The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-07

ready. Several deep level mines have
not come I'D to expectation For
small dividend people do not finGlarge
sums OF capital in so distant and so
uncertain enterprises If you, for
! instance. com~3are the Paris prices OF
I the principal mines in October, 1895,
with those of today, you viii find that
BuffelSdoorin has fallen from go II.
to 5150 fr., Champ d Or from so to
81, Durham RoodeDort Deeps from 15O
to SO. East Rand from 800 to 127, Con-
solidated Goldfelds from 40a to 2S6,
etc. This fall has been so general and
so steady that mere market considera-
tons will not explain it.
The second point overlooked is the
steady increase Of general prosperity
and intercourse, which requires ever
increasing quantities of metallic gold,
in spite of clearing houses and similar
Contrivances. De Launay points out
that diamonds do not wear away, and
! that, nevertheless, about 100, 000, 600
francs OF diamonds are yearly alb
sorbed by the increasing prosperity of
the people. We may guess how much
of the new produced gold is absorbed
by industry and prosperity.
Meanwhile the bank rate has been
raised 70 4 ger cent in London. In
this connection l will only refer TO two
special points. Firstly, that in conse-
golden 10 mark pieces and the golden
10 francs are used more frequently
than before for weekly wages. Sec
ondly, what has been foretold by
Bagehot, the great extent of some sin
gle deposits, for instance. the Japan
csc deposit in London, requires larger
banking reserves which are likewise
necessary in consequence of the in
crease of the total of the smaller de-
DoSitS
The other world crisis which we
were approaching through the gold
standard was the Bryan crisis. The
American people will never compre-
bend that they are obliged to tolerate
an increase of the weight of debt in
favor of the creditors in England, be-
cause Germany changed her standard
in 1878. or because Japan demands her
war indemnity in gold. or because
South African mining threatens to
fall short in their anticipated returns.
The injustice is so great that all reason
is swept away by the sentiment of the
masses.
Europe has not played a very grand
part with regard to this popular move
ment. What has not Europe, what
have not the suburbs of Vienna, suf-
fered by the Mckinley tariff? Who
would have thought that after so
short a time we on this side of the
ocean should have welcomed McKin-
ley's election as president as a saliva
ton? This proves how great the self
created difficulties are.
It behooves European l<1tesmen to
learn from the events in America.
] They will have to ask themselves
whether it is not their duty to free
the world from a position which is so
full of danger.
Professor Suess makes the same as
sumption that the single gold standard
advocates did during the late cam
paign, when ne says that free silver
would have driven all gold out of
America. That is a debatable ques-
ton that actual experiment alone could
decide. If it would. then of course the
United States would have gone onto
silver basis.
If the faculty of greater economic
expansion would have been in the sill
yer circle, the world being divided
into a gold and a silver area as the
result of the adoption of free silver
by this country, then would not the
advantage have been with the silver
countries for the reason that money is
merely means to economic and com
mercial expansion?
The professor does not explain how
the economic force of the whole of
mankind would have been lessened. 1t
would have been lessened in those who
were in the gold area, and would event
ually have forced them to proper
recognition of silver. The adoption of
a new monetary standard by any coun-
try necesstates a readjustment of all
its business in accordance with that
standard, and this brings on great de-
preston, and possibly a depression
from which there can be no permanent
recovery The change from the BIZ
metallic to the single gold standard by
so many countries within the past
quarter of a century has had this very
effect.
Had Mr.. Bryan been elected it. is not
at all probable that any of the evil
consequences foreseen by Professor
Suess would have happened. Here
again all is conjecture Independent
free coinage by the United States would
have caused the world to take heed
of it and to take some action. Mr..
Cleveland's Venezuelan message seems
to have had the effect to have forced
recognition of the Monroe doctrine
upon Europe, while Europe never
would have acknowledged it voluntar-
lily So it is with free silver So long
as this country defers to Europe in
this matter just so long will Europe
refuse to adopt or consider a free sill
yer policy.