The Yale expositor., 1896-05-22

and gold maintained, as it enabled the
Mexicans to keep their money in their
own country. Other Mexican financiers
with whom have talked hold the same
views.
There have been but two or three
baak failures since / have resided
there. The Mexican banks are required
to keep one-third of their circulation
in silver dollars in their vaults.
"The system in Mexico allows the
miner to send his silver to the govern
ment depositories and receive silver
dollars in return for ii in any part of
the country where there is an assay
office, the government tax and cost
being about Az per cent.
perhaps the best sign of the stabil-
ity of Mexico under silver policy may
be found in the fact that Mexican per
cent bonds stand at SO in London"
This is exactly in line with what Mr..
Curtis has stated as the result Of his
own observations in Japan, and there
can be no doubt that in thus quoting
Gov. Shepherd at length, he intends to
fully sanction tho statements made,
especially as they are given without
comment.
A man like Edward Atkinson, who is
utterly incapable of reasoning from
cause to effect, might say exactly what
is given above, and still believe in the
gold standard, but Mr.. Curtis is a. much
ADLER man than Atkinson, and it is diff
ficult to see how he can so clearly
recognize the benefits which Mexico
and Japan are resping from the use of
silver and still believe that free COIN
age would ruin the United States.
That the appreciation OF gold is
stimulating the industries of Mexico
on many important lines, is too plain
Tor discussion. 1t, in fact, is denied by
no one who understands the situation
and is candid enough to speak without
disguise. The gold people do not meet
this point fairly. They say, "See how
much greater, richer, and more ad-
vanced the United States is than Mex
| leo" and then they seek to convey the
| impression that it is owing to our es-
tablishment of the gold standard, while
Mexico uses silver. They entirely ig-
more the self-evident fact that the
! United States was always far in ad-
vance of Mexico. Even in greenback
times, when our only money consisted
of deprecated paper, worth but 40
cents on the dollar, we were away
ahead of Mexico, which was then doing
business with silver dollars worth
about five cents more than the Amer
lean gold dollar. Nay, we were then
relatively farther in advance than we
are now, because of late years Mexico
has been gaining upon us rapidly.
A few years ago Great Britain was
vastly richer than the United States,
and her business was incomparably
greater, but that did not prove that her
form Of government or her financial
syestem was better than ours. The
reason was that Britain had the start
Of us. But we have overhauled and
passed her, and we are now the richest
nation in the world, although by nc
means so rich as we would have been
if We had not gone deliberately at work
to cripple our own resources and in
crease the burden Of our debt by de-
stroying one of the money metals with
which that debt might have been paid
and of which metal we were the great
est producers. So we are a long way
in the lead of Mexico for various rea.
sons with which students of history arc
familiar, but our adoption of the golt
standard in 1873 is not one of those
reasons.
AS between American and Mexican
conditions at the present time, tho
question is one of comparative i'm
provement, and there is no intelligent
and fair-minded investigator who de-
MES that Mexico is now gaining GROUND
with race-horse speed.
The explanation of the advantage!
that inure TO the silver standard coun
tries has been frequently given in these
columns, and the matter will not b,
gone into now. The reader is simpl!
urged to carefully read what Gov
Shepherd says, as presented by Mr.
Curtis. and then seriously ask himsel
how q money standard that is so nour
ishing to the industries of Mexict
could possibly be rank poison to thos,
Of our own country.-Nationa Bimetal
list.