The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-11-30

-. IN. DaVlS,
]. NJ. Carey,
William B. Allison,
81. G. Lodge,
N. w. Aldrich,
e. Murphy,
0. FL. Platt,
W. P. Frye,
s. NJ. Cullom,
United States senators.
This was greeted" continued Pro-
fessor FoXwell, with deafening ap-
plause."
why ere you bimetallist, Profes-
sor FoxweIl?" was the next question
put to the Cambridge professor.
"The current system known as bi-
said Mr.. Foxwell, 'de-
pends fer it's explana tion upon what,
beyond doubt is cne cf the most
beautiful results of modern economic
theory of substitution, brought to my
notice by the late Professor Jevons,
that first attracted me to the study
of the compound or bimetallic stand
ard. But the main interest of the
subject does net lie in these theoret-
ical considerations, facinating as they
always are to the expert
ECONOMIC BEARINGS.
cit is the economic and social bear
ingS of monetary questions that give
them their zeal human significance.
For myself, at all events, I was not
seriously interested in the proposals
Cf the binetallists until, while inves-
tigating the causes of IRE gularity of
employment, I began to realize how
intimately they corcerned our indus
trial and commercial prosperity and
the condition of labor. Unless I am
entirely mistaken, the present state
Of monetary chaos has most injurious
effects upon opr foreign trade and our
productive industries; and, in any
case, it will not be denied that inter
ests cf national importance are in
volved in the monetary policy Of the
near future. I doubt, indeed-I say
this with some NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
there has been any economic contro-
versy agitating this country during
the last fifty years, except the con-
troyersy on free trade, whose practi-
cal issues were so grave and so wide
reaching"
81 understood you to say that pro
fessors and teachers of political econ
cmy in England are generally favor
able to bimetallism. Is there any re-
serve to that statement?'
"Fully a year ago I said they were
generally favorable to bimetallism,
and at any rate accepted the theory
upon which the practical working of
that monetary system depends. 1 can
speak now with more confidence in
regard to both points. It may be
partly owing to the natural develop
ment of opinion, partly to the vivid
light thrown on the situation by the
sr,cr 40. oF Ioc
but, whatever the cause, there can be
no doubt that economic opinion has
distinctly advanced in the direction
of the views which we advocate, and
there is q greater disposition to aid
in giving practical effect to those
views. Our ranks have received a
notable and weighty accession in the
person of Mr.. Leonard Courtney,
whose recent speech in Cornwall you
may have seen.
"British economists are practically
| unanimous upon what is really the
fundamental point, viz: that the mon
etary difficulty will never be settled
upon a permanent and satisfactory
basis until silver is again brought
| into use as standard money upon the
| basis of an international agreement.
There are differences of opinion
among them, naturally, as to the pre-
else ratio between the metals which
| will give the best guaranty of stabil-
ity, but I do not think these differ
ences will prove to be serious when
we come to the practical settlement
of the question:
''Mr. Courtney recently observed
| that the appreciation of gold had
more than neutralized all your efforts
to pay off the national debt since
1873, even including the relief afford
| ed by Mr.. Goshen's conversation OF
1888. Do you remember this?"
81 certainly do." replied Mr.. Fox
well, "and more than that, the same
thing happens in the case of every
private debt, every advance and mort
gage. 1t is for this reason that the
American nation, and especially
American farmers, are in favor of
bimetallism. They are an active, in
dustrious, enterprising community,
and therefore community of borrow
ers. Here your census statistics in
relation to individual mortgage in
debtedness instruct us. There you
show a fixed charge of $4OO, ,OOO,OOO
annually ON the productive powers of
the nation. 1t takes nearly double
the amount of grain and farm produce
| it formerly did to meet this fixed
charge. Every farmer who has raised
money on his little property finds that
the weight of the loan becomes in
cYeasingly oppressive as prices fall.
and he naturally objects to be made
the victim of an artificial contraction
of money. The manufacturer is in
the same position. and I need not
point out that anything which in
creases the burden of the fixed charge
payable to capital cannot be for the
advantage of labor"
GOLD AND BUSINESS.
''In fact, if gold continues to appre-
ciate business will become so ruinOus
and boarding so profitable that the
parable Of the talents will have to
be reversed. The really wise man
will be the man who buries his talent
in the earth.''
"But you are a creditor country, so
urges Mr.. Giffen, and, therefore, inter-
ested in everything which increases
the value of the gold due your cap
itaiists?'
'I might reply such Justification of
contracts is base and immoral. It
would be unworthy of great country
to make fraud the aim of it's monetary
policy. Even Shylock only pressed for
his pound Of flesh. But, as generally
happens, the immoral is also the in