The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-07-14
MfcLEOD on BTMETiLLTsM AGAIN.
Why an International Agreement - i"'-
uo.-ible.

possible.
Mr.. n. ID. Macleod publishes IN INV
June Nineteenth Century an answer ~
the critics of his former paper IN inc
same magazine last November. We eoF'
the most material part or IL ,.n,est
Riuctallists assert vita the Hs"'e
of light hearts that the liking or eo''
mon ratio by international agre.in .
n mere insignificant matter OF de''"' -
mere bagatelle The thing 10 De uo,ie
10 fix ttnon some OF any railo- H. -
"a Sir David Barbour asserts III, -
bv the nations upon cohino' -,
would regulate the relative 'aiao =,
and silver for ever, why no', ~ IA
sajJ al once declare that gold anu s''
yer shall be equal In Value' vs. =,
weight? II the bimetallis's p'iio,' ~
the doctrine which they 50 -,
assert, why do they hesi.a'0 -,
which would greatly slmpily n''''e'S
And then every fortuna. a.. ms
silver would find himself thirty-hNe .''".S
o. rich as he was before. If the bimet-
ailiets helieve that the ratio 10 be llAed
,r,n IS an insignificant detail tney
either az the Chancellor OF me LNche-
o,,er said show that they know nothing
about the matter, or Will not argue nom
osuy. ... d,
s,,,nose that a congress OF pure m-
,,etailists Of, all nations, free from the
nrosence of any fossil monometalis's'
u-ere 10 meet 20 settle the question me
main and only question would be-Nh nat
h In be the rati02 And then they WOuia
find their troubles begin.
Now. let us examine the effects OF set
fling a ratio. NJ. Ccrnuschi, the arch-
hieYonhant Of bimeialism, has repeated
" declared that France Will consent 10
no other ratio than Is IL TO ]. Now Whd'
would be the effect upon England OF .7-
tahlishing ratio of 10 IL 10 / wneh t"c
market ratio was 50 10 T. II "oui" 'i.'-
ply he that all dcbtors-the governments
All banks. all corporations, all traders
and an prvate persons who hd' con-
tracted TO pay their lcbts with 1s IN
eold-would boz allowed 20 discharge theii
debts with a quantity of silver only e4"ai
i'm value TO los. IN gold, which simply
SHELLS universal bankruptcy for Engiani-
Does anv one Of common sense supno7
that England would ever agree TO sueh
prOQosai3 ,....,
S,n-,ose. on the other hand, however.
thar the present market ratio OF % 10
was adopted. what would that mean To
France? The Bank of France mas Ill
enormous mass OF silver ln reserve
which is valued at t30Wop". but no"
Is n valued al that sum- Simply ny r.
tainina, the obsolete and imaginary rauo
of ID ~ and vigorously closing ils minus
TO the free coinage OF silver
French dve-franc pieces. which are now
legal tender 10 an unlimited amount
are I'm reality as much token money as
our shillings. whose present market Nalue
is somewhat less than 81. Ihe market
value Of the silver iH the fiye-iranc pieces
T. about , II francs. IT the French minus
were opened to the free coinage OF sh-
Yer nj the present ratio Of 50, the ninet-
auiets maintain that silver bullion Wouil
rise 10 the value Of silver coin. but lHe
exact reverse would ake place. Inc sh-
YER coin would fall tO tle value OF rif't
bullion. The Bank OF France would 'h-
stantlv lose about Is eo.rO ln the NdlNe
of it's assets Every debtor i'm France
would Doe allowed 10 pay hts DEBTS H
nv.-fran. pieces worth about il francs
French renters would Doe paid In hfe-
frame pieces worth less than hat their
nominal value.
The silver currency tn france 800 iFe-
frame pieces cannot be estimated at Jess
than f9oODO0. All this mass of eur
rency would Instantly fall 20 IFS market
value as silver bullion Every one IN
France would instantly lose more tnan
half of his income That means lie
slant bankruptcy and ruin TO France.
Does any person OF common sense SUP
nose thai France would ever consent 10
such a proposal2 The leading French hi-
netallists have explicitly declared thdt
they would do nothing of the sort.
But Il is absolutely impossible for
France 20 agree 10 bimetailsm at amy
ratio. She cannot stir a step in the de
rcer1n OF bimetaiIism without bring
ing ON national bankruptcy. Even n the
whole world were 10 agree 10 the fal.'
of BIZ insisted upon By the keenest
French bimetallists, IL would not nave
the slightest effect upon me laws Oh
nature. The whole of the active cuffeh-
cy OF France at present consists IN these
silver nve-franc pieces. ana if the ffehcn
mints we're opened TO the free coinage or
silver. al any ratio. 'he value OF the whole
silver currency would az once descend TO
the market value Of silver bullion, not
wfthsandiug all the cobwebs of interim
tionai agreements. and that would spell
universal bankruptcy for France. She is
therefore firmly and imm0yably liked IN
her present position. She cannot ADOPT
bimefallisu4 al any ratio without bring
ing on al once a national bankruptcy
and that at once shows that the hopes
OF the bimetallsts are Utterly futile
Thus SUPPOSE that this c0nclave Of pl-
metallists We're TO meet 10 establish Il
common fixed ratio by international
agreement. the very first proposal 10 hN
upon definite ratio would az once a"t1-
ter IL 20 atoms. like a bomb-sheh OF ny
Mantle and IL would vanish into nothing.
SO much for the contention OF the b-
mefallists that tho fixing of common
T.r fnt unrI4lnTnf
mere insignificant matter Of detail.
The great fundamental law OF the com
age. first demonstrated by Orcsme IN
France. by Copcrnicus IN Poland. and By
Gresham I'm England, that inferior
coins and superior coins cannot, IN
the nature of things circulate to-
gether in unlimited quantities 20 a
fixed legal ratio which differs from the
market ratio Of the metals I'm bullion.
which has been found 10 be true In all
ages and countries. and which has been
recognized as true by all sound econo-
mists is not confined TO single ana sep
arate states. any more than the law 81
gravitati0n or the laws OF optics are.
These. when once demonstrated in any
one country, are found TO be true
throuehout the world. So this funda-
mental law OF the coinage Us true through
however large an area which has sine
Gle system Of coinage. And IL Is 10
more possible 20 fix legal ratio be-
tween gold and silver by an internation-
al agreement among geyeral states than
IL Is for single States separately, or 20 tie
the planets together by packthread. or 10
suppress volcanoes, earthquakes, or tor
nadOes. or typhOOns. or 20 compel the
waters OF the Ganges TO flow back from
the Sonderbunds 20 the Hlimaiayas. or TO
compel the sun to rise in the West.