Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-08-13
The Effect of Free Coinage.
New York Sun.

most conspicuous advocates of Bimetal-
ism in Europe. He arrived in this coun-
try day or two since. and reporter of
the Sun was sent to obtain his views re-
Specting certain questions connected with
the free coinage of silver. The interview
was as follows:
Off a free coinage act should pass
next session, should We be i'm danger of
coming down to a silver currency in this
country? Should we, that is, lose our
gold?
MI. Frewen-Why should you?
Dwell, if we exchanged gold for
silver at a ratio of to &c, would not the
great stocks of silver in Europe be sent
here to be exchanged for gold, until all
our gold has gone abroad?
Mr.. Frewen-That notice is the view
adopted by Senator Sherman and others,
but l cannot see any warrant for it.
Twelve years ago the foes of silver here
under the Bland bill would expel gold to
Europe; but, far from it, you have con-
tinued ever since to draw gold from
Europe, IN addition to keeping at home
your entire domest tic product of that met
al.
Q.-Is it, then, your view that an offer
OF 129 cents per ounce for silver will not
bring that metal here from Europe?
Mr. Frewen-Why should it? There is
no silver bullion to speak of there. and
coined silver, which is already legal ten
der money at a higher ratio q to l53), is
not going to be melted up for such pur-
pose.
Q.-Might not the Government, say of
France melt up five franc pieces and del
uge us?
MIR. Frewen-- You forget, perhaps,
the French Government, as recently as
December, 1899, refused an offer of 1873
certs in gold per ounce for sixty million
dollars worth of these same five franc
pieces, and, this being so, why should
France now wish to sell silver to this
country at 129 cents per ounce?
Q.--What offer do you refer to?
MIR. Frewen- That year, 1889, conclud
ed the term Of the Latin Monetary Union,
and under its conditions each country
forming that union was obliged to re-
deem in gold and at its face value one
half of its silver coins which were current
in any of the other signatory countries.
There was at that time, and still is, more
than one hundred and twenty million
dollars of Italian, Belgin, Swiss and
Greek silver circulating in France, and
yet, France, having already more than
sutfic gold 70 secure the convertibility
of her silver, declined to exercise her OPP
ton and call this mass of gold in exchange
for coined silver at 1873 cents per ounce.
But the fact is free coinage would not en-
able any foreign country to exchange
silver for your gold. Free coinage is
merely the permission given to any man
to bring silver to your minis and have it
coined into legal tender dollars; if, hav-
ing done so, he takes those dollars to a
bank here and demands gold in exchange,
the banker need not give gold; ifyou had
credit of ten million francs at the Bank
of France to-day. yo:: draw notes which
the bank Is not obligel to pay in gold,
but can pay in legal tender five franc sill
yer pieces. So that if European silver
was melted up and sent here, was then
coined and deposited at bank. and the
owner wanted gold, he would just walk
down to Wall Street and buy New York
Centrals and sell those shares again in
London for gold, drawing gold from the
Bank of England. That is the only in
stitution in the world which ObligeS itself
to pay gold on demand. Free coinage
here might cause a run for gold on the
Bank of England, not on your banks here.
Q.--So that you disbelieve in this the
DRY of melting up European silver, and
you hold that even were it melted up the
first drain would come upon the Bank of
England gold reserve?
Mr.. Frewen--Yes, | quite disbelieve.
In any case, no silver could be melted up
in Europe without fresh legislation, not
even in Germany, without supplies:being
voted by the Reichstag for the purpose,
and if You here pass free coinage meas
ure you can insert a provision that in the
event OF changes OF standard and the
melting up of legal tender coin by foreign
nations, your coinage of silver mere should
be suspended.
Q.--But we have been losing great
deal of gold lately to Europe?
| Mr. Frewen--Yes, indeed, and you can
probably afford, all things considered, to
| lose a little more; your wheat and cotton
exports are likely to bring it home again
this fall; and meanwhile it has had the
effect of raising produce prices in Europe
and thereby stimulating your export
trade.
OILS it your view that free coinage is
desirable in this country from an economic
standpoint9
Mr.. Prevent should be sorry to seeit,
because it would weaken the prospect of
a monetary union of all the leading ma
tons with open minis for both the metals.
At the same time a high price for silver
here means high prices for wheat and cot
ton: if, on the other hand, the price of
silver falls, the exports of agricultural
produce to Europe from silver-using
Asia are stimulated at the expense of the
American farmer. In desiring to see the
price of silver higher the Farmers ALI
ance Darty is very well advised