The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-21
The oanstltntlon,. Rueea.

~ TaNNalNl h..lHNN ..a
has Me following
We fud in The Savannah MoRSrVG
Nrws what wc must assume 90 he re-
'oinaer D. the Constitutions comments
on ijs remarks about the Indian rupee
. Oar readers viii remember that tho NEWS
. declared 30 had excellent authority Tor
/ asserting that the silver rupee had depre-
/ clsfcj FOB India, where 10 is the legal ten
] der unit of value According 90 all the
rules Of evidence 10 was Incumbent on
the NEWS % produce its excellent au-
thority and SET 10 over against the argu-
I Wouts of the Constitution Instead of
this, however, the News merely asserted
/ that tho rupee had deprecated in India,
and called on the Constitution to show
that il had not. This we did producing
the testimony of men who are recognized
as authorities "
There are several things in the foregoing
to which we desire 70 call attention. The
MoRSIvs News made no reioinder to any
article in the Constitution in answer to
the MORNING News request for informa-
ton about the Indian rupee, which the
Constitution had said was persistent"
and had not deprecated The paragraph
to which the Constitution calls attention
was published in reply to some paragraphs
in the Constitution, which seemed to indi-
cate that it did not intend to pursue the
subject further. The article purpOrting
to give information called for concerning
the rupee was not seen by the MORNING
NEWS, az the paper containing it, of the
date Of June II, did not reach the Morn
ING News Office. Inquiry for that issue
was made at the news depot, but there
were no copies of it on hand. The para
graph of the MORNING News, which the
Constitution assumes was a reioinder,
shows that it was called out by para
graphs in the Constitution.
Seeing the article in Mondays Consti-
tuition, from which the foregoing extract
is taken, file of the Constitution was
hunted up and its article of June II read.
In the foregoing extract the Constitu-
ton says the MORNING News asserted
that the Indian rupee had deprecated,
and that according to the rules of evil
dence it ought to have given its authori-
ty. The facts are these: The Consti-
tuition asserted that t'the Indian rupee
had never deprecated" The MORNING
News questioned this, declared, accord
ing to its information, that the rupee had
deprecated, and called on the Constitu-
tion for authority for it's statement. The
rules of evidence required it to substan-
tiate its statement.
In its article of June II the Constitution
supporting its statement quotes, among
other authorities Hon. Hicks Gibbs, Ex-
Gov. of the bank England and Morton,
Fewen an English financier. Mr. Gibbs
admits that the rupee is worth less in gold
than it was, which is an admission that it
has deprecated. Mr.. Fewen says that an
ounce of silver will buy as much produce
or labor in the up country markets as it
ever did, which is admission that it will
not do so in the markets of the low country,
that in the low country of India the rupee
has deprecated
So much for the Constitutions support
of its statement that the rupee has not de-
preciated. Our own excellent authority,
is business men in this city, whose bust
ness makes them acquainted with the
value of the rupee in Bombay and Cal
cutta. They say that in those commercial
eenters the rupee has Deprecated to
about its Bullion value. AS they are con-
nected with houses that do" business in
India they ought to be excellent author
ity.
In the June number of the Political
Science Quarterly Review, in an article
on "The Monetary Conference Mr.
f. BENZ Andrews, who, if we are not
mistaken, is a member of the conference,
says 1.-THE Indian government has to
pay to England each year some els, coo, coo
H., :
of course, made in produce, of which
80 per cent. more is required than suf-
feed twenty-five years ago to liquidate
the same amount of indebtedness-a great
hardship to India" If the rupee bad not
deprecated in India, that is, if silver
coin still maintained the ratio to gold
coin of. Is to 1, the Indian government
would not have to send to England one
half more produce than it did 25 years
ago to pay its annual Indebtedness. It is
! because the rupee has deprecated in
India as well as in England that India
has to send so much more produce TO
England than formerly to liquidate its
| Indebtedness. The amount of produce a
rupee will buy in India now in proportion
to what gold will buy is much less than it
was few years ago.
To what the Constitution has to say
about ignorance of financial matters we
have no reply to make. We might res
pond, as the Courier-Journal responded
recently to some of the Constitutions
financial deliverances, but we. think no
| good comes from such methods of dealing
with publiaquestions, and are willing that
the Constitution shall have monopoly
of them.
! There is some what of romance CON
| nected with the life of Minnie Brooks.