The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-06-21
SEATTLE, SUNDAY. JUNE Ell,


~ ,.osntfns 20 France a. having the best
.,onev xvsseu m the world and 20 the
TACT that II is the most generally weaishy
countrv. There IS some truth IN this ana
n might be well To inquire how those con-
A,,so,. nave been reached. The inquiry
becomes the more interesting as france
has PASSED through much the same s<-
ner,euce as that of the United States
The country has been on free coinage
svsfem at a fixed ratio-although not al
ways the same: IL has had the same num-
her OF years of experience since the de-
nnonetlzation Of silver. and Il has borne
tbe burden OF a vast war debt. 40 other
country could afford so good parallel
20 thu conditions In the United States as
France. Prior to the year 1873. Germany
France. the Latin union and the United
States sui kept their minis open TO The
free coinage of silver and gold as they
had always done. although England, al
ways fret In any progressive move. had
seen the difficulty Of continuing TO attempt
30 maintain the TWO metals al parity.
and abandoned II In Isle.
France endeavored to maintain the old
Patio OF 1914 20 I. which was the legal ratio.
although as matter OF fact the ratio
had been going up and down between H.s2
20 / and le.25 TO 1 for nearly hundred
years This seems like q small auetaa-
zion, but any man can easily understand
how even this divergence would affect
silver II he will hut reflect for one mo-
men,. suppose a man had the choice of
being paid for his work IN silver dollar
an % cents or a go,d dollar nj 100 cents.
which would he choose7 Suppose that
sam. man had those two dollars In his
pocket ard ne had 10 psy out one dollar,
which would he pay out first. the gold
noilar at 100 cents or the silver dollar az
% cents. provided each was legal tender
and the nan he was paying II 10 was
compelled to take either7
The difference Is only 2 per cent; the
nuctuation In the ratio was only : per
rent, but II was enough 10 act In each
case just as would follow In tho simple
illustration we have made. Carry II
little further Suppose working man
were TO receive 80 80 his month's pay.
Which would he prefer 20 take. the gold
nol1ar at par which would mean n pur-
chasing power Of $50 or silver dollars AZ
even per cent. discount. which would
give him SEQ but only $3.50 in purchasing
power. This seems very psitry. bat 10
cha working man n means loss Of sisso
. year. even n the ratio fuetnated no
more than Il ala when all the nations,
except England. were trying to keep the
fwo metals at parity.
In an Official report 70 the French gov
srnment Il Is stated (snaue,e sur la oies-
sion Mcnetairep that IN ises the metallic
eirculation OF France was eight hundred
millions OF gola and two mlll,aras Of silver.
but In iSss The whole OF The French eircu-
lation ala not include more than two hun
drca millions OF gold. or scarcely ; per
cent.. out Of total circulation OF four
mlllards," In another orSiai repoS, Il
VAS declared that Under the law OF the
gear xT~shl, was framed hy govern
ment cf the neopie-"gold reached a pre-
uniagn was sought IN the market. and be-
came quite rare IN the circulation" In
ssSs Dumas and de calmont explained this
absence o. gold by showing that instead of
che actual ratio beIax the same as TIE
iesai ratio. 81 vas 1875 20 T. Even this
slight difference was Sufficient 70 drive geld
out OF circulation.
II win be remembered that At ,he period
Of which We write. the government wss
directed by men OF the people and not ev
y monarchy. The following was there
fore not written by a banker Accord.
sng 20 tho report OF Gaadin. dated - nru.
miare. IN tho year NJ gof the revolution,
France az that time hal eae-thlra Of n.
cotned circulation in geld. In is4s afsnos;
al OF this geld had disappeared Oat a
nfsy-three millions possessed BY the haaks
eniv ere million was n gcst This metal
hsa disappeared. because from tNs-fSss e,
bad enjoyed premium which reached a.
times ore and ose-ha't per eeat~
The iaw was impotsht e Keep u re
price 81 silver whteA had been ehenneae.
by the enormous r~osactios frors re
Mexican snises. and hencs & had arlvea
cat go'a TAen Tire eveaE discoveries "a
sola IN Australia ard California aeans tsse
reversed the Situation. GeIs became sas-s
sbwnaant ana cheaper relatively 70 silver
So s+ HtttN 50 avs NHs4AFAt& tH r1NEr ~
free eosuake. the narity, - goa ansi sstve-
wss wes wainssiaes rror, tSu - ls-f ,hs
anaasl production e gotta r. she ss~sa
which aas hsea sScag So aaae'e year q
ssaoeA - - SEVER BEGAN e. Asesias an'
never recovered It's wvoa~a unsn ne "a,
1Ss1 In the meantime tae anuaai r-.>s..,
sica Of silver had sene ar srsns Sc a., ~
90 nearly 500 a.. aoa saa ~ 1ss has rss
e. sisa ~ an
= she raiie = silver - scls MS = n
when the production - wcla waS three an,
q hair tfsnes nsers thar tAas - silver sew
ooslt ne rssia 70 the sane II tSs aea.
ere gsesiaetien 81 silver was 50 r-eas i.
that g eesaf
SGT 2 Is With ,hs pertea psse- e ls-a =,
are aeAttas. ana II tAs E~ench sepsfs
essns fesae u sespsssisse Go kree kae eseseg,
~ nsrtsy wkea the rgaaortssa e sfsse,
~@s saay s@ssssss ts sls&ss&Nse. asw san