Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-03-11
FRENCH FINANCES.
The Silrer Question tn Fra,,ce-IHono-H Me-
aEtsni and Bi-Nctdlisin.

Paris Correspondent of the Chicago Tribune
It will not be uninteresting to take glance
t the French monetary system, which there
las of late years been SO much talk of aban-
oning. The present legal theory of French
money is the result of the legislation of the
eventh and eighteenth Germinai; year XI of
he Republic, corresponding to March IS,
md April 8, 1903. This legislation order
ID:
l. That the monetary unit of France
should be the silver franc, and that gold, by
tolerance, should concurrently be legal ten
Ter. BY franc was understood rs grammes
'f pure silver and q gramme of alloy.
z. That the intrinsic value of pure metal
n each coin should be the nominal value
stamped upon it (pieces of money being
therefore only ingots of gold and silver GER
,iied by government as to standard and
Ieight.)
8. That such money should have unlimited
egal tender currency, and that private per
sons should have unlimited right to have
heir gold and silver bullion coined into
money at the minis:
At the outset, these laws .tndoubtedl$
contemplated the establishment Of, a single
silver standard, in spite of the fact that gold
was declared to be legal tender. The value
OF gold In relation to silver was fixed in the
of Isl to l, that is, one gramme
of pure gold was recognized and decreed
equivalent to 151a grammes of pure silver
and all persons in France were compelled to
accept either gold or silver in this proportion
In payment of debt. 1t is probable. though
no way proved, that the Legislature had no
intention of making the convention as to
the relative value of the precious metals
binding for future generations. Most politi-
cal economists take it for granted that il was
tacitly understood at the time that if gold
became worth moro or less than l515 times
its weight of silver, through an increase or
falling OH IN production. or other causes.
there would have to be made correspond
ing
CHANGE IN THE GOLD COIN
The gold pieces in circulation would be
melted down and reissued with proportion
ately different denomination of francs
stamped upon them. The law. in fact. that
made the silver franc the standard stipulated
that II, through any cause. the relation OF
the gold and silver coins NEEDED to he altered
only the gold coins Should be changed. This
was distinct recognition of the intention
Of the Legislature that silver should be the
standard. In practice, however, the none
tary system of France has from the begin
ming been bi-metallic. 1t is now three-ouar-
tiers of century since the 18th Germinal,
but gold and silver have never ceased to be
unlimited legal tender, nor the relative legal
value OF the metals to be al / to 1917.
But, IN addition to the articles alreads
specified; the laws. Of MRrEh ard April. 1905,
enacted that the standard for gold and silver
should be fixed at nine-tenths of pure metal
to one-tenth of alloy for all legal money
Inc following coins are to-day the only
legal money of France-bank- notes are no
longer legal-tender: The 1OO-franc gold
pieces, very rare: 5Ofranc gold pieces, very
rare: 2O-franc gold pieces, or napoleon; 10
franc gold pieces or haf-napue6n: 5 fraiit
gold pieces; and the 5-franc silver pieces.
1t was slightly modified a few years ago in
the cases of the fractional coins, for 2f.. IT,.
90 centlmes and 20 centimes silver pieces.
For these, which with the copper coins, 10
centlmes, S centimes, confines, and
centlme, are only token money, the standard
has been lowered to meet particular emsr-
gencies. 1t is now fixed at 8 35-1OO of pt,re
metal to G5-1OO of alloy.
Here then is All example of nation cot
slstently and calmly
HOLDING TO A 81 MEIS1IIc sYsTEsi
over protracted period. without incou-
venlence to itself and with much convenience
to the world at large. Between 1903 and
1873 the relative yields of gold and silver
have altered again and again but the pro
portion of 151a to l resisted the force of all
fluctuations. At the beginning of
the century it is roughly computed tina.
the production of silver exceeded that OF
gold as 90 to Tin weight or about 3 to in
value. In 1849 or 1885, during the Calfor-
ma fever, the yield of gold was almost
equal to that of silver in value Between
1902 and 1868, the difference wasseIaroely ii;
favor OF gold, probably three times the value
OF the inferior metal being discovered. The
prlce OF gold fell in the market relatively tc
silver, yet France went on coming us usual
undlsturbed, at the old rate of 1873 to /. In
1861, and from that time forward to the
present, silver went down, down, down. OF
gold went up-as you choose till the mar
Ket adherence III value of the first came tc
represent serious loss. France went or
coming. She had not felt any harm from,
her disregard Of the much heavier increase
OF gold production from 1913 to 1865. and
she saw no reason to dread harm in the cast
OF silver, especially as the value of the earl,
production IN Nevada, etc., was small. com
pared to the immense finds of gold i,
the Sacramento valley and in Australia. II
was argued: even supposing the annual fine
OF silver should double or treble. and in
stead OF forty million dollars, the eartt
should yield eighty or hundred, the adj
dltlonal Quantity however inconsiderable il
ITSELF Will be scarcely noticeable in the mass
OF metal already circulated in the world
moreover, 1t is by no means certain that Tbs
mines Will continue to give such large Yields
In nan dozen years there may come
another dlminution. or another treasure OF
gold may be brought to light. and so the
balance be restored
1t was not thought necessary TO modif
the existing legislation until Germany de
M sllverand adopted gold standard
ms alarmed France far more than the Ne
Vaoa mines. Attention was directed to the
question at Versailles, and after due deliber
atlon, as measure of temporary precaution
1T was resolved to first limit and then entire
~ suspend the coinage of silver in the French
inlnts. In 1875, aa eminent financier, NJ
lie Parleu, interpellated the Govern.
1nent OF the day again about
the matter, and called for a radical change
involving the adoption of gold mono-metal
ism. What the ultimate result of SO extreme
~ oAPeuiehI iuiSHt nave been IS more thai
or any one can tell. 1t must have caused
terrible loss in the first instance to countr,
possessing, as we have seen from the stats
tics OF the Bank of France, SO great an &C
cumulation of silver. The effect of demone
tlzatlon here would have been visible. too
instantly in a
SUDDEN DEPRECIATION OF SILVER
all over the world, for it must be remembered
that the chief market for the metal has lone
been France. In the year 1912 or there
abouts she absorbed and retained over hal
the out-turn of the whole world. Possibly
as corollary to the depreciation of silver