New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-21
THE MONETARY. STANDARD.
Ill.
POSITION OF GERMANY-POLICY OF The
United STATES,


.uRp LETTER FROM MR. JAMES T. VAN hhNssh-
IArR-eERMANy's ExPERIENc. WITH ooL'
sr,xn.Rp-THE PRESENT SENTIMENTS OF WELL
vvovS GERMAN FrNANcIERs, AND IHE COURSE
oRr PURSUED BY THE UNITED sAATEs'
me Edttor Of The Trfbune
10 Nv two former articles directed to the
-, Of England and to the change In Engilsh
I~n,orcial and financial opinion on the q'eSeioi
coi ,n,.,na,ional Bmetallic Monetary Union rms
VI. % the subject is OF paramount Importance uo
' 80 the great influence OF England on 'no
cause VI -, in matters of commerce and finance.
rs,;sh public opinion is changing as beyond
~ Il is the bulwark OF monometaihc ooc,rho
aues'n oct down: and not even Mr.. Bonamy Price
Ia The london Economist will be aole 10 prop "p
sho .ottering citadel of gold monometallism' q
In the present paper propose to glance "t 'no
.o,ral state of the question in Germany ana lnen
cary briefly to indicate what the true piie'S,i's''
consider should be the policy OF the opi'eu ''"'0'
- the situation as we now find IT.
rno oosition of Germany on the question OF d.
.,aue money is only second in imp ortance 10 tnat
- IRELAND Germany was the latest and greatest
,,..;,la Of the English doctrine of gold monometai-
-, Prior TO 1871 she had been silver mono
,ro,onic But her economists, monetary doctti-
,o,res and banking classes had grown up Oh 'n0
teachings Of Lord Liverpool After the eoiu ioNo-
feast of the International Monetary Oonioio"01 -
PARIS in 1867. the German monetary doc.oI9 n"NJ
,;corous propaganda of the principle OF inc soiu
'.sn1ar1 % adopted by the practically unanimous
;oa of the nations represented at that asSeniois"
Holland alone having partially disSeh'eu' nv
war fine of one billion dollars lmposeu upon i"'
4opr wears later placed Germany III possession u
vast STOCK OF gold specie. The time was .nous"
hove come when the hope for assimilation wiz"
-oai;~od rhe country accepted the teachings Vi
1o economists and leading inanciers as inc IlpoSV
,l+ of monetary wisdom; the BamOerser Ia"
NO. nromDtly passed; gold was made the monetary
standard of the realm; the lmperlal MIMI oui "
ont inward of l,70O,O000O0 marks saOoue
s4o5 600 OOO of beautiful new lmpenai Soiu
coins the great stock of the countrys silver 'n'ie'
,yas demonetized and uD to May, 1873. wheh 'no
Gales of silver finally stopper, "'ou'
$40 1000 worth of silver at the Lonuoh So go,
r;co of the metal had been thrown upon the world
market and sold. This action had forceu franoo
and the Latin Union to limit and finally to suspend
oo;roge of silver: the benefcent bimetallic law
Of France was in allegiance, aud that country coulu
M longer act as the clearing house for the worlds
nrecions metals; the gold price of silver In the
Jondon market theTeupon experienced the mos'
violent fluctuations and suddenly dropped 10 lne
lowest point ever known in history VIZ III Vhe
year 1876. Yet the German Government perseVereu
in its sales of silver till the result showed gross
loss of 96OOO,OOO marks about S24,OOO,oooh
which the authorities claim was reduced to net
loss of Al O0O 600 parks $l1 ,0OOOO0 by reason Oh
the profit realized to the Government upon the new
coinage of gold and subsidiary iractlohal VoAon'
of silver nickel and copper
Meanwhile Germany had been passing through
violent financial disturbances and crises Inc
prestige of the great victory over France anu tne
frat cold imitation of the war fine ushered ID briet
era of speculation and high prizes The silver CON
traction through the characterization, added 10
other causes. brought about the reaction which was
attended with the gIavest financial distress anu
min throughout the Empire. The results OF the
great and yaunted gold reform were found by the
people to be the very reverse of what had Deeh
Anticipated; even Prince Bismarck lost iath III Ills
monetary advisers and began to realize tha1 lhe
rejection of Germany's time-honored money-silver
might have been mistake; that in the world
struggle Tor gold there might not be enough lor al
his homely comparison of gold and the strile OF INC
nations for it to a narrow blanket under winch
several people were trying to sleep, ana which
would be torn TO pieces in the struggle OF each W
get his share of it, has become familiar in monetary
discussions. Bismarck also discovered that his
monetary counseloIs had been far out OF the way
in Germany. and that when, according to then
ORIGINAL calculations the bulk of the thalers should
have been retired there were still, according TO
,evsea estimates between 400 and 500 millions OF
MARKS worth of them 400 to 125 millions OF
dolars left In circulation, after all the miilons
spent in the coinage reform. halt was ordefeu
in 1879; Germany stopped in the midst OF her IN
PRODUCTION of the single gold standard; the 100 10
l25 millions of dollars in old silver thaer pieces re-
manned and still remain in circulation under the
transition law as full ega-tender, side by side
with the new gold, the thaler passing current at
three marks being at the ratio with the gold com
age of 1912 l. 1t has been asserted, ana not con-
tradictcd by the German finance officials so far as
am awMe that from One-half TO two-thlrds OF the
reserves of the Imperial Bank are, or until very
lately were, in silver thalers
During the past three four years, not only
have the commercial and industrial classes of Ger
many grown less than half-hearted about the re-
cent gold reform but the theory of gold monometal-
lsm has been vehemently attacked by numbers OF
learned professors and economists throughout the
Fatherland. Numerous ably written and exhaus-
tive books and pamphlets have come from the Ger
man presses advocating bimetallic principles and
Bmetallic Union of the great commercial nations.
/ have neither the time nor space at my command
to do more than mention few of tue distinguished
German specialists VINO are leadhg he reNuislon vi
opinion in Germany-such names as Walcker, Lexis,
Sehaetfie, Ahrendt. A prominent German business
man has caused the publication IN Berlin of a
journal called der Kamp, Urn die Waehrung (The
Battle Of TIE Standard, appearing every ten days,
and containing all the newest contributions to BIZ
metallic literature from the pens of German scholars
and specialists and also translations of articles by
the ablest foreign bimetallists. This journal has
been widely circulated and distributed to all the
members of the Reichstag. Germany, which had
obstinately held aloof from the international
Monetary Conference of 1878, accepted the invita-
ton of France and of the United States to be pres