The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-08-02
THE BABY ACT.
Absurdity of the Tribune's Tariff Alarms
The Real Cause of Present Troubles.
GUS and di

Absurdity of the Tribune's Tariff Alarms
The Real Cause of Present Troubles.
Editor SALT LAKE HERALD:
As one who claims to be neither Demo-
orator Republican, should be glad if you
would afford space in your columns Tor
some comments on the article under the
above heading which appeared in the
Sunday edition of your morning coptem-
porary.
From the beginning to the end of that
article it is disagreeably apparent that
party bias is distorting that writer's ideas
on the all-absorbing subject of the hour,
viz: the currency question. 1t is for that
reason, mainly, that this letter is written,
| for it is of the utmost Importance that
everybody ideas on this great topic be
kept perfectly clear and particularly that
they should be unaffected by partisan
bias.
1t is perfectly true that the balance OF
trade has shifted in year to many
millions of dollars against us, and it is
also true that much of the money of this
country has had to be sent abroad to off
set this balance, causing a vast shrinkage
/ in the money of this country and, as a
consequence, paralysis of its commerce..
| To contend, however, that this dis
| turbance in international trade is, as
claimed by the Tribune, caused by the
threat of the Democrats to repeal the Nc
Kinley law is unreasonable and ridicu-
| ious in the extreme. 1t is tantamount to
saying that effect precedes cause and that
foreign manufacturers have jumped over
the barrier furnished by the tariff and the
celebrated Mckinley laws at great cost
| to themselves, because they have notion
that the Mckinley laws are liable to be
repealed and they will then be able to
maintain this trade without that great
cost to themselves.
| Are not, the marvellous and bene6ceut
| (??) Mckinley laws still in effect, and has
not this great change in our foreign trade
come about in spite of those laws? Has
not the vast amount of our imports for
| the past year paid all the penalties levied
by the tariff and the Mckinley barriers?
| Most decidedly it hasl If then this shift
ing of the balance of trade has any bear
ing on the question of tariff or Nc
| Kinleyism, 1t is to show either
that McKinleyism has bad exactly
the opposite effect that it was
! intended to have or that there are causes
infinitly more powerful than protection
or reciprocity that govern International
trade.
! certainly do not believe that any sensi-
BILE Republican will try to maintain such
a position as the Tribune takes upon this
question. The truth is that the fact
which it tries to account for in such a
ludicrous fashion is explained in a
totally different manner.
Are we not all aware that during the
last two years two or three large European
countries that formerly used, partially OF
entirely, silver currency, had decided to
introduce gold standard and gold cur
rency? That, in order to make this
change it was necessary to provide them
selves with an enormous amount of gold!
and that in order to obtain this gold
which did not exist in their respective
states they had to make arrangements to
draw that gold from those states which
had it? This of course could only be
accomplished by making contracts with
the great money dealers or financial
houses like the RothschiIds to furnish that
gold, for which service they would natur-
ally receive some remuneration, either in
the shape of bonds, premium or bonus.
In their turn these financial houses, by
means of their intimate relations with
money centers, set in motion the causes
that have so much disturbed international
trade of late, and by which they succeeded
in drawing of the gold from those coun-
tries in which it existed in greatest guam.
tity or could be obtained with least cos
or sacrifice.
In these efforts they would naturally
not feel restricted to mere fluctuations il
international exchange, or differences il
prices; circulating in Europe rumors tc
the effect that the United States had ar
enormous accumulation of silver and was
getting ready to make it legal tender ane
would redeem its bonds and pay interes
on the same in silver, would OF course bt
quite an Undue ement to many timid anl
credulous holders OF American bonds il
Europe to realize on the same at sacri
fee, thus allowing them to be bough1
iup by American capital and thereby