The New York herald., 1851-12-20
The Effect Of CallSoSnla on Fixed Incomes
In England.

Il
The discovery Of gold in Australis-the more OK.
tensve and the better organized workings in Cali.
fornia, which have reduced the question of con-
tnued and even increasing supplies for some years
raised in the public considerable anxiety as to the
maintenance of our standard The production Of
California, during the current year, win certainly
thirteen millions sterling s With nth every pro.
coming year the production Of the Russian mines
and washings cannot be stated at less than
E4,OOO,oO0; and even in the first year, q very mo-
derate allowance for the produce Of Australia
will make the entire annual production of geld from
these three alone reach the large amouat OF
f2O, ,C000O0 independent Of all the old sources Of
Undoubtedly this is an enormous addition to the
supply Of the metal which forms standard Oval
ue. But there are two questions which arise be-
fore We can come to conclusion as to the extent Of
any arrangement which " will create in the none
tary arrangements of the country l. In consider
ing what effect 1t may produce upon the exchanges
between this country, with its gold standard, and
other countries which use silver standard, and,
such countries, the first and most obvious spec1a-
tions are, the increase Of the supply of silver at
the time, and the extent to which, throughout
the civilized world. gold may be adopted in the
place of silver, under existing regulations, in 70.
gard to the circulation Of eoin and Independent Of
any reduction OF price Of the one metal, as COM
pared with the other. 2. There is still further
and perhaps more important confederation, which
has hitherto been very much overlooked, namely,
the eject which such reduction in the price or in.
trinsic value Of the precious metals will have upon
the relative value Of all other commodites-that
Is, the quantities Of each which will become equiva
With regard to the first Of those considerations,
the disturbance Of the relative value between gold
and silver, and consequently of the exchanges be-
tween this country and those countries which have
silver standard, We have on frequent occasions
stated our views. In the first place, the discovery
Of California has given to the world new, cheap,
and ine1haastbe supply 81 quicksilver tho cost Of
silver mines are worked. The ches.oehino ~ this
article We are assured, has already producsd con'
siderable influence on the produetion of the MAI.
@ san RIes.i son9 y ib' poorer mines, which had
%h worked
opened, and are being prodtably worked With quick
silver at its reduced price, Those which have
hitherto been workedArs extending their operations
sndisexpected that new ones will be opened which,
but Tor cheap quicksilver, would not repay the
expense. Again, the great demand which has
existed during the last year for silver, and the
somewhat higher price which IL has commanded
IN the United States and 10 the European mar
the arrivals from the mining countries have
already som ewhat increased. So much in favor of
an increased production, which Is likely to be still
greater, In proportion as quicksilver shall be rem
dered still cheaper by the more extensive workings
In California, and In proportion rs the price Of si
yer may show tendency to increase in relation TO
gold. Then as to the extent to which gold may
be adopted in place Of silver under existing
arran gements, and without implying any material
alteration oftheir relative values In ali countries
which have o double standard Of gold and silver,
with ,he relative value Of the two metals deter
sisted almost exclusively Of silver because for the
ffty years prior to $780, the tendency was for gold
to become dearer in relation to silver. At wnat-
ever date the relative value Of gold and silver had
been fixed, the price Of gold hal somewhat in
creased, and silver had therefore practically be-
come almost the sole circulation of such countries
In France the relative value Of silver and gold |
coins, which are legal tenders, was fixed In 1902,
according to the exact price Of the two metals at
the mement. Gold very soon becoming somewhat |
dearer, rose to premium a. expressed In the silver
csips in the country, and could not be obtained |
except By the payment OF an sgio, while silver, |
being the cheaper metal, became exclusively the |
circulating coin. So in the United States, gold |
and silver coins have fixed legal rate at which |
they circulate, and until Of late silver constituted
nearly the whele Of the circulation So also Ia |
India, although silver Is considered the standard,
yet there is gold coinage which is a legal tender,
bearing hxed proportion to the silver coins, but |
which having hitherto been of more intrinsic value |
has commanded an agio, and has not generally |
circulated. There are other less important coun- |
tries similarly crcumstaDced. II is plain, then,
sve absorption Of gold, and sprsporionate release
OF silver. AS might naturally have been ex.
ptcted, the circulation Of the United States |
has been the first TO be Affected In this way
The large imports of gold from California during
the last two years, great proportion Of which has
beed coined In the United States, and the hirh
price which silver bore in the European marketss
the close OF last year and the beginning Of this led
to an extensive shipment Of silver coins and 10 their
being replaced with gold. To facilitate that ope-
ration, the United states mint coined large nor.
ton ofthe gold into pieces Of small denomination,
as low, we believe, as single dollars. The conse.
quence has already been, to supplant q circula |
ton which hitherto was almost cusively Of silver
With one now almost exclusively Of gold, Even In /
the largest cities Of the United States silver coins
are said TO be comparatively scarce To some |
extent, the some thirg has been taking place In |
France. For many months the French mint has been
occupied in coming twenty snd ten franc pieces Of
reli Ard lrch las been tie ga.s -. c,ll l.in anl