Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-04-04
BALFOUR ON SILVER
British BimetalIists Hold Con.
ference at London.
SPEECH On THE DOUBLE STANDARD

E,y the Conse rvative Leader In the House
in Great Britain and All Over the World
He says-Arsumenfs In Favor of the
Rehabilitation of the White Metal-A
Mixed Currency situation.
LONDON April 4.-The annual meeting
IT the Bimetallic league was held at the
the lord mayor Of London. Sir Joseph
Dmsdale presided. Among those pres
cnt were Lord George Hamilton, the duke
OF Fife and Sir Donald H. McFarlane
ami Charles H. Vincent, members OF the
house Of commons. r.. Hon. A. j. Bal
four, Conservative leader in the house OF
commons, made speech in favor OF q
double standard. He said that the belief
in bimetallisn 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 was
intrinsically impossible. Formerly BIZ
netallist was regarded as a dangerous
faddist.
An Alleged Irrefutab,e Fact.
Economists who placed value On the les
SONS of experience had before them the ir-
REPUTABLE fact that while the Latin nations
maintained the bimetallic system the par
of exchange of gold and silver was pre-
served for the whole world, despite wars,
industrial revolutions, and discoveries of
the precious metals. Some persons ad-
mitted that monometallism in large
portion of the world had deprecated
prices and put a bound ON imports. Thus,
for instance, Grcat Britain bought from
India and other countries wheat at q price
below its legitimate value, and these per-
sons declared that this was an advantage
to the consumers and therefore benefited
the mass of the community.
Supremacy of London Safe.
Balfour declared. however, that he was
convinced that nobody in tine city was SO
foolish IS to suppose that the interests of
Great Britain benefited generally by an
unlimited fall of prices, nor that any large
body of city men was so INSCRIPTIONS as
to desire that the debts owed them by
foreign nations should be artificially
augmented by change in the value of
the currency in which they were paid
lCheers Another argumenv was that
the banking supremacy of London would
he threatened with a currency change, but
no mono-metalliSt was ever able to ex-
plan how. He contendcl that London,
as the financial centre of the world, would
gain rather than lose by anything plac
ing the currency Of the world on q sound
er basis.
Thi rd Argument Declared Absurd.
The third argument was very absurd.
TIL was that a change would depreciate
gold, and therefore persons having de-
posits in banks payable in gold would
withdraw them instantly. The change
Threatened thus to cause such a CONNER
cial crisis as the world had never seen. This
argument was supported by Gladstone
and HarcoUrt. There appeared TO Bal
four no grounds to suppose that the peo-
pie would do anything SO inordinately
silly as to withdraw their deposits because
t he " orid's currency was going to be put
on a stable basis.
Insists That 1t Is Not "wen Enough"
The fourth and strongest argument
was let well enough alone" but bimet-
allists asked was it well enough? People
talked about the excellence OF the British
system, but they find that although the
gold standard obtained in Great Britain
silver is the currency of Hong Kong and
the straits settlements, while in India
debts are paid i'll something which is
neither silver nor gold, but the strangest
product of mono-metailic ingenuity the
world has ever seen, as arbitrary rs any
forced paper currency and as expensive as
any metallic currency the world had ever
heard of.
Change Of System ImPerativeIy Required.
Some alteration of this system was i'm
peratively required. Ii Britons turned tc
the world at large they would find the
case much stronger. To consider home
interests alone in framing n currency,
while Great Britain was connected with
foreign countries By every commercial tie,
was violation of the common sense of
every practicable business man. When
the country depended for its very bread
ON foreign nations, and il it were cut eff
could not live day, it was the height of
folly to attempt isolation respecting the
medium.
ID seovescd a Shortage OF $4,000.