The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-07-21

ance and vexation to the travelling and CON-
mercial public, 10 say nothing OF the actual
loss in exchange. The only persons VINO
profted by it wero those amiable people who
changei the English sovereign or the American
eagle into French francs or German thalers,
levying considerable contribution on the
amount, and who, the continental trip being
completed made an equally pleasant and
profitable little operation by converting
| what was lett OF French or German pieces
into the coin of the travellers own country.
In every place where the frontier of some
little German principally was crossed it
was found that the coin Of the province
or principally just passea did not have
| free circulation in the dominion, Of the high
| and puissant mightiness who ru ed supreme in
the province just entered and tat the thaler
and silbergros of the one must be converted
| into the form AMI krcu.z,r OF the Other. II
was system calculate l, perhaps, to enforce
| the virtue OF patience, lons-sufferlng and
| slowness to anger bat it may be doubted
| whether it WAS not more con lucivs to bal
temper and protane swearing than to any good
| Christian quality. In commercial afflirs III,
annoyance, vexation and los, by exchange
would not he 50 great, or would be, at all
events, pretty fli ~ equalize1 between the par
ties but in travelling all the loss and vexation
fell upon the one party.
Recently, however, reform movement has
been inflated b. monetary convention
agreed on between France, Italy, Swis ,rlani
and Belgium, by whi,h unit,ry system of
money his been given to tn, sixty-eiyht mil
lions of people who form the aggregate popu-
lltion Of those connti,s This convention
bears dat, December %, 1865. The si.ting5 OF
tie commissioners who framed it took place in
Paris, in the hotel of tho Ministry OF Foreign
Affairs. The double Standard Of gold and
silver has been maintain ,d-that is, a leg ii
tender may be made in either metiL The gold
standard is represented by pieces of twenty,
ten and i've francs (aboat equal to pieces Of
four, two and ons dollar, Am erican coinage,
If we had such denominations). The silver
| standard is represented by crowns (ccus) Of
Eve franc pieces equal to our silver dollar,
and by pieces o two francs, one franc and half
franc equal to forty, twenty and ten cents,
American). The standard Of fin,ness for
silver coinage is fixed at 835 thousaniths
Tho silver coin of Switzerland only possesses
finenos1 o. eight hundred ihous md tbs (on,-
filth being alloy; but oil that coin is to be
Withdrawn from circulation by 1873, 1t circu-
lang in the meantime on the same footing as
tho coin of the other Sta'cs The total Issue
OF each country In silver coin is to be in pro-
portion 10 its population on the 1st Of Janu-
ary $780, as estiml tcd on prcce ling censu,es.
It is fixed at six francs per head; 50 that
France will have the right to issue two hun
dred aud thirty-nine million of francs (say
forty-eght million Of dollass), Italy one hun
dred and forty-one million, Belgium thirty
two million, and Switzerland seventeen mil
lion. The reason for this limitation is that the
nominal value OF thes, coins is greater than
their real value, and, without such limitation.
each country would be apt to strive for the
| advantage of issuing more than It's fair share
OF these coins. Silver coin, thus deprecated,
is to be legal tender in private transactions
only to the amount of fifty francs ss in Eng
land, where it is limited TO two pounds ster-
ling; but it is to be received without Limitation
by the banks, each government, however,
STIMULATING to give gold in exchange for the
small silver pieces. The governments also
agree TO inform each other annually as to the
amount of their issues Of gold and silver coin,
| the amount Withdrawn and the amount Of old
| coins sent to the mint. There is clause in
| this convention under which any nation that
chooses to enter into the system my do 30,
aud it is said that the Papal government has
determined to avail itself of that privilege.
The English monetary system is one of the
cumsiest that can be imagined, and one the
least likely of all others to be made easily con-
formable to a untary system, based on the
decimal principle. Aud yet it appears that,
with hardly appreciable diminution in the
weights of it's gold coins, they can be, without
any change Of denomin ,tion, brought into
the operation Of the new plan. The English
sovereign contains only four cents more in
gold than is contained in twenty five francs.
| That difference is hardly greater than is now
allowed for imperfecion in coinage and for the
diminution caused by friction, &c. AT the end
| OF a few years. circulation sovereigns would b
really worth no more than twenty-five francs,
because they lose annually at the rate of one
! thousandth.
Our gold dollar Is worth, at present, five
francs and eighteen centimes so that, to make
il conform TO the unitary system, recoinage
would be necessary, so as to cut of tina. excess
of nine cents. Then our dollar would be ex-
ac,ly equivalent to four shillings English. and
| our FIVE dollars TO the English sovereign
a simplifcation which would be found OF great
convenience in our commercial relations. The
gold dollar being then worth two rupees, il
might become the circulating medium Of India,
taking the place Of the silver coins which now
form exclusively such circulating medium in