Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-05
CONFLICTING INTERESTS.
ESPECIAL rELEenAn TO THE DrsrArcH.l

universal expectation, the actual decease
OF the great stock operator caused far less
commotion In the market than has fire.
quently resulted on former occasions from
false rumors that the event was impending.
In fact, 1t may be said of it, as was said the
resumption OF specie payments in 1873, that 1t
was like crossing the State line from New
York into Connecticut ON the railroad-un-
less one was told of it he would not know it
lad happened. The. father is dead and his
sons succeed him, and that is all. He will
be buried and forgotten, and his sins will
become mere matters of tradition.
The Brussels conference has a broader
and deeper claim to consideration Up to
tile day that Alfred de RotllschiId presented
his proposition for the joint purchase by the
great European powers OF silver to the
value OF 900 yearly for i've years in
addition to our purchases OF "a. 900 ounces
year it was generally assumed that the
conference Would be only meeting Tor aD-
suract discussion and would accomplish
nothing of practical valne. Great Britain,
| being supposed TO be firm in It's adhesion to
| the single gold standard, WIS counted upon
| alone TO defeat the adoption D any plan for
| the benefit nf silver. Wnen, therefore. the
leading delegate from that country In the
| conference proposed the Increase OF the con-
| sumption of the metal and thus to enhance
its price everybody became eager TO dis
cover what the phenomenon betokened.
A Most Significant Departure.
Presumably Mr.. de Rothschild has Sc
cured the sanction of his own Governments
before Offering his scheme and something
like promise of their acceptance of it in
case it should be approved by the confer
ence. Its failure to receive this approval
does not diminish its significance as the
| first indication of q departure by the f1nan-
cial magnatcs of Great Britain from the un-
sympathetic and even hostile attitude they
have hitherto uniformly maintained toward
the silver standard. They have now ap-
parently come to the conclusion that the
ciamor in behalf of it can no longer safely
be disregarded, and are willing to do some
| thing to appease it. One or them may be
the increase OF discomfort TO the pitch OF
insubordination among the Governments
employees in India who, being paid salaries
/ fixed in silver rupees, find their compensa-
tion, when measured in gold, grS dually
| shrinking to nothing. Another may oe the
| disaffection OF the Lancashire cotton man.
| ulacturers, who control many votes and
| who fancy that the depreciation OF the Sill
| yer Is hurting their business.
1t Is possible, 100. that the despair OF land
| owners of Great Britain and ireland, who
see the price of agricultural produce re-
uuced SO low as to deprive their possessions
| of the half OF their value, has reached q
| point at which 1t must be needed or produce
| a revolution. Or there may be, after all,
| only a general conviction that the fall in
| the prices of the commodities measured In
Justice and must now be stopped II pos
sIble.
Terrible Things That Are Prophesied.
The cable accounts of the proceedings II
| the conference contain frequent reference
to some undescribed and indefinite catas-
| trophe which, is asserted by the advocates
| of silver, both in the conference and out OF
| it, will speedily overtake the commercial
world II silver is allowed to 20 ON deprcciat-
ing as 1t has done the last Is years. AS
nearly as l can make out, the catastrophe
| threatened is universal bankruptcy, the
| paralysis of all industries, and the return OF
| the civilized world to the seni-barbarous
| condition in which it was just before the
| flood OF silver from the rich mines OF Amer
| lea, like the fertilizing waters of the Nile,
came to nourish commerce and quicken
manufacturing ind ustry.
1t becomes more and more apparent as
| the controversy over silver goes Oh that the
| real point in dispute is whether debtors
shall ee compelled to pay their debts in a
| currency measured by the gold standard,
| which has increased and is still increasing
i'll value, or whether they shall be allowed
| to pay by the silver standard, which has not
| SO increased ana is ut the moment diminish
ing. The advocates of the gold standard in
| sist upon the justice of the creditors claim
| TO receive back the same money that he lent,
regai ding the rise OF its value as piece OF
| vocates OF silver contend that the gain which
| thus results to the creditor is infquitous and
mitting the-payment OF debts TO be made In
| silver instead of in gold.
The Whole World Not Now at Stake.
Not all the advocates, either of silver or
OF gold, are candid enough to admit that
this is the sole issue between them, and they
talk, as men frequently do where their own
| interests are concerned, as If those of the
| whole world were at stake. The latest re-
cruit to the silver standard, the Irish Arch
bishop, Walsh. makes no false pretense in
this respect. HE says plainly that the main
tenance of the gold standard has already
raised the rents OF land. and will raise them
still more as time goes on, to the great detr1-
ment OF Irish tenants even under the re-
vised leases now making. The same thing
is said on behalf of the farmers and planters
OF the country, who have mortgages on their
land made when their produce sold for half
as much again as it does now, and who have
to pay interest and prin ipal to as large q
money amount as ever.
While, therefore, the Brussels conference
may lot fail so completely as was expected
and while either the MorItz levy scheme
which Is to be discussed tomorrow for the
substitution of silver for all gold coin and
paper money redeemable in gold coin be-
lew the value of s. or some other halfway
measure of the same nature like that pro-
posed by Mr.. de Rothschild may be recon-
lnended by the con erence and even adopted
by the nations represented in it, the great
mass OF the silver party will be as dissatis-
fled as ever. Mr.. de Rothschild's plan
amounts to no more than an extension of
that upon which the country has been work
ing since 1878 without appre ciably enhanc.
ing the price OF silver bullion. The Moritz
levy scheme would have as little effect, and
that little would cease as soon rs the substi.
tuition OF silver for gold money had reached
the amount in use OF the gold 1t is intended
to supplant.
The Question That VIII Recur.
After all the debate the naked question
will recur whether the dollar shall remain
ut its present gold value, or whether it shall
be cut down to its silver value, which is
now 81 centsand may fall lower. In this
part of the country public opinion is so
overwhelmingly against the measure that
1t is diffic ult for US to conceive of its adop-
tion, and We therefore underrate the
strength OF the support it commands In sec
tions whore nearly everybody is interested
in getting high prices for the product OF his
industry and in paying his debts as cheaply
as he can.
Out Of the n States OF the Union, 26 are
predominantly agricultural or pinIng
States, and are, besides, largely in debt to
Eastern and European creditors The re-
naming IS States, comprising the six New
England States and the States OF New York.
New jersey n,s Maryland & Delaware in Psnnsyi-
Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, are en-.
gagged mole in manufacture and commerce,
with the result that they are richer and
possess great stock OF accumulated capital.
Noaccurate estimate can be made OF the
probable vote oil the Representatives in the
next Congress. but roughly speaking, the 70
agricultural and mining States will have
l40 members who can be counted on to vote
Ior free silver, an q the remaining is States
will have l92 members, palt OF whom may
be counted on to do the same. In the
Senate the 26 agricultural and mining States
will have 81 Senators against the 36 senators
from the other Is States, II, therefore, the
silver men can win 27 votes from among the
l92 uncertain Representatives, they will
ha Va n mai In "A \