Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-08
COMMUNICATIONS.
DOes Cur Coinage of Silver Enhance the Price We Pay For Foreign Com Inod1ttes?

the Price We Pay For Foreign Com
 mod1ties2
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 You quote from what purports to be a let ter to the Boston Herald the following:
 The foreigner sells us his commodity for dollar, which is too much price because of our too much currency. Then we place be- fore him two dollars, one of 41215 grains of silver and the other of 25.S grains of gold, worth 5177 grains of silver, and we say: ''Take your choice at the same price; the prica is a dollar: the two are intsrchangea- ble; suit yourself Of course he takes the gold And who is so blind not to see that, besides the preconstructed overprice, if may be allowed to coin an expression, we than he bargained for, and might we'll sink so much gold in the deep seas
 The above is not unlike many absurd ton Herald in regard to the silver question.
 Of course the foreigner sells his commodi- .y for export to this country at precisely it's value in his own country.
 Such recognized authorities as Messrs. Goschen and Giffen assert that prices have greatly depreciated in consequence of the recent discrimination against silver in some European countries. Therefore of course we are enabled to buy and do buy foreign goods at lower prices than formerly. This is in- deed fact within the observation of every one in every day experience. The eoncomi- tant of this fact-great business depression in Europe and great suffering among the la- boring classes there-may not be so potent to everyone here.
 The Herald does not usually seem to ad- dress itself to those who think when it treats of the silver question. In this case its cor respondent (whether located in it's own office or not) closely follows it's example.
 The assertion that the purchaser for this market places before the foreigner a gold dollar and silver dollar and permits him thus to take fourt more than he bargained for would be quite unworthy of attention were it not copied in your editorial columns in such a way that some might infer that it met your approval.
 The commodity, of course, is purchased in the foreign country at price estimated in the money of that country. After it is brought to this country the transportation expenses and the duty, if it is subject to duty, are added and also moderate profit (for it must be remem bered that competition is now so sharp that profit is corresponding ly smalI and thus is fixed the price in this market.
 But what does this country really pay for foreign goods? Our golds Rarely. Take the case of goods purchased in Great Brit ain. We pay for them in wheat, cotton, pork, etc. All the while the balance of trade is in our favor, so that, although our imports amount to hundreds of millions yearly, our exports amount to much more, and we are importing gold rather than exporting it. If for any reason a small expoftation of gold is occasionally made, larger amount speedily comes back to us. Thus IS set at naught the declaration so often made by those who de- sire to bring about contraction, viz: that if we have two coins each representing a dol lar, the one the bullion of which is at the time worth less must inevitably drive out of the country the one the bullion of which is at the time worth more.
 We coin silver dollars of four hundred and twelve and half grains. The same amount of bullion is worth more than dollar as valued in European silver coinage, and has at times been worth more than a dollar here, which has led to the exportation of our dol lars for recoinage abroad.
 The market price of uncoined silver is, however, just now lowing to 8 combination of circumstances and largely, as 1t Is be- flowed by many to the unwise action of our Congress in stopping the coinage of silver in 1S73) worth less than dollar.
 France has nearly four times as much le- gal tender silver per capita and vastly more subsidiary silver coin than we have. She has also much larger proportion of legal tender silver to her gold than we have to ours Bnt in spite of these well known facts France has in the last ten years gained about twenty times as much gold as Great Britain, which uses no full legal tender silver We have in the last seven years, since we again began to coin silver, gained large amounts of goll by importation, and are still gaining it to an extent which we think would be quite impracIicable were it not for our silver coin age.
 We know it is the habit of some financial joarnals-espeeially organs of the class which is seeking (but, fortunately for the many, with i'll success) to make rates of in terest higher and to so shape legislation as to