The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1894-07-19
Gold MOnO-Metallism Con-
vulsing Two Continents.
VERY ABLE ARTICLE FROM LONDON
The Financial News OF That City
Silver the United states Could
Within u Year Take the
Trade of Two Continents
from Europe Alone

story IN plausible way Senator Lodges
proposition to place retaliatory tariff
on British imports until England shall
agree to bi-metallic standard inspires
the News to It's present position.
"There have not been waiting of late
Indications of growing irritation with
England for it's dog in the manger silver
policy" says the News. "Gold mono
metallism is convulsing two continents
and gravely compromising the future of
the poorer states in Europe. The feel
ing has been voiced in America by Sena-
tor Lodge, whose proposal virtually to
shut out British goods from the United
States until we should assent to BIZ
metallic convention, though extreme and
absurd, indicates the trend Of sentiment
on the other side of the Atlantic
Senator Lodge is not silver man in the
usual sense, being opposed out and out
to free coinage in the United States
under existing conditions, and therefore
his views, though tinged with strong
feeling, may attract more attention here
! than those of the pronounced silverires,
Mr.. Lodge is very bitter about the fail
ure of the Brussels conference of last
year, where the attitude of the British
official delegates was scarcely less than
discourteous' to the United States, and
he believes that ine-tenths of the
American people regard it in that light.
"a feeling of this kind is not to be
lightly ignored. We have frequent dip
lomatic differences with the United
States but as rule there is seldom as
soclated with these any sense OF an1mus
between the people of the two countries
But now we are encouraging the growth
OF feeling that on question which af-
fects the prosperity of millions of indi-
vidual Americans England is inclined
to entertain views unfrlendly to the
United States. We know, of course, that
the unfriendliness is accidental, and that
our monetary policy is controlled by
purely selfish considerations purely
selfish that we do not mind seeing India
suffering from our action much more
than America does. The Americans are
sufficiently old-fashioned to believe that
it is part of a friend to show himself
friendly, and when this country turns
deaf ear to the plant of half the world,
including all the New World, they not
unnaturally take 1t unkind]y.
"It is not for us to say whether the
feeling of irritation is wholly justified or
not; it exists, and that is the main point.
Moreover, it is taking a shape that may
entail very awkward consequences on us.
Ihe recent proposal to coin Mexican
dollars in San Francisco was bid to-
ward giving us an object lesson by GUST
ing us from our commanding position in
eastern trade.
"There is plain moral in the remark
that if the United States would venture
to cut herself adrift from Europe and
take outright to silver she would have
all America and Asia at her back, and
would command the markets of both
continents. THE barrier Of gold would
be more fatal than any barrier of
custom house. The bond of silver would
be stronger than any bond of free trade
'There can be no doubt about it that
if the United States were to adopt a
silver basis tomorrow British trade
would be ruined before the year was out.
Every American industry would be pro-
tected, not only at home but IN every
other market. OF course the United
States would suffer to certain extent
through having to pay her obligations
abroad in gold; but the loss on exchange
under this head would be a drop in the
bucket compared with the profits to be
reaped from the markets of South Amer
lea and Asia, to say nothing of Europe.
'The marvel is that the United States
has not long ago seized the opportunity,
and but for the belief that the way of
England is necessarily the way to COM
mercial success and prosperity, undoubt-
edly it would have been done long ago.
Now Americans are awakening to the
fact that so long as they narrow their
ambition to becoming larger England