Le MeschaceÌbeÌ. [volume] ([Lucy] La.) 1853-1942, 1877-06-16

and wOnlIl he, greater than it is. But
silver has always circulated, it has
always competed with the value OF
gold; it still circulates. and the re-
duction which this rivalry might inn
pose on the value of gold, gold has
already fully undergone, ithas moth
ing more to fear. Although silver
has not circulated in England, the
valne Of English gold has never es-
capped the effects of the competition
Of silver. The proof of this that
English gold has never been Ov"rth
more than French gold, circulating
side by side with silver.
With French bi-metallism the
gold sovereign was worth in silver
l5A times its weight, just the same
as the franc gold. The case will he
the same under universal bimetal-
lism. The circulation of silver in
England will, therefore, strike no
blow mt the value Of the sovereign.
2. "Breach of faith"
TheSsglish creditors have stipu-
lated for payment in gold; il they
are paid in silver they are aggrieved.
This is a pitifnl scruplc. They
wonld be aggricved II given sum
in silver was worth less than the
same sum in gold, bnt they are not
il the two sums are exactly equival-
ent. and universal bi-metallism
makes them equivalent.
England has been in turn bi-me-
tallic. silver mono metallic, again BIZ
metallic, and lastly gold mono. me-
tallic, without drawing on herself the
reproach of having st every change
committed n breach of faith. Hol-
land, Belgium and the United States
have changed their monetary metal
without incurring any blame. The
French RENTER has never troubled
himself whether he wonld be paid in
gold or silver; he has always been
Indifferent to the color of the metal.
The English fnndholtler will be so
too. English interests, Indian inter-
ests, the interests of the whole world,
demand this reform. which consists
in declaring the coinage Of silver
free, even in England and tlfis re-
form will injure nobody. To reject
it there must be good reasons, not
mere pretexts or pitifnl scruples.
3. "Gold is the money Of the rich
nations England should have gold
money"
This ia a prejudice. France, the
United States, Holland, Belgium,
have alternately had now gold mo.
ney, now silver money, without
being alternately more rich or les'
rich. India had a large amount O1
gold money at time when sle wat
poorer than at present with her sill
yer money. Great Britain has beer
prosperous with gold mono-metall'
ism, hut the bi-metallic system
would have insured a greater indie
pendence to her monetary market
which has always need Of exchanging
one inetnl for the other, and h.me-
tallism would very probably have
prevented or mitigated more thar
one monetary crisis. People dcfenf
themselves better with two metal.
tl.an with one.
A. "Silver is too heavy
Gold also would be too heavy ]
one had tn carry it in the pocket
Bnt cheques, bank -nntes, clearings, d,
away with the transport Of the me
tai, and for small paymentsa variet,
Of money. "gold, silver, bank-notas,
is preferable and preferred.
S. "The paving power. Of gold i
very stable, therefore gold money il
the best.n
The stability of the paying powe
Is In proportion to the stability o
production. The production O
gold il more irregular than the. pro
duction of silver, the paying powe,
Of gold therefore would per 90 b,
less stable Gan that of silver. It i
the presenctAf I silver In general cir
culation, md the gravitation Of th'
French Isl, which preserved th,
paying power Of English sovereign,
at the time Of the influx of Califor
nian and Australian gold. Irregula
the prod duction of gold, irregular tn
production Of silver; but the two ir
regularities nentralize each other
and the bi-metallic production i
very regular. For "a years the tota
production of tho two metals, value,
Mt 151, represents an almost perfect
IL uniform annual sum Of E:f}, ,OOO, ,OO
sterling. Alone the bi-metallic mo
ney il Of regular production, an,
alone the bi-metallic money has sta
bility Of value. II '1t3s1 Il 'at 81
| 6. every reform is costly" 80
Not this the establishment of th
universal l5} involves no recoinage
All the coin in actual circulation
retained. This IL the very reaso
why l,o other ratio must bo substi
tnted for the I5}. For ErGlaud On,
India the innovation IL confined b
allowing the free coinage Of crown
or double forms, and II gold piece
Of 10 or 90 rupees, while continuin
tho coinage of gold sovereigns an,
silver rupees. sI
.zase To Be coRtinsed.