Mexico weekly ledger., 1893-11-30
Carlisle Talks.
TIE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS
uRY DISCUSSES CURRENCY.
An Exhaustive Analysis of the finan-
eial Situati0n-He Believes the
Money Question is Settled
for All Time.

annual banquet of the New Yorl
Chamber of Commerce tonight IA
Delmonico's.
At the conclusion Of the Dime
President Smith introduced Secre
tary Carlisle IN a brief speech, anc
amid cheering and hand clappin!
the Secretary of the Treasury rose
from the table and said:
MIR. President and Gentlemen
Money and its representatives con
stitute the tools with which the
merchant and the banker perform
their parts in the numerous and
complicated transactions necessar.
lily occurring in the growth and de
velopment of our trade at home and
abroad.
A very large part of our farmers,
mechanics and other laboring people
find constant and profitable employ
ment in the production and trans
portation of commodities for sale and
consumption in other countries, and
the prices of many of our products
are fixed in foreign markets. With
out exception these prices are fixed
in the markets of countries having
gold standard or measure of value
either by express provision Of law or
by a public policy which keeps their
silver coins equal in exchangeable
value to the gold coins at the legally
established ratio. The value OF our
trade with the people of other coun-
tries during the last fiscal year was
more than 81 200, 900, ,00O, and more
than 81, 100, ,O0O, 600 of this was with
the people of Europe, while with the
whole of Asia it amounted to a little
over 500, 900, 900, and with all the
countries of South America, exclud
ing Brazil, which has single gold
standard, it was only $46, 100000
While it would be unfair to attribute
this unequal distribution of our
trade with the outside world to the
character of their fiscal legislation,
[ think it may be safely asserted
that this country could not long
maintain its present position as one
of the most conspicuous and impor-
tant members of the great cOmmun-
ity of commercial nations which now
controls the trade of the world un-
less we preserve monetary system
substantially, at least, in accord with
the monetary systems of the other
principal nations.
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL TENDER.
There can be no international
legal tender without an international
agreement, but there must, from
the very necessities of the case, al
ways be a common basis upon
which bargains are made and COM
mon currency in which balances are
settled. No one nation can deter
mine for the others what that basis
shall be or what that currency s hall
be. 1t may establish currency for
itself and for the use of its own peo-
pie in their domestic trade, but the
value Of that currency will be ulti-
mately measured and conclusively
fixed by the international standard,
whatever that may be. The stamp
on its coins attests their weight and
fineness, but it adds nothing what
ever to their intrinsic value, and
nothing whatever to their exchange
able value in the markets of the
world; so that a nations stock OF
international money always consists
of its uncoined bullion and the bull
lion value of its coins. 1t cannot
augment its stock of such money to
any extent whatever by overvaluing
either gold or silver in its coinage
laws, nor can it diminish its stock
to any extent whatever by underval-
uing either metal.
No matter, therefore, what our
monetary system may be here at
home as established by our own
laws, we must either relinquish a
large part of our share in the COM
merce Of the world or conduct out
international trade upon such basis
as the general judgment Of CONNER
| cial nations may establish. We can
not possibly change this situation,
and, consequently, the only practi'
| cal question is, whether it is better
to establish by law an inferior kino
of money for use at home exclusive
| ly and another kind for use abroad
| or to have all of our money gooo
| enough for use in every marke
where our people trade. l believe
the people of the United States arr
entitled to have for use in their do
mestic trade just as good money al
any other people in the world have
and that they are entitled to have
just as much of it as may be neces
sary to carry on their business regu
larly and proftably. Whether it b.
gold or silver, or both, or pape
based upon the coins of the tw'
metals, the people have right t.
| demand that it shall be in fact wha