Iron County register., 1896-10-22
rusl aan .rn re snYEa anrsIinR.


nor any other country darcs to act IN deliberate
antagonisu to It's neighbours. The comfy Of
nztions requires that no Power should fellow q
course damaging, directly or indirectly, to the
interest Of a country with which It IS at peace.
at the same time, we sesn 70 be shaping towards
acoursswhieh may bring Is into awkward conflict
with the popularsentiment, il cewish the soyern-
ing powers Of countries with whoM NE hold
politically friendly relations. In another column
we print extracts from 6 speech made il the
American Senate tho other day by Mr.. Doa
Cameron, who represents Pennsylvania. The
gist Of Mr.. C2msroais contention Was that
the English policy on the al-absorblng
monetary question is directly antagonists
to American interests, and that tho United
States must throw of the influence of English
IDEAS If she means to maintain the steady march
oE her prosperity. There have not been wanting,
Of late, indications Of growing irritation with this
countryfcritsdog.i in -the-mange towards
aquestion that Is convnising two continents, and
grayely compromising the future Of the poorer
States in Europe. This feeling has been voiced
in America by Senator Lodge, whose proposal
to viTtually shut out British goods from the
United States until VIC should assent to
bimetallic convention. though extreme and
absurd, indicates the trend Of sentiment on the
other side Of the Atlantic. Mr.. Cameron IS
much miIdeT, and makes war rather on those
who acclimatise English IDEAS In America than
on this country but the sentiment has the same
origin in both cases.
Senator Lodge IS rot silver man in the usual
sense, being opposed out -and-out to free coinage
in the United StaSes under existing conditions,
and, therefore, his views, though tinged with
strong feeling, may attract more attention here
than those Of the pronounced silverites. Mr.
Lodge is very bitter about the failure Of the
Brussels conference Of last year, where the atti-
tud9ofthe British osaeial delegates was Scarcely
| lessthan 6iscourteous etothe United States, and
he believes that nine-tenths Ct tie American
people regard It in that light. 4 feeling Of this
kind is not 70 DO lightly ignored. We have
frequent diplomatic differences with the United
States; but, as a rule, there is seldom asso-
ciated with these any senGo of animus between
the peoples of tho two countries, end such
squabbles pass over and ara forgotten. But now
We are encouraging the growth Of feeling
that On question which affects the prosperity
OF millions Of individual Americans this
country is inclined to entertain views uafriendly
to tho States. We know, Of course, that the
Unfriendliness is accidental, and that cur none
tary policy is controlled by purely selfish con-
siderations-so purely selfish that we do not
mind seeing India suffering from cur action
much moro than America does. The Americas
are suiiiciantly old-fashioned to believe that
it is the part Of friend to show himself friendly,
and when this country turns deaf ear to the
plant Of half the world, including all tho New
World, they, not unnaturaiiy, take i. unkinaly. II
is not for Us to sny whether the feeling Of irri-
tation is wholly justified or not; it exists, and
that IS the main point, Moreover, it is taking
q shape that may entail very awkward conse-
ouences on US. Ths recent proposal to coin
| Mexican dollars in San Francisco was bid
! towards giving Us an object lesson 6y ccsting
Us frcua cur Commanding position Ia EastaEn
trade.
Senator Cameron points a plain moral when
he remarks that Il the United States would
venture to cut herself Adrifs from Europe and
take outright to silver, she would have all
America and Asia at her back, and would COM
Iand the markets Of both Continents. "The
" barrier Ct gold would ke more fatal than any
" barrier Of custen-house. The bond Of silver
" would be stronger than any bond Of free
+" trade" There can be no doubt about it, that
| if the United States were 10 adopt silver
basis tomorrow, British trade would be ruined
before the year was out. Every American
industry would be protected, not only at home,
but in every ether market. OF course, the
States would suffer to q certain extent through
having to pay her obligations abroad in gold /;
but the loss on exchange under this head would
! be mere drop in the bucket compared with the
profits to be reapsd from tie EasrketG Of South
| America and Asia, 70 say nothing OF Europe.
Tie marvel is that the United States has not
long ago seized the opportunity, and but fog the
belief that the way Of England is necessarily the
way to commercial success and prosperity, un-
doubtedlyit would have been done longago. Now,
Americans arc awakening to tho fact that
E" SO long as they narrow their ambition to be-
" coming larger England they cannot beat
Us. 1t has been piece Of luck for Us
that it has never before occurred TO the
Americans to scoop Us olt of the worlds
markets by going en- silver basis, and it
might serve US right if, irritated by the con-
tenptuous apathy of our Government TO the
gravity Of the silver problem, the Americans
resaliate by freezing out gold. 1t could easily
Be done, and we propose shortly to show, by
evidence collected from perfectly unprejudieed
sources, that even now the process has begun,
and is proceeding at a rate tLas will astonish
most people, and probably mako this country
regret that It did not at earlier stage fashion
its monetary policy on principles of friendliness
to other nations, instead OF on basis Of short
sighted selfshpess.