The herald., 1896-10-11

yer. Thus, in an alarrningly short space
of time, five nations had practically de-
monetized gold, and others were threat
ening to do so, and the world was rap
idly being taught that gold was the dis
credited metal, while silver was the sta
BILE and sound money.
Some curious and a few amusing re-
suits followed. Among a certain class
in England a regular panic broke out,
and in Holland and Belgium even the
masses of the people became suspicious
of gold and disliked to take 1t in pay
ment. In the latter country few trad
ers hung out signs to attract customers
to this effect: "L'or est recu sans perte,"
meaning that gold money would be
taken there without a discount. 1t Is
probably not known to one American in
| thousand that the practice of insert
ing a silver clause in contracts became
at that time so common in Europe that
it was actually transferred to the United
States, and in England life insurance
companies were established on a silver
basis. Several American corporations
stipulated for payment in silver espec-
tally of rents, and to this day a New
England establishment is receiving a
certain number of ounces of fine silver
yearly under leases then drawn up.
1t is equally interesting to note in the
literature of that period arguments
against gold almost word for word like
financial managers threw gold out Of
use and then urged its non-use as Il
reason for its demonetization. None
in circulation" variation shows impos-
sibility of bimetallsm"-such were the
phrases then applied to gold, as we now
find them applied to silver. An artificial
disturbance was created, and then
pleaded as a reason for further disturb
ance.
All this while the financiers of Eng
land were bombarded with arguments
and prophecies of evil but her geolo-
gists pointed out clearly that Austria
liam and California products were al
most entirely from the washing of al
luvial sands, and consequently must be
very temporary. Her statesmen be-
lieved the biologists rather than the
panic stricken financiers, and so she
held for gold monometallism.
But it Is to France that the world IS
indebted for maintaining the parity
through those years of alarm and panic.
M. Chevalier urged upon French states-
men the Importance of returning to the
system which had been in force pre-
vious to 1885, when silver was the stand
ard and gold was rated to 1t by a law
or proclamation. The proposition was
actually brought forward in council and
urged upon the emperor that silver
should be made the standard and gold
re-rated in proportion to it every six
months. The net result was, by France
taking in gold and letting out silver,
that in 1865 that country had larger
stock of gold than any other in Eu-
rope. Suffice it to repeat that several
nations. including seventy million peo.
pie, actually demonetized gold. deprived
1t of its legal tender, and treated it as
ratable commodity while France, sin
gle handed and alone upon the conti-
nent of Europe, was able to absorb
the enormous surplus of gold and main
tain the parity by the simple process of
keeping her nlints open to both at the
ancient ratio.
Thus ended the scheme to drive gold
out of circulation and base the business
of the world upon one metal, and that
the dearer metal, silver. But suppose
the scheme had succeeded; suppose
France had been less firm; what Won
derful flood of wisdom on the virtues
of silver we should have had from the
monometallists! How arrogantly they
would have denounced us-who should
I trust, in that case have been laboring
to restore gold to free coinage-how ar
rogantly they would have denounced us
as the advocates of cheap money, dis
honest tricksters, repudiators! How
they would have rung the changes on
dishonest money" "fifty-cent gold dol
lars!" What long, long columns of fig
ures should we have had to prove the
stability of silver, the f1uctuating
nature of gold. What denunciations,