The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-05-01
METAL MONEY HISTORY.
WORLDS CREDITORS MAKE UN-
CEASING WAR ON SILVER,
KILLED THE GOLDEN EGG LAYER.
Demonstration of Silver Has Prac-
tically Made England Present
of 81, 200, 100000.
BUSINESS CHECKED AND EN-
TERPRISE RUINED-SILVER
STILL STABLE.
from the Denver Road.]

STILL STABLE.
GFrom the Denver Road.]
Conspiracy is a hateful word. We
naturally hesitate to charge such &C
tion upon honorable men, bankers
and lawmakers. Nor is the matter
much helped by speaking Of it as a
preconcerted movement, as has lately
been so much the fashion in Con-
gress. 1t is not necessary, however,
to charge an actual conspiracy against
silver, for the whole history Of the
world shows that class widely dif-
fused, but all interested in one move
ment. will work as effectually to aid
it as if sitting in continuous cOnven-
tion. What do charge is that for
over 25 years the worlds creditors
have worked without ceasing, and al
their efforts have been in one direc-
tion; that the facts, as now submitted
by themselves, show results which,
though they may not have been min
utely planned in advance, have yet
been foreseen by the shrewd ones, ,and
while the movement has been as uni
form and persistent the results have
been as complete, as wrongful to
debtors and as profitable to creditors
as II designed by the most artful con-
spiracy of which man is capable. In
proof of this let facts be submitted to
a candid world.
WAR BEGUN AGAINST SILVER.
In 1867 the worlds creditors met in
convention at Paris, under the name
of the international monetary confer
ence. The assigned reason for this
convention was that. as international
commerce was rapidly increasing, the
diversities of coinage were becoming
great annoyance, and the alleged de-
sign was to assimilate the coins so
that they would pass from nation to
nation just like tons of wheat or
pounds of cotton. But no sooner did
the convention get to work than
deeper design was revealed. Nineteen
naties1s were. -represented. for the
great exposition was in progress, the
~dnanciers of the world embraced the
opportunity to see it, and the French
committee on coinage had made a
thorough study of the worlds metallic
money and invited the nations to
hear it's conclusions. That committee
made a lengthy and minute report,
the chief point of interest in this con-
nection being that the Latin q nion,
then consisting of France, Italy, Bel
gium and Switzerland, was coming
freely of both metals at the ratio of
15A to i; and could continue to do so
because the worlds stock of silver
and gold were almost exactly equal,
and the greater value production of
gold then, and for many years preced-
ing, was certain to be absorbed in the
arts. The American commissioner
proposed 25 franc gold coin ($4.S2D,
to which the American S. piece and
the English sovereign or pound ster-
ling could by degrees be assimilated.
but this was combated chiefly on the
ground that it would disturb the
whole decimal system of the Latin
union, and cur commissioners came
away somewhat out of humor.
Quite suddenly, as it would seem,
the ground Of the discussion was
shifted, and the war On silver began.
The unexplained puzzle about this
SOAVCu WuS UlldU UtiC LID Ulil ~ AlOIt,
which had called it, was bimetallic
union and declared free coinage a sue
cess, and yet with only one dissenting
nation, SO far as can be determined,
and with surprisingly little discus
sion, the convention resolved that in
ternational money "is attainah!e on
the basis and condition of adopting
the exclusive gold standard, leaving
each state the liberty Of keeping it's
silver standard temporarily. "Hol-
land alone combated the proposition.
All the silver standard countries
present. the United States included,
voted for it, and only one man in the
convention blurted out the plain
truth. President Mees, of the Bank
of the Netherlands, predicted world
wide trouble, and declared that "to
adopt the gold standard everywher re
would reduce silver to change money,
and consequently gold would rise in
value"
GOLD STANDARD ADOPTED.
Shrewd as they were, they made one
mistake. They seem to have believed
that the national debts Of the world
had reached their maximum and the
corporate debts nearly so, and that
many years of peace were to follow.
OAAy AOOL yCdIS UCI Il IduCC Ildu w
agree to pay Germany the great war
indemnity, amounting to nearly 81,
coo, 900, 900. 1t was then that the war
on silver became active. Germany
announced that she would seize the
opportunity offered her. by receipt of
that immense indemnity, to destroy
the varied silver coinage of all the lit
tie governments absorbed into the
empire; would start her imperial coin
age on gold basis and throw upon
the market all the old silver, supposed d
to amount to $240,OOO,O0O. The mar
ket staggered at once, and the at.
tempt was for the time abandoned.
In 1872 it was resumed, and Denmark.
Sweden and Norway declared for a
gold standard without taking very ac-
tive steps toward establishing it. The
export price Of wheat then, in New
York, averaged for the year, was 81. AZ
and OF corn 50 cents. The next year
the United States adopted the gold
standard, but as most of those en-
. gagged in it have declared that they
did not know what they were doing
we are bound to accept their confes.
sion. In August a panic began in
Austria, spread rapidly through Ger
many and was followed the next
month by the great panic in the
United States. Wheat declined to
$l.30 and corn to so cents. but wool