The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-19
INTERNATIONAL COINAGE.

|Oiui"N ~ 10 AAOih 1ho pen Oh MI. Eugene
Eorthumb.
II will appear, from a perusal of this able
IND instructive disquisition of the subject,
fhat decided preference over all others is
Iiven to the plan proposed in the bill pre-
Eented at the last session of Congress by our
fellow citizen, Judge Kelley.
The defects of the ''French System. +" so
|alled, are indicated with great clearness,
md it will take all the ingenuity of Mr.. Sam
bel Ruggles, late Commissioner from the
United States to the International Coinage
Convention held at Paris, to defend his pet
theory against the vigorous assaults of his
Prussian adversary. Indeed, careful exami-
nation and frank consideration Of the argu-
|ments presented in favor of the various plans
that have beensproposed, seem to lead inevi-
Eably to the conclusion arrived at by Mr..
|Northumb, viz.:-'That the simple require
|ments of MIR. Kelley's bill would secure the
Introduction of an international coinage in
the easiest and most practicable way pos
Isible:"-
The question of international coinage has
occupied a good deal of attention of late
in Germany, where it was the sub
beet of discussion in the Assembly (June 10,
1lS6S), and in the Duties Parliament (June II,
11sG9), and there seems to be some danger of
The adoption of a convention on the part of
Germany, concluded December %, 1865,
between France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzer-
Hand, for term of fifteen years, which has
been joined by Greece, and most likely will
|be by Spain also. In the United States the
bill presented during the last session by Mr..
Kelley, of Pennsylvania, has brought the sub
lject prominently before the public, and it is
TO be regretted that action could not then
have been taken, because the adoption of Mr.
|kelley's plan by Congress would have been
Influential in delaying foreign governments
from attempting the establishment of an in
|ternational coinage on the basis of the gold
franc, which could only prove failure.
system OF coinage claiming universally
should rest on the gold standard exclusively
YThis is no longer contradicted, since France
|is about to introduce this single standard, by
which one defect in her money system will be
removed. The last French Committee on
Coinage, report of March 5, recommended
decidedly the abolition of a double standard,
Ia limitation in the coinage of franc silver
Ipieces on private account, and a restriction
Iof their legal circulation and to francs in
|any payment. Belgium, Switzerland, and
Italy have always been opposed to a double
Standard, and its discontinuance will be of
|momentous importance for those States
which maintain only the silver standard. AS
ong as one could have coined in Paris, of 10
.ilogr. silver (9-10 fne), 1885 francs, and of
| 10 kilogr. gold 30922'50 francs, after deduct
ing the charges for coming, and while several
millions of well-preserved 20-franc pieces
were yet in circulation in France, the price of
| silver could not fall much below 60sd per
ounce standard (value of gold to silver, 1 to
5'60). How much the value of silver must
all, if France and other countries adopt the
ingle gold standard, cannot be foreseen,
hough it has been estimated at 25 to 30 per
1 cent.
Before entering further on the other essen
| tal qualities of international coinage it may
| ,bs well to advance few observations.
coin is disk (atn diSque) of gold or
silver, the full weight of which is guaranteed
] by the State, and which has an addition of
upper, likewise guaranteed, for the better
1 rOtection of the gold or silver against ex-
smal influences Such is the fundamental
dea inherited by all nations from their in
hmcy. The sicle of Abraham, the talent, the
hachma of the Greek, the as of the Roman,
! he ivre of Charlemagne, the pound of Will
lam the Conqueror, were at the same time
init of weight and unit of money. During
he barbarism of the Middle Ages, when kings
disposed arbitrarily of the property of their
nmbjects, the opinion gained ground that
gmoney should be only a representation or
ktoken of value; it was then thought sufficient
that prince need only imprint on coin any
mlue he pleased, to give it such value in
eality; the weight of the silver was no longer
pnsidered. How much evil resulted from
bis maxim, how much counterfeiting became
pmmon among all nations, is well known;
My the Chinese, who for nearly three thou
md years have preserved the same unit of
honey, a certain weight of fine silver, pro-
scted themselves against it.
For many years the thought of giving to all
ntions a common coin has been manifest,
mt its realization was sought in triaine
mys, looked upon by all thoughtful men as
mporary relief only, and precarious mea-
IRE besides. England and France had ori.
i ljnally the same unit of money, the pound
1 liver. divided into 20 shillings or sous, at L:
snce or deniers. In the former country the
Il Basement of money by the ruler terminated
1 luring the time of Elizabeth, and its pount
fell to one-third only of its primary value
mile in the latter country it ended only will
ihe fall of royalty itself, and its livre tour
nois fell to 1916 of its original value. Eng
land. as early as the sixteenth century
changed from the silver to the double stan
a dard, and in 1717, in fact, in 1916 by La!
tso, to the exclusive gold standard; thus !
arrived at the present sovereign of 1856
pieces per 40 Troy pound of STANDARD gold
lilo fine. or of 1925 grammes of fine gold
France, in 1875, found its ivre debased t.
nearly 49 grammes of silver; it adopted thi M
weight as new unit of money, and in $50
permitted the coinage of gold pieces o
SOO-155 grammes of gold: designating thel
value at 20 francs. By this, against the in
tent of the legislature, the double standar
was ;ntroduced; about 1865 France adopte
- - .tnr,dn,.d nnd enazr,