The clarion., 1886-04-21
Monetary Conference of 1S7S-Messrs
r. Z. FeDton, W. ;. Groesbeck and
Francis A. Walker:

n The effect of the German iemonet zatiou
: aud of he closing Of the miuts Of The Latin
L Union 10 silver has been 10 destroy the par
Of exchange between Europe and Asia 10
Introduce into the commercial dealings OF
| two of the great divisions OF the word a
degree of uncertainty, m king trade highly
speculative the fluctuations in the price OF
. ! silver often far exceeding the usual rates
of busin IS profit The Intercourse be'we n
| gold countries and silver countries has thus
(, been subjeeted to difficulties precisely the
same in ind as those which bessi the inter
course Of specie-paying naflons with those
O suffering from an ire deemable paper cir.
I culat on. hese difficulties il Is manifest
must be p arpe tuatei in iime and aggra-
yatei ia degree should he movement for
the reiee' on Of silver continue. We have
p here he explanation OF the char ge in the
attitude OF England since 1861, and of The
willingness of the delega ion OF tha, coun-
Try in 1878 TO assist, SO far as could be done
without e5mprom sing the position of Eng
land as a gold using State. in p omoting the
lse OF silver equally with that of gold.
Mr. Goschen, the learned representa-
tive of Her Britannia Majesty in the
same Conference, though not acoedlng
to the proposition of the American com
missioners, had the frankness and
CANTOR to admit that lit would be a
great misfortune If propaganda against
silver should succeed" and he protested
against the theory that silver should be
excluded from the monetary system of
the world.
Its sevident that the public mind of En-
gland is rapidly turning to bmetallism;
and the signs indicate that public
pinion will force the Government to
re establish it, A recent meeting Of the
Chambers of Commerce of the United
I I IL Il, ~
towing resolution by an Overwhelming
majority;
The present tendency o. silver toward
| lisus as money is di>tul bing trade grn-
| erd.ly and f glands Eastern commerce in
| particular Therefore we urge the gov
| ment to unife with ofhrr countries in an
| eudeavor to r. store silver 10 its former
| function as a legal tender, ihCr~by giving
| "a permanent in.teal of a fuctuiting
value.
The re action in Germany is evidenced |
| by the growing demand for bime etallism |
Ehe agricultural classes are holding |
meetings and are protesting against the /
single gold standard. The following |
| resolutions adopted recently by the |
general com mnittee of the Congress of |
| German farmers speak in no doubtful
| language:
The Congress of German f.rmers has
| repeatedly rec lmmended at its general
| meetings with regard 10 the monetary
question, and mas urged in the Interest OF
| German agriculture the adop ioG by treaty
If an International doubts standard Ia
The course of the past year Inc cond itiOn
or Germ IN agriculture has nnhappily be
come 50 much worse that the committee
believes il is neees tary to urge your illus
trious body in this m lst EN- hat C m ttttr to
iffor1 the swiftest aud mos q cidei assist
| 4nce possible TO the sjrely tried agrcultu
raj interest of q rmauy. A we consider
fhat restoration of IT. value t. silve r by |
| means OF international b me a lism IS the
-urest and most thorough possible, the |
committee has advised the farmers and
peasanis' unions OF Germany to unite in
general petition against the single gold
standard.
Tue committee o. the Congress of the
German farmers has the honor o lay before
your lllustrious body herewith a first in
stallnent OF such petitions received up 10
this time by the bureau of the Congress,
aud to ask your attention TO them. The
distress of the German farmers is known
80 he imperill government and we thank
fully acknowledge the he lp which has been
promised US. Unhappily. the measures
adopted so far, aud particularly the in
crease of the corn duties, can not afford
the necessary aid; on ihe contrary, the
|
so depl0rable that unless help is shortly
afforded, a general catastrophe is inev Ia
ole. The greater the cessity the more
difficult becomes the alieviaIion. 4 Ia fear
now is widespread that special legislation
is imperative to rescue the landed interest
of Germany from destruction. Ia these
circum tances We expec help and supper;
irom your illustri0us body and we believe
u can be gwen no such practical and
etfectual manner as by an effort on the part
OF your illustrious body to bring about in
ternafional bimetallism. And must here
protest against the imputation that has
oeen cast upon he German land interest OF
wishing, by means OF bimetatllisn, to deal
unfaily with creditors. We are protecting
| ourselves against dear IN ,ney. demand
for sii er only restitution to its old h
toric relations. aad We see in this no in-
justice to creditors, certainly no injustice
greater than he mi ustice done o debtors
by the 'iemonet zatIon OF silver. The rise
OF the gold value in all countries using sill
yer and per standards no; only checks
the exports resulting from German indus
tries, bui 1t has also created competition
with our German agriculture on the part o
| those countries which are the largest agri-
cultural producers against which customs
duties are inadequate protect on because
gold rises rapidly in those countries 10 a
point beyond the amount of the duties, and
thereby practically annnls the defensive
value of those duies
We express no opinion as to whether he
| adoption o bmetallism without the sup
port OF England may NAV not be disaa-
| vantageous to some branches of the whole
| sale and export trade of Germany. What
we do say is that the existence of the in
| dnstry and the lanl ini crest of Germany is
OF greater Importance than some hypotheti-
cal disadvantage to our foreign commerce |
and to our banking and exchange classes
Even as regards those, it does not seem
to Us charitabe e 10 wait much upon the
nc ion of Englan /. Our actual ne ses -ities
afford much stronger reason for a speedy
understanding between the German Empire
and su:h other 5 at as have long b zen
ready to adopt this course and 70 effect |
general bimetallism.
May your ilustrious body hear his cry OF
listrt S. of the German farmers and We
effect to our petition.
/ have said that the act ostracising
silver and divesting it of its legal tender
property was an imitation of the ex-
ample of the plutocratic countries of |
the O.d World; that the step was taken
sarreptitiously and not in the bold and |
manly fashion which evinces conscious |
ness of right. !.
Hidden away in the body of bill, the |
title of which concealed the serpent that |
was wrapped in its folds, was the follow
ing clause:
No coins either of gold, silver. or minor |
coinage shall hereafter be issued from the |
Mint other than these Of the denomination |
| Standard, aud weight herein SIT forth.
| The coins here excepted we're the |
trade-dollar, which did not possess the |
legal al-tender functions, and fractional |
currency This act served to expel sill |
yer from the mints.
In the Revised Statutes which were
reported TO Congress the next year the |
following clause occurs:
| The silver coins OF the Uaited States |
shall be legal tender at their nominal |
value for all sums not exceeding IS in any |
one payment.
/ This act Invested silver of its legal |
tender property and reduced il to the |
condition of the baser metals.
! 4 distinguished Senator, who was at |
that time a member of the House, and |
was noted for his vigilance and ability, |
has frankly declared that he was not
laware OF the enactment of these clauses:
and that there we're not ten members of
the House of Representatives who knew
Of the existence of these provisions
demonetizing silver. Even the Presi
dent who signed the act of 1873 was not
informed until months afterward that it
contained the fatal clause.
/ In a letter dated October 3, 1873, to
Mr. Cowdry. General Grant said:
il | wonder that silver is not already conn.,
ing into the market 10 supply the deficiency
in the circulating medium. Ex-