The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-04-04
MEETING OF The LEAGUE
Strong Speeches Made In Favor Of a
Double Standard.
GOOD AND BAD ARGUMENTS
Men Combine to End the Reproach
to Our Civiilzation-The Belief
In Bimetailism Is Growing
the World Over.

LONDON. April 3.-The annual meeting
of the Bimetallic league was held to-day
at the Mansion house. the official resi-
dence of the lord mayor of London. Sir
Joseph Dinsdale presided. Among those
present were Lord George Hamilton, Duke
of Fife and Sir Donald ii. McFarlane and
Charles H. Vincent, members OF the house
of commons. The Right Hon. J. Balfour,
conservative leader of the house OF COM
mons, made q strong speech in favor OF
the double standard. He said that the be-
lief in bimetallism was growing, not only
In London and elsewhere In Great Britain,
but throughout the civilized world. One
great change was noticeable. 1t was sell
dom now asserted that bimetallism Is in
trinsically impossible. Formerly n
dangerous faddist. Economists who
placed a value on the lessons OF expe-
rience had before them the irrefutable
facts that while the Latin nations main
tanned the bimetallic system the parity OF
gold and silver was preserved for the
whole world, despite wars, industrial rev.
olutions and the discovery of the precious
metals. Some persons admitted that
monometallism in a large portion OF the
world had deprecated prices and put
bond on imports. Thus, for instance.
Great Britain bought from India and
other countries wheat at price below its
legitimate value, and these persons
| figured that this was an advantage to the
consumers, and therefore benefited the
mass of the community.
Mr.. Balfour declared, however, that he
was convinced that nobody in the city was
so foolish as to suppose that the inter-
ests of Great Britain we're benefited gen.
orally by an unlmited fall IN prices. An
other argument was that the banking SUI
premacy of London would be threatened
by q currency change, but no monometal-
list was ever able to explain how. He
/ contended that London, as the financial
center of the world, would gain rather
than lose anything by placing the curren-
| cy of the world on a sounder basis.
The third argument was very absurd.
This was that change would depreciate
gold, and therefore persons having de-
posits in banks, payable in gold, would
withdraw them instantly. The change
threatened to cause such a commercial
crisis as the world had never seen. This
\ argument was supported by Gladstone
and Sir William vernoa Harcourt
Though panic was probably unreason
able, there appeared to him no grounds
to suppose that the people would do any
thing so inordinately silly as to withdraw
their deposits because the worlds cur
rency was going to be put on n stable
basis.
The fourth and strongest argument was
"Let well enough alone" But bimetal
lists asked was IL well enough. People
talked of the excellency of the British
system, but they find, although the gold
standard be obtained in Great Britain
that silver Is the currency of Hong Kons
and the straits settlement, while in India
debts are paid in something which 1.
neither silver nor gold. but the stranges
product of monometallic ingenuity the
world has ever seen, and as arbitrary as
any forced paper currency and rs expen
sive as any metallic currency the worlt
had ever heard of-a standard varying
according TO the arbitrary will
of the finance minister of In
dia. This triple system was mani
festly ridiculous. Some alteration
of this system was imperatively required
III Britons would turn to the world a
large they would find the case mucl
stronger. To consider home interests, II
framing q currency, while Great Britain
was connected with foreign countries b.
every commercial tie, was a violation o
the common sense of every practical busi
ness man. He did not believe that tn
common sense of the nation would lon
tolerate state of such things. In vie,
of what was proceeding in America, Ger
many and France and even in Grea
Britain, he was convinced that men of al
classes would soon combine to end tn
rcproach TO our civilization.