New-York tribune., 1882-04-28
THE MONETARY STANDARD.
CHANGE IN ENGLISH OPINION.

Il
rv COMMISSION REVIEWING THE CHAN"E or
op1x,oS OF PROMINENT ENGLISH FINANClk"S'
.~D THEIR PRES nj ADVOCACY Oh bi''A
TALIIC STANDARD
W the Editor Of The Tribune ;,ai-
SIN NV former article was an attempt W M.
.o,s the remark able change which mas io0oAS -
toten place in Englands national pos''U" w -,
onestion of a monetary standard. i.. s"' ;n-
5eavot TO point ont n few OF tnc e -
stances of change in the indiVioua .-s,,oroiol
-a,,;nent in the English financial ana co'nn''..'
men Of acknowledged ability IN prac''o"i
affairs and not mere tneor'''' "
thinkers upon monetary problems ,.o,v in
-, uroks Gibbs a gentleman largely III
- IN foreign trade and 81 ex-OoVerhoi a"I
nrector Of the Bank of England was 'no .;o,,aI
aolocote Of Great Britain at the faris INV eos
Nonatorv Conference of 1878, At 'no .-l-o 90
;o, &C that assemblage. replying 10 'nc -.
e.o" Solo,ote from Switzerland on the ehe0' y,
49, ,,,sold stock of Germany's silver upou Wv
.o,Lat Mr. Gibbs declared: MI feei ~
n.rtisan of the single gold stanuaiu' ~ a..
And he with his British colleagues "ei0N ~ -
- declaration of that Conference tha' 'ne
io,n'a' 60. ,se Of one or the other of the two
t,- -of both simultaneously, should be gov
- hr +la sneeial position OF each State or group
- c+.tesD y In the following year, 1879 Mr. Gibos
,1;sbsd q Silver and Gold Letter to MI. CaAa-
49, This tract. revised and augmented. was re-
,,rbl;shed in April 1881, as handsome pamPhie'
- eichtytour pages under the title OF Inc l'ouoe
standaIdn London Efingham wilson, hoya'
Fxchange) with Introduction oy henlS Ia
C-e,fsll then and now the Governor OF the BANK
y. England The latter gentleman, whose position
% the head of Englands greatest financial lhsI'tu-
tion entities his opinion 10 much welght' 'uHy III
dorses the new views of Mr.. Gibbs and accep's tnou
os his OWL These two eminent mahcleIs naN0
thus openly and frankly declared themselves co"
verts to and believers in the practlcaoin'9 anu
recessitv of a great Bimetallic Union among the
commercial nations including England Ineir
namnhlet setting forth these views is one ot the
-, LII contributions to the discussion of the
srhiect they speak with the authority OF practical
o,, NOT as mere monetary doctrinalres. MT
cibhs examines the question entirely from lts
nractical and business side, and with manly lrahA-
1as. aud vigorous common sense. lie de1ers 10 tne
cx,stinp preiudice of his nation 10 the extent VI
s~aa,.;nc that as matter of theory the single
s,aDaard of gold would he best tor the whole worlu
nj commerce " But" he continues, ths Is Vi
course mere imagination; for no nation or people
ever did deliberately invent ana choose s.""uiiN
o4 valner Yet it may be doubted whether MI
60 ro,oins more than lingering and wavering
,alaf aven in the soundness of the theory OF goId
recommendation as he refers approvlngy to the
messages in Professor ". Stanley JevOnSs late
work - Money and the Mechanism of Exchange
in which that eminent English authority an aOie
advocate of the theory of gold monometalllSm' au-
,nits the correctness of WOlOwskTs and Courcelle-
S.neuirs demonstration that the compensatory or
.ornibratorv action Of the bimetallic standard
Gteads to maintain both gold and silver more
steady ia value than they otherwise would De- -
and as necessary consequence Il may adul secures
that greatest desideratum IN money, VIZ Ut
,os+ ttoioable steadiness in It's purchasing power.
Mr.. Gibbs does not pretend to show his British
eountrymen the advantages which even the theory
os norometauism holds out in the face of all ad-
mission like the above On the contrary he rapidly
bv the discussion Of theory his keen insight
and practical sense are not msled by the specious
ana inaccurate comparison OF money 10 yard
sick measure Of value, which, to fulfil mathematl-
cal conditions should be of one metal and that
metal preferably gold. He finds the world using
as AN instrument of valuation vast stock OF the
precious metals. the accumulation OF the ages con-
sstinO in nearly equal parts as to monetary value
of COLD and silver. He realizes that the worlds
nr,ces rest upon the mass OF both metals; that to
abandon the use of either of the precious metals as
money is utterly impossible that a general Demon
.;zat;on of either would assuming that II could be
oooonnlished cause such fall in the prices of
coumoditjes and such increase in the burden OF all
debts as would entail universal disaster, panic and
min. he perceives that The world is already
bimetallc; that it is unregulated and haphazard
bimetaIism which prevails among us; and must
bel-ve that due regulation OF 1t is both possible
and desirable" (p. 7Sl Mr. Gibbs appreciates the
serious injury to the commerce OF England and ali
oo,d-nsinq countries with silver-usng nations by
reason of the depreciation and fluctuations III the
value of silver acting the exchanges and giving
l1v lafI business.
an inconvenience which would be avoided if the
nations used the same metals money. lpp. 26-32.)
He is fully alive TO the great reciprocal losses
caused by the dislOcation existing between the
monetary system of the British Islands and that of
British India and he inquiries how England has
been able to bear such an uncivlzed condition OF
commerce" He sagaciousy gives the answer lpD,
32-33l
II has only been possible because il has gone on,
iii of late unperceived. There has been safety
valve against tine pressure which has prevented the
explOsOn-a save for the sore wDich mas prevented
the pain being felt France mas been theIe il WIN
the eouilibrum of the two metals by receiving IN
differently the gold of England and the silver OF
India, and acting a clearrg z house between the
two countries.
And he says further lp. 39l:
But now that the clearing house has for a time at
least suspended its operations, the last four or i've
years have shown Us the existence OF the eNlI ana
the danger of Its increase.
Mr. Gibbs is fully impressed with the truth,
which no competent bmetallist will galnsay that a
single bimetalic nation cannot long maintain the
Simultaneous circulation of both metals while it
has monometallc neighbors. But he Is equally i'm
pressed with the fact of the powerful influence of
The French bimeIallic law with free mntage OF both
metals and says (pp. $40:
maintain, therefore, that in England, or any
other nOuOmetallc gOld-uslng country, that law OF
free mntage must needs keep the price of the com
modify silver at point dependent not at all on the
power OF getting gold from France, or on the agio
which may be paid fol- 1t there but on the course of