The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-28
THE UNIVERSAL MONEY.
The Royal British Commission on Inter
national Coinage.

national Coinage.
From the ". T. Evening Post
In February last the Government OF Great
Britain appointed a commission of fourteen
leading fnanciers, under the presidency OF VS.
count Halifax, TO examine and report upon the
recommendations made by the International
Monetary Conference of 1867; aud, in parti-
cular, to inquire whether it would be desir-
able to make any, and what, changes In the
coinage of the United Kingdom, in order to
establish, either wholly or partially such con-
tormity as the conference had in contempla-
ton.n
1t will be remembered that the conference
recommended q single legal standard OF value
ip all nations to consist OF gold coin, containing
ninetenths pure gold; that all gold coins should
be OF the value OF i've francs, or a multiple of
five francs; and that gold coin of twenty-five
francs should, in such countries as might pre-.
fer ii TO the napoleon or louis OF twenty francs,
be received everywhere as an international coin.
The Royal British Commission included seye-
raj members OF Mr.. Disraells ministry, the
Governor of the Bank of England, the Master of
the Mint, Mr.. Airy, the famous mathematician
and astronomer Baron Rothschild, MIR. Thomas
Barring, and others, the most competent men in
England for the work. Each of these gentle
men Is addressed, under the privy seal and with
the Home Secretary's signature, thus:-''YictO.
ria, by the Grace of God, OF the United Kingdom
OF Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender
of the Faith to our right trusty and well-beloved
Cousin and Councillor, Charles Viscount Hall
fax" etc.; but of course though all the men,
bers OF the commission are "rusty and well
beloved none not noble is "our cousin.n The
commission met in March last, and continued the
inquirYiat intervals of four months, devoting to
the subject more care and study than it ever
before received. They called TO their assistance
everybody in England whose special knowledge
seemed likely to help them; among them the
well-known authors, Professor Leone Levi, Mr.,
Walter Bagshot Sir John Bowring, and many of
the leading bankers, bullion dealers and traders
of the kingdom. The result is the huge folio
volume now before US OF three hundred and
seventy-tWo pages, containing complete
thesaurus Conformation on every question even
remotely connected with International coinage.
This has Just been presented to Parliament, aud
contains so many and so conflicting views that
II is likely to take that body good deal longer
then the present session to make any legislation
on the subject il it does not take new com.
missioners and more blue-books to settle it.
The report OF the commission itself, however,
is but a very small part OF the book, which con-
sists chiefly of the evidence and opinions of
experts and others, taken by the commission,
and OF the documentary information they have
collected. The latter includes the complete
record OF the Paris Monetary Conference, with
the preliminary correspondence which led to it,
and the official proceedings which followed it,
full accounts OF the mint regulations and coin
age of all nations; and q collection of statistics
illustrating the whole subject. Among these
documents are the full report OF the Director of
the United States Mint for last year; the various
coinage bills now pending before Congress, with
the reports made last summer by the Finance
Committee upon them, and other American
papers OF interest; among them the striking
suggestions of Mr.. George F. Dunning, Director
of the New York Assay Office, for giving the
size and weight of the new gold coins a simple
relation TO the units of the metrcal weights
and measures, as well as to the weight of the
common Troy grain.
But it is in the evidence originally gathered
by the Commission itself, and not before pub
iished that the peculiar value of this report
consists. Perhaps no ones testimony had more
influence than that of Professor Leone Levi,
who teaches the principles of commerce at
Bing's College, and has written a valuable work
on taxation. He sho we'd in the strongest light
the great and growing importance of a uniform
currency among all qatioas; and was able to
prove, 0y the examples oi several nations iii
Europe, that radical change in the coinage, or
even in the general system OF weights and mea,
sures, is not such an alarming revolution as
the conservative British mind generally sup
poses.
1t appears frc%.si Mr. Lewis figures that the
FFench metric system of weights and measures
mas already been made the only legal standard
by fifteen or more Governments, ruling LAG, 400
OO0 people; that portions OF that system nave
been adopted by seven other nations, with
68 6OO, 600 Inhabitants, aud that it has been made
''permissiYen among 10000, 600 more. All this
has been accomplished easily, and with cheer
ful and intelligent acquiescence on the part OF
the people, Further, the international trade OF
civilized countries has increased one hundred
and siXty-seven per cent. within twenty years,
and now amounts to 1000, 000,O 600 year. all OF
which is encumbered, taxed, and delayed so
far as the standard money of the different ma
tions differs In short, the ultimate adoption of
universal coinage is inevitable; the real Ques-
ton is, what shall it be?
On this point, Professor Levi strongly insists
on abandoning all thought of reducing the
English sovereign to the value of twenty-five
francs, as the Paris Conference suggested. The
suggestion was made, it seems, simply as an
accommodation to England; and because of the
accident that the sovereign or pound is now
worth almost exactly twenty-five francs; eX.
ceeding that sum by only twenty French CEN
times, or four cents. But If 1t were made exactly
twenty-five francs it would still not be the
international unit of coinage, The continental
gold circulation consists of pieces OF twenty and
ten francs; accounts are kept in francs and hun
dredths, and if English COINS and accounts take
piece of twenty-five francs with its multipes
and parts, as the unit, there is still a calcula.
tion necessary, and halt OF the old confusion
remains.
For these and many similar reasons Professor
Levi urges the adoption by all nations of ten
francs as the monetary unit, aud would have
Great Britain set the example, But on this point
his views did not impress the Commissioners so
strongly as on the rejection of the new twenty.
five franc sovereign. This they agreed to unani
mously; reporting that, after full consideration,
I'VE do not recommend that this country should
merely adopt gold coin of the value Of twenty
FIVE francs, to be substituted for the sovereign"
But while dlscountenancing this plan, the Com
mission does not propose any definite substitute.
It's aim has been rather to collect information
and prepare the way for a more intelligent
discussion, and the report concludes with sug-
gesting a general international conference on
the subject,