The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-08-08
cANADA's EXPERIENCE IN SILVER.
An Object Lesson from Our Northern
Neighbours Early History.

(From the Toronto (Ontario) Globe.)
Much interest is taken by Canadians
In the progress of the silver campaign in
the United States. Here as there. some
Of Us are gold bugs. SONS for silver A
year or two ago The Globe dealt with the
paper money question which agitated
Canada when Canada belonged TO France.
It may be worth while to explain the
silver question which arose about the
same time, as it throws light upon the
merits of the controversy among our
neighbors.
New France, AS Canada was then called,
had very little specie money. AS in
other new countries, men were thrown
back upon barter. In order TO esta blish
a standard of value of some sort of wheat
!n 1869 as made legal tender in payment
of all debts at the rate of four livres to
the.bushel. Beaver skins were made legal
tender at the current price, whatever it
might be, and $50, in 1874, were deer
skins, the skin Of she Canadian origin al
The deer and beaver skins varied, of
course, with the success or failure of the
catch, and were perplexing because a
6uctuating currency.
Wheat at livres was not so bad, be-
cause it remained at or about that price
for many years. But it was impossible
to transport any large quantity of it in
those days without trouble and delay.
The settler within a few miles of Quebec.
or Three Rivers could take load to
town In his boat or sleigh and exchange
1t for clothing or powder and shot, but it
was nor easy to employ it as medium
Of exchange elsewhere.
Tine hard or specie money i'll vogue
ringing money as the French called it
consisted of a miscellaneous lot of coins
Among others there was the French louis
d or, gold, rs the name denotes; tho liyre,
or franc, worth 20 cents of our present
Canadian money; the soc orsou, worth "a
cent; the lizard, worth u quarter of a soc,
and denier, worth one Twelfth of soe
The liYre WAS silver, the others copper.
The King in 1870 authorized the Com
pagnie des Indies Oocidentales to issue
this coinage TO the amount of 100. 600 francs
throughout mis- Majesty's possessions. 1t
had been found that specie money had
habit of leaving the colony. The mer-
chants exp rted it in payment Of thsir ae-
ony, the King ordered that Git should lie
overvalued SO long as it circulated there.
Thus the b'renGh silver crown, worth
three livres in France, was to be legal
tender for four in Canada; the lard,
worth three deniers, was to pass for six,
aud SO on.
We must be sure there was no Job at
tins bottom OF the undertaking. In that
age Kings and Princes often resorted to
such means Of cheating their subjects
The subject in Canada took load of
wood to the royal warehouse or to the
agents OF the trading monopoly, and
parted with it, as he believed, for a crown
worth four livres in ''money of France.
But when he went to buy AN axe OF
coat the merchant, who imported every
thing from France, reckoned the crown
as worth only three livres, its value in
France. He had to accept 1t as legal
tender for four, but that did not prevent
him from marking UP his prices so as to
make it in reality worth but three. 1t
was from his exploits in fleeing the peo-
pie in this way by issuing clipped and
oyeryalued money that King Philippe
ls Bel, nlcknamed the Couer, was placed
By Dante in He'll.
The overvaluing in New France de-
oeived nobody but the settler, and be soon
had his eyes opened by the storekeeper.
Nor did it keep the specie money in the
country. Wat happened was this: 1t
dosed as before to the Golfers of the
merchants, who accepted it, not at its
fictitious value, but by increasing their
prices at it's value IN "monay of France
and shipped 1t in he fall to France to pay
their bills. Then sharp fellows in France
began to send out clipped and 'sweated''
coins, such az livres worth only Is soes
and crowns which would scarcely pass at
all to profit by the oyeryaluation.
The light. money got to be such
nuisance that the sovereign council met
hope Of checking its inflow. Traffic with
The English. and Dutch colonies to the
south was prohibited; nevertheless the
English and Dutch traders carried it on
surreptitiouGly and found it more.pFotita-
BILE to pay for Erenoh beaver skins in
light reals and piastres than in honest
goods. Commerce within the Colony was
greatly hampered by the uncertainty of
tsie value. of this light foreign money. 1t
was notNlogal tender, enc was pbliged TO
take it, end in 1852 the Quebec merchant
refused to accept it at any figure. where
upon the Council ordered that it should
circulate at it's bullion value with a
slight addition.
To effect this was necessary to weigh
and stamp the coins. Holders were
obliged to take them TO a court appointed
Az OAo pNt poco oA1 ~ pay AoulCLo 4OE
the weighing and stalapiag for each
piastre. oeToI- plastic, quart, and demi-
quart, besides iosiDg the difference be-
tween the new aud fhe Oil yafoa.
1hi pgs bad got into sq6h mess over
the atsenfua 80 give specie money asfiat
value sbat Fl despair fhe people tllrueu 10
oard meney. 1t Wiz 10 remembered that
the card money circulated at it's face val
passo long as it was convertible into
bills drawn on t}la FTench Treasury and
so long as the bilfs were promptly paid ;
when, however, owing to Feokless fnan-
eing and the drain Of war, France could
20 longer take up shs bills the canadian
holders OF cards were nearly beggared
Toward tie END Of the French regime the
Tntepdaut was alleged to sissue paper
money known as the ordon nanuss SIS he
saw fit. The performances sTers not con-
vsrtinle into anything except p circnrn-
Stance permitted, and circulated at q
heavy discount from the start. When
England took possession the card money
and qrdenpgnces hold il the colony
amounted, faoo value to emo less than A.
0O0. 900 francs. or about SIC, 900, GOO for
IS, 900 people. Here 4 was Cheap and
abundant currency with vengeance. The
bank note circulation in Canada to-day,
for population Of 3, 600 900, Is about