Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1896-08-14
OUR DEBT TO euRoeE.
a Qaery Tina, stuck to,d standard organ
In che Mind.


a Qacry That stuck ao,d standard Urgsr
/ In che Mind.
Some time ago u citizen of Georgia
wrote to the editor of the New York
Journal OF commerce for certain in
i formation. lam informed" he wrote
that our annual interest debt &c
Europe is estimated mt $3.50, 900. 900 pay
able in gold, and that our total prod
net of gold is less than $40. 600. 600
! How c0n we pay our debts and have
any gold left for local currency or re-
demption purposesT'
] In reply the New York editor wrote
10 his Geor ria correspondent that 1.-THE
estimate Of Sl5o, 00o. 900 for Interest on
our foreign Obligations is greatly ex-
sggeratcd." But he adds that the face
value of our obligations held abroad Is
estimated by "those most closely con-
nected with that branch of our foreign
bnoncfal relations" Mt between $3.50.
600, 600 and $1,000. 600. 600, and added:
Many OF The securities ray no interest. You
Gun form your own est mate oi what may be
the interest payable on tacSc stocks AMI bonds.
the latter laytnV mostly four to live per cent
In my Judgment i9J.uOJ.0 q would he an ex-
trayacant allowance. hut that would re luce
your estimate of orr foreign interest payments
ny sdo0o1,gO The remain lcr (sSIObi.pIp is
more than set of by our exec ~ OF OK or,s OF
merchandise over the like kind OF imports So
far from this interest indebtedness having n
tendency 10 drain MS OF our sto ks OF troid the
TACT Is. thut until the tr n Jury Heterogeneous
OF the lat three or four years. caused 10y the
apprehension OF free silver, we have on the
average imported more gold than we have cN-
ported causing steady incrcisc ia our ma
tional stock OF the yellow metal Your csti-
mate OF $1,000 AS the home product OF golA.
Is nearly sij.o0o,00o too low. The mint cstG-
mates the product for the current year Mt sN5
VO.OO: that OF last year for the w.ioic country
mot for part OF II. rs given in Valentines
estlmatc) was i5a.0OO.01O.
1t will be observed. rejoins the At
ianta Constitution, that the able editor
attributes the gold drain not to the
fact TINT we are Obliged TO ship II
abroad to pay interest on our greatly
Increased foreign debt, but to the ''ap-
prehension of free silver" Our uold
nevcr did begin tn 40 ont, except In re-
Spouse To the natural demands of trade,
nntA the fall of prices in 1893. We had
leaislated to cut down the forei IN
prices of our cotton, wheat and other
exports 80 per cent, and this operation
cut Off the movement of gold in this
direction and turned IL the other way.
with the balance OF trade in orr favor
the balance Of debt is against us.
The gold men predicted drain of
gold when the Bland Allison net be-
came law. But what was the result?
Under the additions to the currency
made bg that act, prices rose - per
cent. between 1875 aud 1890, and
Europe was compelled To send its gold
here to pay for our exports. Why?
because we got better prices for our
exports No matter which why this
is turned the simplicity of it
crops out at last At bottom it is n
question of good and bad prices-be-
tween honest prices and dishonest
prices.
From January, 1891, to January, 1896,
we have shipped ont of the country not
only the amount of the whole of our
own produo; Of gold. but $3.50, coo, 000
besides, all because the gold standard
lists are upholding n policy that has lost
to lie creator of wealth in this country
80 per cent of the value of his prod
nets Under the operations of the
Bland-Allison law, small rs were the
annual additions to our currency, we
imported more gold than ut any other
period since the war. 1t was, in fact,
due to the Bland-Allison net that the
panic of 1850, the result of the rcsunp-
ton act, was not worse. And it was
this law that made resumption posi-
BILE, AK John Sherman admitted.