, 1876-12-26

tho difference between tho commercial and the
legal value Of the metal reached Ii and 13 per
cont.
Such was the state Of things when tho ncr
Chambers Of France met. One Of the first ats
OF the new Minister Of Finances was tn present
= bill empowering tho Government 10 restrict
the cutnare Of silver In 30 far Is II might be
ayai! Itself to tie fal extent oi The Right grant
cd To France by tho Monetary Convention. It
muht he observed. i1 fact, TINT, willie the Con-
ventlon established maximum amounted coin.
and 1875 France coined tho maximum alottcdto
her only because her laws did not allow her to
The object Of tho bill introduced by Mr.. Leon
SS 5Suxt 4 T. peo1e eo ,bo s soste so % 81 e e 5 o IT,
mouth, anu gagc r.ao to loug and interesting
debate, In Which Mr.. dc raricl, man eminent
BY hts sp:slnl knowledge Of monetary matters,
attacked the principle Of the donb!e-standard
BANK Of France, with ma, ked ability, defended
It. The bill will certainly paas but the ques-
tiou now |s whether the new law will produce
the result expected from It. When France has
citation Of this metal bc prevented thereby. Or
even partially checked1 It is, at least, doubt
ful.
On this highly important qucstEon two essen
tally istlnss doctrines a1c entertained by tho
On one side stand the nonometallste, or
championlous Of gold 40 the soils monetary
standard; on TUG other, the bf-uctalsts, or sup
portcss OF the OLD systcm Of the double. stand
berger, of berlin; Max Wlrtl, of Vlepna;
Frerc Orhan. Of Drussels; Feer Herzog,., Of
Bern; and n France. Michel Chcvalcr, de Par
tcu, Victor Bonnet, Fredk. Pnssy, md Leroy
s 9sss ts 1s nss spPs n pPat qssa1s tso a5 s.a n le Dr.
Uebdts1 and tho Economfstt. .
On tho other side are Messrs. Malon, Minister
Of Finances In Belgium; Lavelcy aud Allard, Of
brussels; Count sclopis,. Of Turin; Leon Say,
and Henr! Cernusch], Of France. The principal
organs Of this group are the Stecle and tho lte-
pHbti4ue FroaediSe.
Tho theory Of tho monomctal1ists may be
perturbation now prevailing in tho monetary
market IL the aupcrabunlaut production Of sf-
yer. The mines Of the New Wulld, BY pouring
IN upon us tons Of this metal ut the very time
when the counge OF silver Is restricted in almost
between it, valuc and TINT Of gold that the bal
hnec is irretricyably destroyed. Every attempt,
moreover, to maintain constant rntiu between
tho values OF the two mcta1s, both Of which urc
subject TO 20 many causes Of variation, must al
one remedy Of real efficacy for the state Of
things ereatcd by the htinctallfe system. Wo
must completely abandon that System and
1dopt gold as our sole monetary, standard. On
ourselves from the dangers and difficulties Of
two metallic standards, legally exchaDgcablo at
par, though one of them Is much more ahupd-
ant than tic other. aud at the same time very
bulky.
To these arguments, which tho very able econ
omlst of tho journal Ties Uetats, Mr. Leroy
Dcaultcu, advances with great force, mud which
Mr. de Pastcu presented In the Senate with all
the authority of his long experience in financial
matters, the blmctalists oppose the following
nDAWers
il is not tho superintendent production Of s,1-
yer that has. caused the perturbation; 1t is the
Limitation Of the coinage. Of silver, measure
o greas oat q s syer coin
rcady e1atlng Silver having lost the principal
uscto which 1t hal always been apr1iet remains
partly unemployed, and its depreciation in.
sreascs as tho aeuiaul for IL gocs TN decreasing.
