New-York tribune., 1882-04-28

ldly growing party III thht Oo"""J' VIM"
strongly favOrs international agreement upon
the double standard as the only means OF renew
ing British commerce and manufactures from
serious difficulty.
The most noteworthy feature of this effective
presentation is that the great change appears 10
be i'm the minds, not of political leaders or mere
students or theorists, but of sound experienced
and eminent fnanciers and business men. 1t ls
not in any sense political movement. unl$e
the Outcry for the Dollar of the Fathers III
this country, it does not work by dema-
gogism, nor appeal to popular prejudice anu
nassion. If is the deliberate decision OF many
practical business men, regarding a question
which affects their business interests.
Whereas they had been educated to believe
that the single standard was the best Tor Eng
land. and had contributed to cause and wOuld
contribute to maintain its commercial supre-
macy. these men have slowly and reluctantly
reached the conclusion that the commerce ana
industry of that country are exposed to very
praye peris, unless an international agreement
as to coinage can be speedily reached. Ihey
state with much frankness and force, as the
letter of Mr. Van Rensselaer, shows III hOerai
quotations, the reasons for the opinions they
have formed, and these reasons are such that
they can hardly fail to have steadily increasing
weight with leaders of British opinion, so long
as the existing conditions remain.
The second noteworthy feature IS that the
present course of the United States, in respect
to silver coinage, has been for years ana Is
now the principal ground for British nope tnat
the abandonment OF the single standard couiu
be avoided. If the United States, the largest Oh
silver producing nations takes It's own produc'
of silver wholly off the market by coming II,
British statesmen have reasoned that there
must be a recovery in the price OF silver. In
that case. or even if the decline should only be
arrested or but partly recovered, Great Britain
could make shift to get along without change
Of policy. But practical business men have
found that the desired results were not pro-
duced. They find that the relative value OF
silver. though supported a lorg time by the
open mints of France, can now III no way pe
sustained and made more steady except oy
agreement between the leading cOmmercial
nations as to the ratio OF coinage. MS
oplniOn, while satisfactory to the Dlnetalllsts'
il the strongest condemnation OF the persistence
of the United States in coinage OF silver, upon
a ratio different from that of other nations, ana
at time when such coinage could serve only
to prevent any international agreement by ex-
citing fresh hopes that it might be avoided
1t is plain from the quotations gwen that'
whenever the United States suspends silver
coinage, public opinion in Great Britain Is al
ready prepared to demand an international
agreement as an absolute necessity Nheh
that point can be reached, some intelligent
solution of the problem may be attained. LVen
then much will remain to be considered; on
what ratio coinage shall be executed, ana on
what terms as to the legh-tender quality the
different coins shall circulate. But the COM
mercial world must first be prepared to accept
the vital fact that it actually has to do with two
metals. each extensively used as money, ana
cannot possibly get wholly rid OF either. 80
long rs both are used, variations III their Value
cause great loss, and these variations can De
restrained only by some concert OF action Dc
tween commercial nations. Yet the United
States, while accepting this opinion, by Its own
| blur dering action has long postponed ana SUD
| postpones the desired accord.