The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-07
EDWARD suEss ON B0IErALLIsM.

Whenever Professor Edward Suess of
Vienna puts forth anything upon the
question Of bimetallism it is worthy
of tie greatest consideration, for no one
stands higher as an authority upon the
subject than he Recently he sent
letter to the Vienna Tagblatt upon the
subject of bimetallism and the result of
the election in the United States. He
says:
Won desire to have my opinion on
the presidential election in the United
States. l think the English Bimetal-
lie league has found the correct eX-
preston in the manifesto issued on
this occasion, where it designates Nc
Kinlcy's election as victory OF inter-
national bimetallism over national BIZ
metaIlisn. I consider Bryan's defeat
fortunate both for the United States
md the commerce of the world Free
silver would have drawn all gold out
of America; all obligation lin coin"
wouId-and with perfect justlce-haVe
been discharged in silver, other obl1-
cations might possibly have been paid
SO later Then would have followed
in the United States an economic cr1-
sis with readjustment of wages.
But all this is of secondary importance
side by side with the fact that by the
establishment of the free silver stand
ard in the United States-and to this
it would have come most certainly
the whole commerce of the world
would. for an endless period, be di-
vided into two distinct economic cen
ters with different and Independent de-
veIopments, viz a great silver area
(the whole of America and Asia) and
a gold area Europe, parts of Africa,
Australia. In this second area it is
practically only Europe that counts,
and the faculty of greater economic
expansion would have been in the sill
yer circle. But the economic force of
the whole of mankind would have
been leSsened.
n shows an almost childish concep-
ton. if one judges of questions of this
kind from the point of view OF profit
or loss TO the mine owner. or if one
thinks that this question has been set
tied by the last presidential election,
either Tor America or the world at
large On the contrary, the late
events have shown that the conscious
ness Of an injustice IN favor of cred
itors resulting on existing currency
conditions permeates larger and larger
circles. In Europe we see likewise
that the bimetallic movement continu-
ally Sathers force and extent.
In recent times the gold standard
has twice brought US to the verge of a
world crisis.
The first time this happened about
seven years ago. when the production
of gold stagnated. At the right mo-
ment we had the discovery of the rich
South African gold deposits When,
of a yearly production for 1894 of $780,
600 ounces. nearly 100000 ounces fell
to Africa. when in Witwatersrand
alone 900 mining companies were es-
jablished. with more than half a mil
lion of gold forms capital, when ex-
perts published the most extravagant
calculations as 20 the future results
OF deep level mining in this area:
when, then, in 1895 the same district
produced nearly two and one-half mil |
lion ounces out OF a total production
OF the world of 100000, those were
laughed at who had predicted a scar
city of gold.
Two points We're overlooked. Firstly,
the want of certainty as to the sue
cess Of deep level lining in South
Africa. Dlsappointments begin al