far from improving tho present stato Of things,
would do nothing but aggravate II, and tnfallt-
hiy result In fourlul financial catastrophe. To
oxtrcate ourselves from these difficulties, W9
steps and restore silver 10 Its natural dostna-
tton, By repeating NIL measures restricting its
coinage. b. soon ao the great Powers, rcslming
tho bE-metalt!c system ltllly, shall decree that
thc co!uage Of gold and silver Is unlimited, aud
able ut rate established onco ior ali-tllat Of
fifteen aud half to one, for instance, which Is
already generally accepteu--thcro will be no
more 1iuctuat!uns in tue relative value of gold
and silver. As tho two metals Will constitute
but ono monetary mass, the greater Or LESS
quantity produced by the nincs OF either Of
tlcln can then infect only. tho total mass. The
purchasing power OF thta mass may
lnereasv ., diminish, sseorsliug to It, greater
whatover may bo the quantity nf either, Will re-
taIn their rclative value, elnrt the one will al
ways be tic representative Of the other.
This theory is ccrtatnly very attractive. and 1t
dent. indefatfeablc, and evcr-rca1y advocate. In
tho daily notes, which lie published tn the
4Siteis, Us we'll ~ In q multitude Of pamphlets
tliat are immediately translated Into English and
German, this bold and original economist do
fcnGs the double-metaflic standard By argu,
mcnts Which cannot undertake to reproduce
III this summary, but which certainly deserve
tue serious attention OF all who take Vi, Interest
In tho question.
Among tic considerations invoked BY the b.
mctaIlisis two are cestalnly OF special tmpor-
ta1lre: The frat Is that every measure restrict-
Ing tho conags Of silver has Immediately heen
followed By decline Of tie metal. The fact Is
undcnsablo; but It may 10 mcrc ,!rolnesdeuce
yer would llnyo declined even II Its cotnngc had
not been RESTRICTED. The lsilletallats htrs mere
ly inyert tue argument ot tho monolnctallssts.
who say tllat ty coinage was restricted for the
consideration hears on tho enormous peFturba-
tlons that would lnlallihly follow tho general
application Of tho uncomfortable systeln. In
order to accomplish It. IL Woulu, In iaet, he neg
essary to Withdraw from circulation ati e,lor-
NOUS a1antity VI metal. What, for example,
would he tho amount Of 1t for France, Germany,
md British India lonut
In France, rum l7D5 to 1871 inclusive, silver
has tccn coined to tho value Of ), l2a box, ,dN
ira,cs. OF these. 230, ,000, ,0o0 have been with
drawn by Government, a1ld 1t Is eatlu,ated tllat
Ut tic BALANCE only 100 900 000 to ,Uo, ,C01
In lye-lranc pieces still exist Ia Franco; ut
which 80, ,000, 900 arc at present Ia tho vaults
OF thu bank. Suppose 4o0, ,o>0, 900 to be sept tor
small payn,ents mud as change, from 500, ,0oo, ,0M
to ,lUO, Doc, ,000 will bs loft lot Withdrawal.
III Germany, according to official statements
published IN Berlin, tbs Total amount Of tho ILL.,
vcr colncd BY the different German States bo-
fore lszt was EGS, ,0o0, coo ster1tng. Tho silver
still circulating amounts to Ell, 600 600; thus
lcaytug balance Of R47, ,000, 600. Suppose about
eli 10uo, 900 To hayol disappeared bv oxportatlun
ur melting, thure Houll remain G8), OK, ,Q0O
sterling, or 750 900 600 francs, TO be withdrawn.
For India wo have no stattstics. II - gener-
ally supposed that the circulation OF that couIi-
try amounts to El50 001 900, which ID not at all
extraordinary, when We consider that tho popu-
latlpn Ut Inl!a Ia seven times that Of urtat
HrtaIn, a.nl that gold coin Is unknown III the
country. In fudia alono tho suul to bc with.
drawn would, therefore, 10 a. much IS 1.60o,
nm (kn 0r AfAEl nh nm of francs Rn that fin