Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-10-04

madmen"; and so it would have been if
1t had been done by the people them.
selves 1t was not, however, done by the
people, but by the governments.
T. r y
Personally, | think foreign govern
ments are most TO blame for not having
had the pluck to form an international
agreement for the use of silver and gold
among themselves together with the
United States of America, leaving our
England altogether. However that may
b., cannot help thinking that the d.
vergence of value between silver and
gold has been almost an unmixed evil to
all gold-using countries outside England.
Now let us take the case of England
and try to find some compromising ad-
vantages for the loss of employment to
her manufacturers and workmen. You
may naturally say, what other countries
lost England must have gained. Eng
land Is on the balance creditOr-coun-
try. If other countries have had to pay
more produce to liquidate the annual in
terest on their gold uebt, England must
have received more.
But what is England-or the United
Kingdom, If you prefer it? A foreign
State has to pay interest on nati0nal
debt which affects the whole body of
taxpayers. The State in England has no
national investments abroad-receives no
interest from abroad. The State has no
property, nothing but debts and very
large debts, too; and i'm consequence of
the scarcity of gold everyone in Eng
land who has to pay portion of
the annual interest on the national
debt has to sacrifice great deal more
of his produce than he used to do.
You may say gold is not scarce be-
cause there is great deal in the bank of
England; and, no doubt. if YOU want to
boroW somebody else's gold on good
security you can borrow it very easily at
low rate OF interest. But try and get
some gold for your own by selling a
field, or house, or a few quarters of
corn, or some lead, or tin, or iron. or
some cotton or linen or jute goods and
you will soon find out whether gold is
cheap and plentiful or not.
1t is evident it is not the State that
gains by the fall i'm the value of produce.
Who is it, then, you mean when YOU talk
of England gaining? You mean certain
individual lenders of money resident i'm
this country. And have they gained d:
Or the whole, | should doubt it. So
many governments, municipalities and
individuals in foreign countries have
either gone bankrupt, repudiated or re-
duced the interest on their debts and so
many more seem likely to do so if the
fall IN silver continues, that ! should
doubt If the general body of individual
lenders of money in this country has
really benefited by the divergence in
value between gold and silver and the
consequent fall of prices.
We may admit at once that those who
are receiving thei' interest in full are
benefiting very largely and in way they
never expected when they lent the
money; every 100 soverignS they re.
ceive in interest now commanding
double as much wheat. wool, tea. silver
iron, lead, tin and many other things as
it did formerly.
Then there is another c1tsS who nj any
rate think hey bcnem by he present state
Of MiHgS, and That is the class of London
bonkerS and .fRaHciers. They say that Hc
fuct mat L0ndoa is the only market in III,
,rOrid ,rhrre gOH cun di,ruys he OJtdtncd in
IoTge quantities and rim ease. is an adra1l-
tage 10 them, and has helpcd to nuke LoD-
dom he financial ccntre Of me ,r0rd. !,
possible That they are right, ami that m,
present system cnricheS lendcrS Of. anil dcdt
crs in, money.
,.,,. r
J., No ' ! 'o iio' .l'Hsell oeileNg 'llat Lon
u .h vou,9 ie.,ai'i lie lliauclaI Sen.le ol
o,lG o,'u u S,,e los' licI ,l'auulactuI re-,
anu an , 'luen.i9 larSe Por''on VI ilel
' 1,"'e "I; w we WISH 10 Ste our pro-
uuoe' u,S"ppear rom Ln'S coGnlry
vNgi, ~ tt We.e /" oeIoI'e ,ne paIaui,e VI
ciers of various nationalities?