The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-06-18
OUR DEBT TO EUROPE.
A Query That stuck Gold Standard Organ
Nr,e

A Query That stuck a Gold Standard Organ
In the Mud.
Some time ago citizen Of Georgia
wrote to the editor of the New York
Journal of commerce for certain in
formation. liam informed, ;" he wrote,
"that our annual interest debt to
Europe is estimated 1850, 900, 600 pay
able in gold, and that our total prod
uct of gold is less than $40, 600, 900.
How can we pay our debts and have
any gold left for local currency or re-
demption purposes?"
In reply the New York editor wrote
to his Georgia correspondent that ''the
estimate of $3.50, 900, 900 for interest on
our foreign obligations is greatly ex-
aggerated." 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
financial relations" at between 81, ,5o0.-
000, ,O00 and g, oe1 200 noe, and added:
Many OF the securities pay no interest You
can form your own estimate OF what may be
the interest payable on these stocks and bonds
the latter paying mostly four to Ave per cent
In my Judgment, s99.C00090 would be an ex-
travagant allowance, but that would reduce
your estimate of our foreign interest payments
by SGO,O00,000 The remainder (sf00OO,011) Is
more than set OF by our excess OF exsorts OF
merchandise over the like kind OF Imports So
far from this interest indebtedness having q
tendency to drain usacf our stocks OF gold, the
fact Is, that until the treasury arrangements
OF the last three or four years, caused by the
apprehension OF free silver we have on the
average Imported moro gold than we have ex-
ported causing steady Increase in our ma
tional stock of the yellow metal Your esti-
mate or Sf1to0,OlO as the home product OF gold,
is nearly sl5.ej000O too low. The mint esti-
mates the product for the current year at s55,-
10000; that OF last year for the whole country
mot for part OF 1t, rs given in Valentines
estimate) was S52,0O00D0.
1t will be observed, rejoins the At
lanta Constitution, that the able editor
attributes the gold drain not to the
fact that we are obliged to ship it
abroad TO pay interest on our greatly
increased foreign debt, but to the zap
prehension of free silver" Our gold
never did begin to 90 out, except in re-
sponse to the natural demands of trade,
until the fall Of prices in 1898. We had
iegislated TO cut down the foreign
prices of our cotton, wheat and other
exports so per cent, and this operation
cat of the movement of gold in this
direction and turned it the other way.
WIN the balance Of trade IA our favor
thg 'a}aaeo of debt Is against u.s.
Iha i."!l men predicted drain of
geld "hea the Bi2ad-Allauu act be-
Cau.e it,.. But what Hye.5 the result?
tM.er laa additions to the currency
ioI.!h Icy taat act, prices rose % per
eelt. te,Eveeu 1853 and 1890, and
E;rt9a &as compelled to send its gold
h,.4 iu ta-r for our exports. Why?
Eccau..a ,so got botter prices for our
export No matter which way this
q9c !Y,i i ,urneG the simplicity OF il
cr"Es ua5 at last At bottom it IS q
question uf good and bad priccs.-be-
tw@ca honest prices and dishonest
prizes ... ---,
From Japuary, 1891, to Jandary, 1895,
we haze a;ijpped out of the cndniry not
ouly ,!le y mount Of the wilnil Of auf
nGH paa@nt of gold, bet /. eaJ 0to, 600
et-ia,r,. rii because the gold ai2udIrd-
i,t5 an: III ..Jlling policy 5hSt has lost
70 tbs creator of wealth ia thia cJua try
80 per cent Of ths yalue 81 his prod
uctI. Gnlsr the operations OF the
Elaati-All.aau law, small az were the
anngal a !itions to our currency, We
imported .Hore gold than Mt any other
peri0d sisee the war. 1t was ii' fact,
due to the Bland. Allison act that the
panic of 1850, the resuit of the rcaulap-
ton act, was not worse. And il was
this law that made resumption possi-
bic, as John Sherman admitted.