, 1881-02-17

Ihr1eIIS letter 1itstilicS tlle c01!ltlCnce OF Ills
friends, and will only chagrim Ills enemies.
@L----=
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY CONFER
ENuE.
| It Ia understood that during tic present
week the President will probably lay bcfuro
Congress tho formal caEl for an international
conference, to be l,cill Mt Paris during tho
present yenr, upon the subject OF all agrcc-
lncnt on coinage, especially concerning tho
adoption Of tho bt,DetalEc system OF soma
| uniform bnsIs Act1un will bo nsketl provitl-
| ing for the appointment Of Commissioners
alld making appropriations to cover the cx-
petlse.
Tic Commission three years ago was
failure, bccnrse OF tho tlieli high hopes Of
tho goldites that silver would bc driven from
tho money OF tho world. Tie British Guy-
crnnlent was especially hostile 10 silver, anil
insisted that all other nations should follow
Germany md ndopt Thu Enellsl, gold systcn,.
DUST ut tint t1,ne silver was enduring the
suverD deprcss1Gn produced by tho first Of
| forts matie by Germany to substitute gold for
tile outstanding silver nonuy or thu Empire.
Tho "Lntin Union fad been compelled tn
stOp tho coinage of silver, and generally tho
ln01lometnflsts Of Europo werG rs hopeful
a1ll lis arrogant MS their .go'tltte rsrtsans
were In this cotintry. Even little Belgium,
which was under English influence, was ills
pnsed to snub tho American advocates Of II
himctallic standard
a grcat cliango Inns taken place In Euro
penn sentiment. Thcrs has been quito a 1ov-
olutlon III tho financial MS we'll rs monetary
system sitlce 1877. tsoth Is not SO abundant,
| n.,I In 3S,tro o,ttrtv L. Ea-
rtously shortened. From the tino Of the
discovery Of gold III California md Austra'
lin, tho whale product Ind found Its way Ia
Europe. Since tic abortiyo Paris Coulter.
enco n few years nEo the entire American
production llns been retained III this country,
mid tlla Australian production has not only
fallen off but tho appearances arc that the
exhaustion Is permanent.
Italy, which has been working under Sis
pension Of spccic-paynlents for n number ol
years, niNl l,as n stock Of tcprectntetl icgnl
tender paper, has liked n date fur tho re
sumption of specic-paynlents. Austrln hns
also n.ntlc much progress IN tic way Of re
forming her currency, especially III tho re
ttclnpt!on Of her snaiI, badly.alloyed, sub
sltlIary silver cnins.
Thcro has ,.!s0, within the years TINT havl
passed. since tho rarls Conference, grca
cI.ange takem placo in tho course of trade
Europe, which WAS then our creditor
md snnt buck our bonds III payment for on
exports, las for sone ttnae hpctl compelled Il
nteet adverse balances by reM!ttnnces of gOltl
: Great Britain, Germany, md Fr0nce Inv
: thus been subjected to tlrainot the prcciou
metals to this country sucl. lis Ind nevc
been experienced before. Tho decline In IT.
production of gold, tho retention Of tho All3ai
lem product ut home, nld tlIB How EItllor ut q
least $lb0, ,0o0, ,0oO III excess Of oNr cxpnrts o
the snnlo metal, hhve produced n difficulty o
I maintaining II sufficient supply Of gold iii
only In England, hut also TT France anA &c,
D luary. Thu i!sutlEeicncy Of tho worlds sui
4 ply OF gold to meet alone tlse monetary want
{ of tho El0bo l,nS now bcc0l,le 80 evident thu
the necessity OF utilizing silver for money hi,
forced Itself upon thu unwilling nattos,
whiol, fow years ago discarded silver Ii
r unnecessary.
: Two subjects will bo presented to tho Con
t ference. Tho first will he to e,ucayor I
/ reach MI international md fixed relation Il
. the snlucs OF silver and R0tl. 10 TINT tho 81
/, yer and the guild coins OF eacll country slln
l. l'aye tho sallo proportionate yalnes tn Il
v countries. at present tho United States do
y lnrs bear the ynine nf l0 In silver to |
j. Eoll, whlle In France md tile other States
!, tho Latin Union the proportion Is only 49,
y Of silver to / In gold. Tho Amerlcan tolls
II therefore ro,ltains more pure sllyereOnlparc
o with Its equivalent gold coin thnn does It
1t silver coin Ot nny otllor Government. a
10 etrurt vii! bu MI,.de to establish IL ,Mtfor
Il equation of the coin ,,vnlacs III this respee: