The sun., 1896-08-09
Financial Experience OF Former Days.

| To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: There ia
| an old to the effect that experience is IA
| some rs the stern lights of ship, serving only
| to illuminate the track that is pnst The Popu-
| lists and free silyeritcs in this country have
no past and no experience, but their proto.
types in former days left urid track In tho
path of the worlds history.
The wild dreams Of prosperity INDUCED in
by the sixteen -to-one party have been dreamed
before, and the awakening has not been pleas
any. Exactly the same financial troubles that
aifiict us to-day worried the good people In he
days OF James III. of England. and lie hit upon
exactly the same remedy the free-coinogo
idea. The only difference WAS that he did not
restrict himself to silver. but coined anything
he could melt up and cast In Nacaulays
History OF England, vol. ILL.,. p. 100, we find
the 4oilowinE description of tho bad times"
OF those days: Trade was at an end Float.
ing capital had been Withdrawn in great
masses. or the fixed capital much had been
destroyed. and tho rest was lying idle. Pow
erty OF the treasury was the necessary efTect
Oh the poverty hi the country: public pros-
perity could lie restored only by the restoration
OF private prosperity; and private prosperity
could be restored only by years Of pcace and
security. James was absurd enough 10 i'm
ngine that there was more speedy and efIica.
ciou' remedy. He could, ho conceived. at
once extrlcate himself from his financial
dlihcnit!cs hy the simple process Of calling n
iarthlng shilling. The right of coming wos
the Hover of the prcrOGatiye. and in his y,ew
lhe right OF coming included the right Of de.
basihS the COIN" That is 10 say lie did not
reStrlct himself to n ratio of sixteen to one
nut carried the theory 30 its logical conclu.
sion, and thought that if coin were TO he lie. !
10" par at all, II mattcred little how far below |
II went. Pots. pans, knockers of doors.
pieces "f ordnance which had long been mast
use, were carried TO the mint and coined. In
a short time Jumps of base metal. nominoIIv
worth near a million sterling, but intrinscaIly
worth about n sixteenth part Of that sum. ver.
In circulation. The royal edict declared these
pieces TO be legal tender In NIL cases whatevcr
A mortgage for thousand pounds could be
cleared OF by n bng of counters made ort ~
old kettles. The creditors who complained IN
tho courts were told To tax their money and
oegohe oI all classes the tradc.men were the
srea'est LOSERS AT FIRST. of course. they raised
'heir demands, but the magistrates of the
city met this by putting forth n tariff rcgu
atng prices. Any man who belonged TO lie
parry Eow dominant might walk into n slnn
hy on the counter a Bit of brass worth three,
llShce' ana carry OF goods worth & guinea
! he sufferers thought themselves hapuy If bv
\ tho G Smrr,hce 9t their goods they could ave
hon in lhe ciry round which twenty or thirty
oIalcrs We're not constantly prOwling."
NaLurc Is hard aud unfoI giving mistress,
ma her control over 81, ,ial affairs is no less
lo!tht than oyer the an imal kingdom For
ms gross violation Of the true principles OF
laye her penalty, and in 1890. exactly two |
luhdred years ago, the cancer came 10 a head
Ia rba II Was found necessary to aDply the knife.
orioed, M but the process OF rest bring the coin
Se 70 It's gold baAlAs and the DeoDle TO their