The herald., 1896-10-09
THE SILVER PANIC

When Alfred de Rothschild, director
Of the Bank Of England, spoke at the
international monetary conference of
1892, he made a prophecy which has been
amply FULFILLED. He said: IF this con-
ference were to break up without ar
riving at any definite result, there would
be a depreciation in the value Of that
commodity (silver) which 1t would be
frightful to contemplate, and out of
which monetary panic would ensue.
the far-spreadirg effects Of which it
would be impossible to foretell."
That monetary conference did adjourn
without definite result. and the panic
came as predicted. The Ohio statesman,
Mr.. Butterworth, has endeavored to
convey an impression which is neither
justified by the facts nor upheld by an
thority.
At that conference Sir William
Houldsworth. a delegate from Great
Britain, said that further fall in prices
would be a disaster, Mr.. Allard of Bel
Eium said the crisis dates from 1873,
when free coinage was suspended" and
the president of that t''conference re-
ferred to the business paralysis as "the
direct result of the instability in the
price Of silver as compared with gold"
Such was the opinion of eminent men
a year before the panic of 1893. which
Mr.. Butterworth would have people be-
lieve was caused by the Wilson tariff
bill of 1894 Let us call few witnesses
to disprove Mr.. Butterworth.
Andrew Carnegie said in the North
American Review for September, 1893,
that "the sole cause Of the panic" was
the distrust engendered by the financial
question. The president of the New
York chamber Of commerce said the
panic was to be attributed Ito unwise
legislation with respect 10 the silver
question" and declared that it would
be known in history as "the silver
panic" The president Of the New York
coffee exchange used these words:
From information received from relia-
Bile sources l am satisfied that the fear
Of change in the tariff has had little
or nothing to do with the failures that
have taken place" The president of
the New York stock and petroleum ex-
change and the cotton exchange also
agreed in calling 1t a currency panic.
Another witness is Mr.. Balfour, Con-
servative leader of the house of COM
mons. who said that one could not con-
template without absolute terror the
substitution of gold standard through
out the world. Moreton Frewen, the
English bimetallist, declared that an
abrupt suspension of all purchases of
silver would precipitate that panic
which seems to be impending every
where over the world of finance"
We trust we have made it clear that
the panic of 1893 was predicted and that,
in the opinion of those qualified to judge,
it was monetary panic. The panic
did not break in this country until the
middle Of July. And it is a fact that
the first six months of 1893 was pros
porous period. The report of the
American Iron and Steel association
showed a far greater output than in
any six months of Harrison's admins
tration. Besides 1n'sthis period were
built 102 knitting, woolen, cotton and
silk mills. Facts like these disprove
that fear of tariff reduction caused
the panic.
Local causes have local effects; gem
eral causes have general effects. No
thinking man can believe that crisis
which was evident throughout the COM
mercial world was caused by slight
reduction Of customs duties in a part
of it. Illogical. Mr. Butterworth is
preaching false doctrine.