The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1895-05-01
UNANSWERARLE LOGIC.
Full Text of a Speech Delivered before
the English Binctallic League.

the English Bimctallic League.
At a meeting Of the Bimetallc
league held in London on April Bone
of the strongest speeches for remon-
etization of silver was delivered by
Hon. Evelyn Hubbard, a director Of
the Bank of England. The London
newspapers Of the following day had
verbatim report Of the speech which
is here reproduced in full. Mr.. Hub
bard said:
II imagine that ! have been asked
to second this report chiefly because
the Bimetallic league count me, if
not as professed convert, at least as
a catechumen, and, in accordance
with ancient custom, 1 am called on
to testify to my sincerity by some
public confession Of faith. I started
heavily weighted with the conviction
that legislation could never possibly
fix the relative value Of two commod-
tiles which vary in supply. I have
become aware that bimetallism in
wolves the regulation, not of price,
but Of ratio, and that what was pos
sible to the Latin union cannot be
impossible to Europe and the United
States. l imagined that even were a
ratio fixed by law between gold and
silver, the market price must newt
ably vary from the legal ratio in ac-
cordance with the increase or decrease
in the production Of either metal.
discovered that this is not q matter
Of argument, but of history that
the record of the years lS49-52 has
furnished the most conclusive dem
onstration Of the power Of the ratio
to keep the price steady, even in the
face Of the most violent tluctuation in
the supply. entertained a vague
yet firm impression that the CONNER
cial supremacy of England was at
tributable to her gold standard ]
find that England was both nominal
" and practically binletallic up tC
the end Of the last century, that she
enjoyed all the advantages Of bimet-
allism up to 1873 and that it is only
during the last twenty years Of falling
prices and depressed trade that she
has been strictly monometallic.
was haunted by the vision Of my
debts being pressed upon my accept
ance at inconvcnient moments in the
form Of cumbrous barroWfuls Of silver
| I have become aware that, under bi
metallism, debts will be paid as they
are now, by chequc or bills of ex
change, and that under no circum
stances are we likely to receive pay
ments before they are due. Again
the insular argument was not Withou
weight. England, it was urged is ;
great creditor country; all the Worl(
is indebted to her in sterling. l
gold is appreciated, SO much the
better for US. Why should we no
let we'll alone? This particular mill
stone, however, fell from my necl
the first. 1t requires little consider
alton to see that it is not only essen
TALLY immoral, but also self de
structive. If gold appreciates, you
gold standard stands condemned b.
failure in the most essential attribut
= that Of stability; while you ar
convicted of mulcting your debtor
not only of the interest which h
agrees to pay, but Of the unearnc'
increment, the increase in purchasin:
power, which your currency has &C
quired by lapse of time.
'"The English investor, as the repor
suggests has learnt from sad expert
encc the unwisdom Of forcing on ou
foreign borrowers terms too onerou
for them to bear, and is, think
beginning to realize the truth of
remark made at this meeting a yea
or two ago: 1T is better to have
silver debtor who pays you than
gold debtor who does not
Further, an insular view is ncce
sarily but a partial view, and tt
statesman is bound to look bcyon
the immediate confines of our ow
country to the wider interests of tt
whole British empire. England h;
a duty to India which she may NJ
ignore, and when on a visit the:
a few years ago, I saw for myself tt
dislocation of trade, caused not
much by the actual fall of the rupt
as by the daily uncertainty Of VIII
it's value would be on the morroN
When I saw the desperate shifts
which the Indian government, und
the ever growing burden of its stel
ing debt, was driven to make tv
ends meet, eliminating in that u
fortunate measure which, by puttir
an artificial premium on the coint
rupees, has effectually handicappt