St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-09
SILVER IN ENGLAND.
ALi-AsS0RBWG QUES TI0N DISCUSSED
IN THE COMMONS.
ACTION I'm INDIA DENOUNCED.

and Defends the Changes In
India-Balfour, the Conserva-
tive Leader, Denounces the
Suspension of Coinage.
LONDON, Aug. S.-Mr. Gladstone an
nounced in the house of commons today
that the government intended to hold
an autumn session of parliament. The
announcement was received with loud
cheering by the supporters of the gov
ernment. Mr.. Gladstone added that no
adjournment would be had until the
remaining stages of the home
rule bill were passed aDd sup
ply was voted. Henry Chaplin asked
leave to move the adjournment of
the house in order that the changes in
the Indian currency system might be
discussed. In speaking to his motion
Mr.. Chaplin blamed the government for
persistently Oostructing discussion of
the question. The changing of the In
dian currency system before allowing
parliament to express an opinion on
the change was matter of
urgent public Importance. Ii the
budget it would have been some
time in October before it would have got
a chance to expose the troubles arising
from the governments indiScreet ac-
tion. He could not, he added. blame
the government of India, which had
found itself confronted with bankruptcy
on one hand. or the closing of the mints
to free coinage on the other. The
latter policy was full of danger
to the commercial interests of the
world. This policy had been prac-
tically forced upon the Indian gov
ernment by the attitude of the imperial
government. The government of India
had escaped deficit by tampering with
the currency and artificially raising the
value of the rupee. The effect of this
action had been to lower the pro
tanto value of everything else. The
government had virtually mulcted the
natives of India by methods which it
had hoped would not be discovered.
The closing of the Indian mints to
The Free Coinage
of silver had necessarily led to such
fall in the value OF that metal within
month as the world had never before
wrong done the people of India, who
held enormous quantities of uncoined
metal. By single stroke the govern
ment had deprecated by 10 per cent
the value of the silver held by the
population of India. A more fragrant
act of public -plunder had d-neVers
been perpetrated by civilized govern
ment. The result had been convulsed
financial situation from China to Peru.
fI,n hxyf hn A
of the Sherman act should become inev-
liable. it would be partly due to the
error that had been committed in India.
A further fall in the price of silver must
follow the repeal of the Sherman act.
Frequently during his remarks Mr..
Chaplin was Interrupted by cries of
"hear, hear"
Mr.. Chaplin, in concluding, demand
ed to know whether the government
before taking this action in India had
any communication with the United
States government and whether the
government with their eyes now
the great wrong. The loss
to holders of silver securities, he said,
was already 92OO, ,0O0.0 900, for which the
government must be held responsible.
Their action could not fail to appreciate
gold throughout the world, while in
creasing commercial difficulties every
where. Sir William Vernon Harcourt,
chancellor of the eXchequer,
Evoked Laughter
by saying that if the end of the world
should come. the right honorable gen.
tlemen who had just spoken would be
found delivering an Grafton on the ben
efitS of bimetallism. He declined to
enter into general argument. but he
was quite prepared to defend the
changes in India. The course taken by
the government. he said, was Indicated
to them by the royal commission of 1888,
which pointed out the dangerous and
miSchievOuS effects which DimetalliSm.
if adopted, would have upon India.
The government stood by those views.
That commission had recommended that
India should have free hand to deal
with the matter. but should not involve
the mother country by altering the
fundamental principles of currency, as
that would do evil both TO India and the
empire at large. But it was not only
the present government had declined to
entertain the question of bimetallism.
The late Conservative government had
acted similarly on that question.
Referring to the proposals of the
United States at the international mon-
etary conference at Brussels, Sir Will
lam said that the United States had
proposed that the conference should
entertain the question of some measure
of increasing the use of silver in the
currencieS of nations. AS matter of
fact, England had been almost tine only
power prepared to support such reso-
luton, as far as it would not affect in
ternational
British Currency.
The Indian questions had been re-
served. In conclusion Sir William,
speaking forcibly, denied that the popu-
lace in India were suffering as much
as they alleged to be. He also denied
that the natives held the amounts of
uncoined silver which it had been as
serted they held. He contended that
the government could not do otherwise
than act in accordance with the recom-
mendations of the Herschell commits
sion.
Arthur James Balfour, Conservative
leader said that this was not a political
question. The government had been
driven to commit financial crime. and
they appeared to think that they ought
not to submit to criticism of their
conduct. Every one now knew
gone into the Brussels conference
without showing themselves alive to
the extraordinary gravity of the situa-
ton. The speech just made by the
chancellor of the exchequer was vir-
tually sneer at the present financial
situation. For the chancellor of the
exchequer to get up and tell the coun-
try he regarded with absolute indiffer-
ence'what happened to silver. appeared
to him (Balfourl 10 be something ap-
preaching lunacy. [Cheers.]
Attacks on the governments course
were also made by Sir John Lubbock, 4
The well-known London banker, who
sits for London university in the Lib
eral-Unionist interest, and by Leonard
II. Courtnay, member for the Bodwin
division OF Cornwall, who was deputy
speaker and chairman of committees in
the last parliament.
Dadabhai Naoroji. the Parsee men,
Der, who sits as a Liberal for the Cen
tral Finsbury division, protested that