The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-04-25
FOR A DOUBLE STANDARD.

FOR A DOUBLE STANDARD.
Annual Meeting of the Bimetallic
League in LOndOn-HOnOrable A. j.
BalfOur's Strong Speech.
LONDON, April 1S.-The annual
meeting of the Bimetallic League was
held to-day at the Mansion House,
the official residence of the lord mayor
Of London. Sir Joseph Dimsdale pre-
sided. The Right Hon. A. ]. Bal,
/ four, conservative leader in the House
of Commons made strong speech in
favor of double standard. He said
; that the belief in bimetallism was grow
ing, not only in London and else
where in Great Britain, but through
out the civilized world. One great
change was noticeable 1t was seldom
now asserted that bimetallism was in
trinsically impossible. Formerly a
bimesallist was regarded as a danger
Gus faddist. Economists who placed
value on the lessons of experience
had before them the irrefutable fact
that while the Latin nations main
tanned the bimetallc system the par
of exchange of gold and silver was
preserved for the whole world, despite
wars, industrial revolutions and dis
coveries of the precials. Some persons
admitted that monometallism in a
large portion of the world had depre-
ciated prices and put bounty on I'M
ports. Thus, for instance, Great
Britain brought from India and other
countries wheat at price below its
legitimate value, and these persons de-
clared 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 interests of Great Britain were
benefited generally by an unlimited
fall in prices, nor that any large body
of city men was SO unscrupulous as to
desire that the debts owed them by
foreign nations should be artifcially
augmented by change in the value Of
the currency in which they were paid.
LONDoN's BANKING SUPREMACY.
Another argument was that the
banking supremacy of London would
be threatened by a currency change,
bu. no monometallist was ever able to
explain how. He contended that
London, as the financial centre of the
world, would gain rather than lose by
anything placing the currency of the
world on a sounder basis. The argu-
ment was very absurd. This was that
a change would depreciate gold and
that, therefore, persons having deposits
in banks payable in gold would with
draw them instantly. The change
threatened thus to cause sucn a COM
mercial crisis as the world had never
seen. This argument was supported
by Mr.. Gladstone and Sir William
Vernon Harcourt. Though a panic
was proverbially unreasonable, there
appeared to him no ground to suppose
that people would do anything SO inor-
dinately silly as withdraw their depos
its because the worlds currency was
going to be put on stable basis, which,
except in particular international
transactions, they have never discov-
cred, and which, except for its slow
effect on the great movements of COM
merce, would have no effect on pri-
vate individual convenience.
TRIPLE SYSTEM RIDICULOUS.
The fourth and strongest argument
was 'let well enough alone" but BIZ
metallists asked was it we'll enough.
People talked of the excellence of the
British system, but they find, although
the gold standard obtained in Great
Britain, that silver is the currency OF
Hong Kong and the Straits settle
ments, while in India debts are paid
in something which is neither silver
nor gold, but the strangest product Of
monometallc ingenuity the world has
ever seen and as arbitrary as any
forced paper currency and as expen-
sive as any metallic currency the world
has ever heard ola standard varying
according to the arbitrary will of the
| finance minister of India. This triple
system was manifestly ridiculous. Some
alteration of this system was impera-
lively required.
If Britons turned to the world at
large they would find the case much
! stronger To consider home inter
ests alone in framing a currency,
while Great Britain was connected
with foreign countries by every CON-
mercial tie, was violation of the com
mon sense Of every practical business
man. When the country depended
for its very bread on foreign nations.
and, if it were cut off, could not live q
day and would have ruin staring it in
the face, it was the height of folly tc
attempt isolation respecting the cur
rency medium. He did not believe
the common seuse of the nation would
long tolerate such a state of things. lr
view os what was proceeding in Amer
ica, Germany and France, and ever
in Great Britain, he was convinced
that men of all classes would soon
combine to end the reproach TO ou
civilization.
The meeting adopted report 0
progress. The league has decided Il
raise guarantee fund of lIoo, 900 Z
be devoted to the propagation of TIT
bime,allic movement. Fifty thou
sand pounds has already been private