round Table has not overlooked in dealing with this
subject the gain of getting rid of the extraordinary
calculation sanctioned by custom for regulating the
exchange between England and the United States.
This exchange is one of those things which, in
Lord Dundreary's words, " no fcllah can under-
stand." It is based on the old valuation
of the dollar at 4s. 6d., a fiction which
upsets all calculation, which makes the Securities
of the United States appear in England lower than
they really are, which bothers every person attracted
by this apparent discrepancy, between sterling worth
and apparent depreciation, and which has, in reality,
had a very material influence in checking investments
in United States Securities. The real par of ex-
change is about 91 per cent. above the nominal par,
and the calculation is therefore so intricate that
unless a man be well up in subtle accounts he has
to resign himself helplessly, into the hands of his
broker, or banker. We recommend this subject to
the attention of American bankers in Europe, who
have wide facilities for disseminating their opinions
by mewl of circulars, And who deal go generally in