Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1896-08-23

a series of exchanges, the United States have bought $50 0,000,000 worth of stuff from Europe and sold but $29, 100000, S1 000 GOO in money, or only one7six- teenth of the entire transaction, has to go abroad to settle the bill. This arbi- trage money is gold and it's movements are regulated by the rate of exchange. Silver goes abroad, too, but it goes as bullion, not as currency, and attracts less attention. In 20 years we have ex- ported sold, nearly as much silver as gold and have repuTchased or reimport- ed very much less, The white metal has gone abroad precisely like wheat, as a commodity of which we have had d surplus to sell.
 Once in the last 20 years we have bought great deal more silver and drawn a great dea.; more gold than we sent abroad That was during the two booming years of 1880 and 1881. And the main explanation of that is that at that time we had good crops which en- loved a good market at good prices. The world isn't eating less wheat than it was 16 years ego, but it is paying less for it.
 The movement of gold abroad from this country is apt to be most pro nouneed other things being equal, when the semi-annual interest is due on the vast quantity of American rail road, municipal and industrial stocks and bonds owned by foreigners. The return tide, the flow of gold to this country, sets in when our big crops of wheat. cotton and other produce are marketed in the old world, and the course of exchange is for once in the year reversed. But since 1888 the re- turn flood has always been feebler than the outgoing one It is as if there were mighty tide in the river of gold, where in two ebbs in the year are not quite bal anced by one mighty flood. It is upon this flood of autumn gold that the bank CTS are relying who have undertaken to protect the governments gold reserve until the crops are moved.
 Exporters of gold are sometimes de nounced as unpatriotic, but rather un- justly. So long as the game of trade goes on, the chips must be cashed in at the end of each sitting. The gold for export is undernormal leonditions drawn from the United States treasury or sub treasury. It always has been, and the fact excited little notice or comment un- til the treasury reserve seemed en- dangered. And the whiting away of the reserve came simply because the governments receipts weren't equal to 1 it's expenses. We were and probably are, running behind,n and borrowing l precisely as individuals do under such circumstances. The treasury is bound to cash bills in gold when required to do so, and it is required to do so by the arbitrage houses simply because itisn, | of any use to send bank notes abroad where they do not circulate. In precise ly the same way, when gold is to be i'm ported to this country. it is obtained from the Bank of Englapd because Eng fish bank notes would he of no use here. The chips in the galoe must have a value recognized by ah the players.
 I have carefully avoided in this article anything like party argument or partisan assumption. Fke facts which are here stated are basic. They are admitted by all and forp the data for argument. What is the wisest policy to pursue now-oh, thut IS another
 yP TONES