The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-30
A BIMETALLISTS STUDY
or rur CAUSES or oUR PRESENT
MONETARY DISORDERS.
r,.. c.u.,s OF Foreign Not Domestic
origin--Hsrd Times World "i"e-Shs'
man Act an incident, Not n Cause

~ mr. financial troubles are not """'eS"~'
They are OF foreign contrivance ana d.
,cction. The President has called Con-
s,ess into extra session because OF
novel order of the British government
respectlng the AsIatic rupee. The Presi-
dents cali is unprecedented In financial
history. I refer 10 it. not to criticise'
much less TO censure. but as showing
that the financial welfare OF our country
is seriously affected by transactions for
eicn and not American. A study OF Eng
lands East India policy by the Ameri-
can people is compelled by the Presi-
dents cali. 1t brings the finance discus
sion TO a climax. II lifts it out OF the
ruts of provincial partisansblp, and d.
reefs il TO the true sources OF inquiry.
1he proclamation is the most arspicious
fact of the times. 10 remains Tor Con-
iress 20 pat forward its statesmen ana
nor It's empires and show the country
whether it possesses any Hamlitons or
Jencrsons IN finance.
A very influential class Of bankers In
our Eastern states ascribe. or affect 10
ascribe. our financial disorders to the
sherman Act. / am not partisan OF
the act. In the great matter Of world
finance II has no rghtful place or re-
levancy. II has had no agency in bring
ing about existing financial CONDITIONS.
The hard times are world wide. Inc
severity is greater in Australia than IN
America All Europe is suffering the
producing classes, MANUFACTURING anu
agricultural more than others AgrlcuI-
ture is PROSTATE IN ENGLAND herself ana
in Scotland and Archbishop Walsh has
pictured with electric Niyidness ,Ae als-
tress OF the Irish in Ireland. The sheT-
man Act is not known in Australia or
Europe, or I'm the kingdom OF Great
Britain and ireland. Congress viii 0e
wise 10 ignore as well the bete-n0ire it.
self as its decricrs.
All the world over are trade and fin
ance off the normal basis II l were
required TO answer I'm a phrase the con-
tinually pressed question, what is the
matter with business everywhere l
would say that property values have gone
10 wreck and ruin. that the bottom Is
knocked out Of prices.
But this answer is OF course empiri-
cal; the QUESTION rccurs, Why are all
values I'm ruin? I hope to be able in
the course Of this paper TO bring some
eluoidation 10 the inquiry
knowledge OF study and instruction that
gold has risen about 50 per cent. in value.
compared with the general values Of
property since 1873. lnasmuch as tie
business of all Europe Is now conducted
on the gold basis, and inasmuch as our
eastern bankers, and our secretaries OF
Treasury have succeeded in bringing the
business Of our own timetable country
practically to the gold basis, therefore,
Il results that the debtor classes are
paying dollar debts with dollar anda-
half money-a state of things entaiiing
distress in all liquidations, and ruin in
most Of them. by its sweeping destruc-
ton OF margins.
The situation is better realized when
II Is described in a manner the reverse
OF that just employed. Gold, nOtwith-
standing its rise I'm value. being still the
enforced standard. and continuing there
fore to be rated at hundred cents. the
average values Of property in general
must be regarded as having fallen. COM
pared with gold. 10 sixty-six and two
third cents; wheat. cotton. lands. lun-
Der. iron, silver and property generally
having lost thirty-three and one-third
per cent. when sold for money estimated
as gold. Whether. therefore, this gap
Tor gape) between the values Of gold and
Of property be 9scribed TO a shrinkage In
property values, or honestly to a rise in
gold, the pinch is the same.
The difficulty OF the times IS that
debtors and men in active business, whose
means Of meeting obligations depend on
sales Of property. have 20 pay full dollars
with sixty-six cents assets, a rate that Is
killing. If the Sherman act has any pos
slble relation TO this condition Of things.
! am unable "a discover IT,
True. that the decriers Of the act con-
tend that it facilitates the expectation
OF gold. But the expectation Of money
metals depends upon the balance
of trade This is an automatic
truth. II we owe abroad more
than our exports will pay, we remit
goi1 TO discharge the resulting debt. Gold
is going abroad az the result OF a series Of
very heavy dealings In past years an
example Of which / will very imperfecty
describe. An American dealer in wheat,
who has made many shipments OF that
grain 10 Liverpool, through a series OF
years, drawing bills against ii on the
basis Of the prices ruling when the bills
were drawn, finds at last that In conse-
quoLce of continual and heavy declines
in the prices OF wheat, he has overdrawn
10 the extent Of one or more hundred
20 pay. in order go square accounts. and Il
may be hoped TO wind up the losing bust
ness. The balances being heavily against
this country, bills are al premium, ana
Il costing less TO ship gold, the unfortu
nate American dealer In wheat sends th'
gold OF TO wipe out his debt, blindly OBJ
livious of the Sherman act. When he be
gan his dealings. wheat commanded on
dollar and sixty cents a bushe; when h
closed them II brought only seventy cents
In fact, the most crushing incident Of The
general fall Of prices. taat IS TO say, o.
the deplorable rise of gold, is the havoc
II has made with our balance OF trade
for much. very much is the matter viii
our foreign exports.
The comments OF the New York Journa
OF Commerce on the official tables IL pub
fishes Of the foreign commerce OF TN
United States for 1892, were as follows, Il
fits issue OF the 23d OF January last:
For the year 1892 this country importe
saTy sS16. i19 in foreign merchandis'
ind sent out SOS ils S93 of domestic pro
duce and manufactures, showing an ex
cess OF merchandise exports over mer
chandise imports Of SCI. 22i, IA. In add
ton 10 this. there have been sent out I
foreign countries during the last yea
u12.E .S0i In specie, against an import 9
only s29.l77, 1889. showing an excess Of So
x5,l0 I'm specie, making a total nOmlna
excess OF tl25.5lGl9s in exports over i'm
ports and I'm the face of this our banker
are still shipping millions OF gold ever
week. The nominal balance or trade o
toe years business has fallen Off million
or specie"
The Journal OF Commerce was speakin
OF the year 1892 Only a few days az
The Richmond Times. speaking with rel
orenee 10 the first half OF 1898. remarked
'The Treasury Department has issue
statement OF the expectation of bread
stuns from this country for the mont
OF June. 1898. for the six months endin