The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-12-18

writes bis magazine article under the
title given him by the enterprising edi-
tor: "Why Am Free Silver ManT
he will give these facts as very intel
| ligible reason.
Exactly the same mishap has befallen
another of our great staples of export,
cotton. There is enough India cotton
raised at silver cost and sold at gold
prices to knock the price of American
cotton from ten cents to five cents just
about the depreciation of wheat and
measuring with remarkable exactitude
the nominal depreciation of silver, and
the real appreciation of gold. This is
about the reason that makes the Southern
planter fierce and fighting advocate of
free coinage at Is to l.
INDIA AND JAPAN.
l have already glanced at two of the
exportable products of India, wheat and
cotton, and shown how disastrously COM
petition in them, made possible purely
by the monetary degradation of silver,
has affected leading American indus
tries. Let US see how the same cause
has struck fatal blow at English manu-
features, and also at ours, if we ever have
enterprise enough to push them beyond
the sphere of a strictly home market.
When the support of the French 15%
standard was withdrawn in 1S73-unuer
which the ratio of gold to silver, and
nearly uniform rate Of exchange had been
maintained for seventy years, not only
in bi-metallic France and Germany, but
in gold monometallic England-silver
began to fall, and the rates of exchange
between India and London to rise CORE
spondingly. 1t soon became impossible
for her Eastern customers to purchase
English manufactures and pay the con-
stantly increasing gold premium upon
| them hay W. nj IN tn
facture for themselves the commodities
| that England had always supplied.
| There had been mills in India produo-
| ing cotton yarns for ten years, the
annual output of which had been for
that time about ], 100000 pounds, and had
not increased-of course no serious COM
| petition for the Lancashire spinners. As
silver began to fall the production of In
dia yarns and their export to China and
Japan began to rise at an enormous rate
l put in tabular form the remarkable
showing:
Years Silver Price Exports to China and Japan
1s64-1S74 cod. per OF loco, OO0lbs. per an.
1889 1883 ga ga lbs os per per am
1885 4Sd :" ." $4,000, 900 lbs. per an.
1889 43d. !" 127, 100000 lbs per an
| 1892 Esd. - " 178,O0O,000 lbs. per an.
In the same period the Lancashire yarns
shipped to China and Japan fell from
|
pounds in 1898 ! hat enormous expansion
of trade in one article alone enured to
the profit of the weak and laggard Hin
docs, "that had silver alone for their
standard of value,' and shows how much
London bankers and oney-lenders had
inulcted the Lancashire spinners for the
maintenance "of a sound currency"
When trader by his lack of enterprise
or his extortion invites rival trader into
his street, when an ingenious and indus
trious people, by tampering with the
| worlds monetary standard compel a
semi civilized people to adopt their eco
Monies, the advantageous situation can
not be regained by reversing the fatal
methods. The rivals have come, and they
have come to stay. All the arts you may
practise to win back the lost customers,
they can initiate and improve the lesson.
Slow, conservative Asia would have been
a century learning to make saleable fab
rios. the products of complicated ma
chinery; but when silver rupee that
twenty years ago could buy two sterling
shllllng's worth, can now buy but one
shilIing's worth, commerce between Eng
land and Asia has become impossible.
Japan would hardly brook the Presi-
d ent's classification, as "a weak and lag
gard nation" after the rapidity with
which she has just whipped nation
with ten times her wealth, and ten times
basis, under which in her own shops, she
built her own war ships and forged her
own arms of the most effective and mod
ern pattern. She has just retired from
the contest with renown, and with her
indemnity of cheap silver is beginning to
gee If she cannot make and sell every
thing from a shovel TO a telescope, that
have always been beholden for to Western
skill and enterprise. Among the items
| in one Of my last gold commercial papers
| is one to the effect that agents from man
utacturing houses in Japan are now in
Europe and the United States with a
view of introducing Japanese comm obi
ties into all the Western markets. The
minis of Japan are open to the free coin
age of silver.
ARTIF iCIAL STOPPAGE OF THE
NATURAL FLOW OF MONEY.
AS have already said, the fruits of the
Presidents policy of disusing his silver
coin and paying out gold coin and selling
S162, 600, QUO worth of interest bearing
bonds of the United States to fill the vac
uum has been a net Increase of less than
sl4, 600, COG in his gold reserve with these
accompanying conditions which he emu.
merates: Inability to maintain gold
payments, - boarding ofssgold," always
dang ,orus contraction of the ciroulat-
ing medium), stopping Of the invest
ment of foreign capital, the return of
securities already sold,'' speculation in
exchange due to the dislocation of the
monetary standard
Would things have been any worse
than this, if he had reversed his practice
and exercised the discretion given him
by law to pay silver. at least for "the in
struments" with which the "raid' had
been chiefly made on his gold reserve2
So capricious are the natural move
ments Of current coin, defeating often
the forecasting of the most skillful ex-
perts, that the most modern and best
scientific theory on the subject is that of
Ricardo, that any attempt of the govern
ment to control the movement IF curren-
cy is as futile as it is Improbable Men
that own money, put it, like Mr.. Ames's
fam GUS Credit Mobilier stock, 'where it
will do them the most good" and, if the
interest of the owners is promoted, what