The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-04-04
Annual Meeting Of the Bi-Metal-
lie League in London.
SPEECH BY THE TORY LEADER.
Demonetization of Silver a Reproaeh
to Civilization, He Says.
bf-Aetallism No Longer Considered In
trinsicaliy Impo-sibIe-It Would Not
inJure London, Nor Cause a Crisis
eaf Britain's Policy of Isolation
Unwise.

London, April 3-The annual r,ea.4, .
W ne Dl-metailfc league was heId TODAY
q the mansion house the Official resi-
1ehes OF the lord mayor OF London. SIR
sOseph Difnssiale presided. Among those
present were Lord George Hamllfon tha
Duke OF Fife ana Sir Donald grFartars.
ana Charles II. Vincent. merot,ers of rhe
mousse OF commons.
NJ non. A J. Baifour, conservative
ieaaef Oh the house OF commons, made a
strong speech In favor OF tha douhla
standard He said that the relief in hi
mechanism was growing. not only in Lon
uoo and elsewhere in Great Britain, bur
throughout the civilized world. One
eal chahse was noticeable II was sell
ooui Il"m asserted that bi-mefaiiism is in
tfhslcaiiy impossible. Formerly a hi
Hic-aiiiss was regarded as a dangerous
tsdalst Economists who placed value on
ths lessons OF experience had before them
the irrefutaole fact that while the Latin
nations maintained the .bi-metalHc sys-
TEN the par OF execution OF gold and sill
Yer Was preserved for the whole world
despite wars. industrial revolutions and
the discovery of the precious metals
some persons admitted that mono me tai
iIsm an large portion OF the world had
deprecated prices and put bond on i'm
ports. Thus, for instance. Great Britain
bought from India and other countries
wheat al price bellows its legitimate
value, and these persons figured that this
was an advantage to the consumers and
therefore benefited the mass OF the COM
munity. Mr. Balfour declared. however,
that he was convinced that nobody In
the city was so foolish as to suppose that
the interests OF Great Britain were bene-
fited generally by an unlimited fall in
prices. Not any large body of city men
was so unscrupulous as to desire that the
debts owned by foreign nations should
be artificially augmented by a change in
the value OF the currency in which they
were paid. (Cheers.)
Another argument was that the bank
ing supremacy OF London would be
threatened by a currency change but no
mono-met tallist was ever able TO explain
how. He contended that London as the
financial center of the world. would gain
rather than lose by anything placing the
currency of the world con a sounder basis
The third argument was very absurd
rms was that change would depreciate
sold ana, therefore, persons having de-
i'oslts IN banks payable in gold would
Withdraw them instantly. The change
threatened thus to cause such CONNER
ciai crisis as the world had never seem
This argument was supported by Glad
stone and Sir William Vernon Harcourt
Though panic was probably unreason-
able. there appeared to him no grounds 10
suppose that the people would do anything
so inordinately silly as 10 withdraw their
deposits because the worlds currency was
going TO be put on a stable basis. which
except In particular international trans
actions, would never differ, and. except
Tor Its slow effects on the great move
ment. Of course, this would have no effec.
on private individual convenience
The fourth and strongest argument was
let well enough alone" But bi-metallists
asked. was IL well enough People talked
or the excellence of the British system,
but they find. although the gold standard
obtained In Great Britain. that silver is
the currency OF HoTtkong and the Straits
Settlement while in India debts are paid
in something which IS neither silver nor
gold. bat the strongest product of mono
metallic ingenuity the world has ever
seen, and as arbitrary as any forced paper
currency, and expensive as any metallic
currency the world has ever heard of-a
standard varying according TO the arbi-
trary viii OF the finance minister Of India
This triple system was manifestly riaicu-
lous. Some alteration OF this system was
inpeTa lively required. II Britons would
turn 70 the world a large they would find
the case much stronger. To consider home
interests alone in framing currency,
while Great Britain was connected by for
eigh countries by every commercial tie
was a violation Of the common sense OF
every practical business man. When the
country depended for it's very bread on
foreign nations, and II II were cut off
could not live a day. and would have ruin
staring it in the face. II was the height OF
folly 20 practice isolation respecting the
currency medium He did not believe that
tho common sense of the nation would
long tolerate such state OF things. In
view OF what was proceeding In Germany
America and France. and even I'm Great
Britain. he vas convinced that men Of all
classes would soon combine 10 end the re-
proach 20 our civiliza ton.
The meeting adopted a report Of prog
ress. The league has decided 10 raise a
guaranty fund Of ElD0 90 20 he devoted
70 the propagation Of the bi-rretaiiic
movement. Fifty thousand pounds has
already been privately subscribed